TEX-MEX Dining SUNDANCE
“Sundance,” a restaurant on Odori Street in Morioka, is a popular spot among foreign residents. During the confusion right after the earthquake and tsunami, many foreigners gathered there and shared information with each other. Everyone’s gathering spot was also a place people could count on in times of trouble.
“What is the most important thing to you? How important are you to the people around you? I realized many things after the disaster. I was happy that so many people supported this restaurant in the emergency,” says the owner of Sundance, Hitoshi Mizumoto. This restaurant carries the atmosphere of a European pub and is very popular among foreigners. They feel free to come in at any time, chat with many different people, and broaden their social network. Relying on their “gathering place,” many foreign residents gathered here after the disaster.
“Once electricity came back, I turned the lights on in the restaurant so I could clean up, and that’s when my regular foreign customers came in one by one. It wasn’t so much to get something to eat or drink, but more because they wanted information, and they didn’t want to be alone.”
At first, Mizumoto thought opening up the restaurant at a time like this would be insensitive, but he realized that the foreigners coming by were worried and upset. “The thing I can do is to make a place for everyone,” he thought, deciding to reopen the restaurant. As soon as he did, Japanese and international volunteers gathered and turned Sundance into an information-sharing hotspot.
On the other hand, fears escalating over the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster caused many foreigners to return to their native countries. Because the Shinkansen high speed train was down for the time being, Mizumoto helped by arranging shared-taxis for people who needed to use Akita airport.
Because Mizumoto had created a relationship of trust with his customers, “I was able to be of help to people in a time of crisis.” He created Sundance to be a “friendly, neighborhood place where a person can casually come even by themselves and have drink,” and before long it became a foreigner gathering place for Morioka residents.
“I want make everyone proud that we have a restaurant like this in Morioka, and I want to make it a restaurant that people think of as their favorite pub in the world.” That message surely resonates in the hearts of all the foreign residents that gather in Mizumoto’s Sundance Pub.
* “I wanted to make a restaurant where both people who live here and people who have been away a long time will say, ‘This place never changes.’ A place they could call home,” says Mizumoto.
http://iwate-ia.or.jp/cms/media/kikanshi/2011/2011autumn-kikanshi-E.pdf
（Iwate International Association September 30, 2011）
“Sundance,” a restaurant on Odori Street in Morioka, is a popular spot among foreign residents. During the confusion right after the earthquake and tsunami, many foreigners gathered there and shared information with each other. Everyone’s gathering spot was also a place people could count on in times of trouble.
“What is the most important thing to you? How important are you to the people around you? I realized many things after the disaster. I was happy that so many people supported this restaurant in the emergency,” says the owner of Sundance, Hitoshi Mizumoto. This restaurant carries the atmosphere of a European pub and is very popular among foreigners. They feel free to come in at any time, chat with many different people, and broaden their social network. Relying on their “gathering place,” many foreign residents gathered here after the disaster.
 |
| Liquor lined up within Sundance |
“Once electricity came back, I turned the lights on in the restaurant so I could clean up, and that’s when my regular foreign customers came in one by one. It wasn’t so much to get something to eat or drink, but more because they wanted information, and they didn’t want to be alone.”
At first, Mizumoto thought opening up the restaurant at a time like this would be insensitive, but he realized that the foreigners coming by were worried and upset. “The thing I can do is to make a place for everyone,” he thought, deciding to reopen the restaurant. As soon as he did, Japanese and international volunteers gathered and turned Sundance into an information-sharing hotspot.
 |
| Entrance to Sundance |
On the other hand, fears escalating over the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster caused many foreigners to return to their native countries. Because the Shinkansen high speed train was down for the time being, Mizumoto helped by arranging shared-taxis for people who needed to use Akita airport.
Because Mizumoto had created a relationship of trust with his customers, “I was able to be of help to people in a time of crisis.” He created Sundance to be a “friendly, neighborhood place where a person can casually come even by themselves and have drink,” and before long it became a foreigner gathering place for Morioka residents.
* “I wanted to make a restaurant where both people who live here and people who have been away a long time will say, ‘This place never changes.’ A place they could call home,” says Mizumoto.
TEX-MEX Dining SUNDANCE
〒020-0022 Morioka-shi, Odori 2- 4-22 SUNRISE Building 1F/2F,
TEL 019-652-6526http://iwate-ia.or.jp/cms/media/kikanshi/2011/2011autumn-kikanshi-E.pdf
（Iwate International Association September 30, 2011）
