ここで商売を始めたのが昭和26年頃なんだけど、当時はね、コッペパン屋さんではなく、お醤油やお味噌、お菓子なんかを量り売りする商店だったのよ。それを量りでg単位から売ってたんだから。だからコッペパン屋さんになったのは、ここ20年くらいの話。息子が「いろいろとやることが増えると大変だろうから」ってことで、コッペパンだけにしたの。人気メニューは、ベーコンエッグや焼きそば、白身のフライやコロッケがよく売れるね。このパン切り包丁なんか、毎日パンしか切ってないのに、刃が欠けてきてて、年季を感じるわね。

It was around 1951 that I started business here, but at the time it wasn’t a hot dog bun store. It was actually a store selling soy sauce, miso, sweets and other things. I’d weigh them by the gram and sell them. So it became a hot dog bun store around 20 years ago. My son said: "It will be difficult if you keep doing more things," so I made it so it’s only hot dog buns. The popular things like bacon and eggs, yakisoba, fish fingers and croquette sell well. Even this bread knife is only cutting bread every day, but the blade is so worn out it makes me realize all the years that have passed.

お客さんは比較的、男性の方が多いかな？ あとはご近所の方や、お子さん連れのママなんかも。うちのコッペパンは、とにかく具がぎっしり詰まっててボリューム満点。朝6時からお店を開けるんだけど、その前から並ぶお客さんもいて。職人さんやタクシーの運転手さん、警察の方も多いですね。
そうそう、警察の方と言えば、近所の荒川警察や隣町の台東区からも電話注文が入るんだけど、ほら、刑事さんたちって異動するじゃない？ それで行く先々で、うちの話をしてくれてるみたいで遠くからでも買いにきてくれる人がいるのよね、お客さん同士、そうやって繋がっていくのはありがたいわよね。

I think I have slightly more male customers; also, neighbors and moms with children too. Anyway, my hot dog buns are packed full of ingredients and volume. I open the shop from 6 o'clock in the morning, but there are customers who line up before then. There’s also many craftsmen, taxi drivers and police too.
Oh yes, speaking of the police, I get phone orders from the local Arakawa police as well as from neighboring Taito-ku, but you know, the detectives are always being reassigned to other places aren’t they? So it looks like they talk about my store because I get people from far away coming to shop here. I’m grateful that my customers connect with each other in this way.

この場所は今でこそ、うちだけが残って商いをやっているけどね、本当は商店街だったの、でも戦争の影響もあって疎開したりしてなくなっちゃった。それでも長くやってると、TVや雑誌なんかに取材されたりする機会も増えて、最近では地元の小学校の子供達が「クラスで新聞を作るから取材させてください」って来たりしてね。小学生なのに一人前にインタビューしていったりして（笑）、それがすごく可愛らしくて。あとは大学生が一度、取材に来たんだけど、そのレポートを教授が「よく分からんから」ってことで、生徒さんと一緒に来て、話を聞いたりしてくださってね。今でも賑やかにやっていますよ。

Well right now I’m the only one still doing business here, but this actually used to be a shopping arcade. However with the war and all everyone was evacuated and it disappeared. So having been here for so long, I’m getting interviewed more and more by TV and magazines and such, and lately, children from local elementary schools are saying they’re making newspapers for class and want an interview. Even though they’re elementary school students they interview professionally, and that’s pretty cute. We also had a university student come for an interview, but the professor said they couldn’t understand the report so they came along with the student and listened to my story. It’s still pretty lively here.

とくにこれと言って、続けている習慣ってのはないけど、ボケずにやれている秘訣は、おしゃべりだと思う（笑）。毎日、朝3時に起きて、家のことを済ませて4時半にはお店で開店支度を始めるんだけど、たまの休みにはお友達のお家へ行って、ずっとおしゃべりしてるのよ。同世代5人でグループを作ってて、10年くらい前は、一緒に短歌を詠んだりもしてたけど、最近はみんなで年に一回、旅行するのが楽しみなの。今年は長野県に行ったし、去年は栃木県だった。日頃から「ちょっとお茶でも飲まない？」って声をかけ合ってね。お客さんとの会話もそうだけど、元気でいられる秘訣は、おしゃべりでリラックスできる時間かな。

I have to say in particular, I’m not keeping up any habit or anything, but I think the secret to plodding along without becoming demented is chatting. Every day I get up at 3 o'clock in the morning and finish the chores, then at 4:30 I start preparing to open the store, but during the occasional vacation I go to my friend's house and chat all the time. Five of us got together to make a group – we’re around the same generation – and about 10 years ago we were composing tankas together, but nowadays we all look forward to traveling once a year. This year we went to Nagano Prefecture and last year was Tochigi Prefecture. We invite each other out for tea daily. I speak to my customers too, but yes, the secret to being energetic is having the time to relax and chat.

一番初めにお店を開店したときは木造でね、「みはるや」って名付ける前は「三陽屋」と書いて「さんようや」だったの。そのときは鉛筆にお店の名前を印刷する印刷屋さんをやってたりしてね、何回も改装したりして今の形があるのよ。
「みはるや」にしたのは、父が食品を扱うお店なのに「三陽屋」は堅苦しいから、変えようってことで。色々考えてたんだけど、万葉集の中に「三陽」と書いて「みはる」って言葉が出てくるんですよ、響きも綺麗だからってそれから取ったの。

When we first started the store, it was made out of wood and used to be called Sanyoya. At the time we used to run a print service for printing store names onto pencils, so the store’s look changed many times before it became what it is now.
We called it Miharuya because it was a food store but ‘Sanyoya’ had a stiff sound to it, so we decided to change it. We thought about a lot of names, but then we found the Chinese characters for ‘Sanyo’ in the Manyoshu were being pronounced ‘Miharu’. It sounded lovely, so we went with that.

それでも当時は、新しいお店をすると知られるまでは大変だよね。だから銭湯の壁に広告を出したり、ほら、富士山の絵の下に名前を入れたりね。チンドン屋さんに頼んで広めてもらったりしたこともあったんだよ。今はあまりないけどね。
実はこの前、TVで取材された時に、それを見てくださった人の中に、50年前にご近所に住んでた方がいらっしゃって「TV見ましたよ！」って連絡をくれたの。それはここ最近で一番嬉しかったね。そのご家族とは近くに住んでいたときは、仲良くさせてもらってたんだけど、引っ越されて以来、全く連絡をとってなかったのよ。だけど、今こうしてお店を続けていることで、そうやってまた人と繋がれると「やっててよかった」って思うわね。
長年、お店を続けていく秘訣？ そうね、時代と共に、お店も色々と形を変えてきてるけど、何事も経験が大事よね。いいことも悪いことも、とにかく経験。経験してみないといろんな人の気持ちわからないからね。それが秘訣よ。

Still at the time, it was hard doing a new store until you became well known, so we’d put advertisements on the walls of the public bath, and you know, put our name under the picture of Mt. Fuji. We once even asked chindonya (traveling musicians that promoted companies) to spread the word, although you don’t really see those kind of people anymore.
Actually the other day, when I was being interviewed on TV, someone who was watching contacted me and said they used to live in the neighborhood 50 years ago. It was the happiest thing that happened to me in recent times. Their family and I got along well when they lived nearby, but since they moved out I haven’t been in touch with them at all. Still, I continue with the store today and I feel glad about it when I’m able to connect with people that way.
The secret to keeping up the store for so many years? Well, the store has changed shape with the times in various ways, but experiences are important in everything. Whether it’s good or bad, it’s always an experience. If I don’t experience it, I can’t know what everybody is feeling. That's the secret.