For this issue, we would like to spotlight Professor Rika Yamamoto of the College of Letters about a place of her memories.

A place that reminds me of my old self

CAFÉ SARASA is a modern public bathhouse that has been renovated, making the first floor a very stylish café. The second floor of this place is where I presented my research to the study group of my academic society when I was a graduate student. It is also a place where I had a traumatic experience back then; I still vividly remember I was criticized and reproved for my unpreparedness despite the fact that such a beautiful venue had been made available for my presentation. It is quite close to Ritsumeikan, and I have recently conducted fieldwork classes in the Shin-Omiya Shopping Street nearby. I pass by or stop by it on a regular basis and it makes my old wounds tingle quite a bit. Having said that, I have come to think that this tingling lends the strain requisite to my life as an academic. I am determined to keep visiting the place as a self-admonitory reminder of my past blunders.

CAFÉ SARASA: open-plan café distinctively unique as a former bathhouse

CAFÉ SARASA opened in 2000 as a café in a renovated 93-year-old former public bathhouse ("sento"). The interior of the café retains strong traces from the time when it was a sento, with high ceilings and tiled walls. Japanese-made majolica tiles cover the walls. Their beautiful coloring and modern patterns are genuinely antique. At the café, visitors can savor coffee roasted at the affiliated shop as well as pastries.