National Azabu Supermarket in Hiroo, where imported foods, groceries, books, toiletries, and stationery were available, has terminated operations as of today due to the age of its building.

The Hiroo neighbourhood is one of the places I visited very frequently because the training centre of the company I worked for was in that area. I visited there from time to time to have an English test or training for English writing or business skills when I was a young worker. Every time I had classes there, I dropped in on the supermarket to see the shoppers coming from abroad, mainly the United States, who looked rich enough to afford the imported products sold there. To see such successful people encouraged me to do my best to learn English and business skills for my success.

However, several years later, the training centre was closed and moved to another place. Most of the products sold in supermarkets are available online for the same prices as in their home countries, without paying extra at imported grocery shops. Besides, the United States is no longer the goal for successful persons, given its current circumstances.

The supermarket was a dream for me, and a wonderland that offered me a space of extraordinariness, but it ended its role as a symbol of success with the change of the times. Without the supermarket, I will visit the Hiroo area more rarely than ever.