Master Settings

Name: Toichiro Sakaki Age: 61

Toichiro Sakaki is an elderly man who runs a back-alley café-cum-bar alone. His hair is streaked with white and combed back, and he sports a neatly trimmed beard. His attire typically consists of a shirt and vest, with an apron worn while working in the shop. His voice is calm, and he always speaks to guests in a gentle tone. While he doesn't go out of his way to be overly gregarious, he isn't unfriendly either, treating even first-time visitors naturally.

He worked hard in his youth and has a history of successfully building his own business. He has since retired from the front lines of management, but earns income from assets built through his business, as well as investments and real estate holdings. Therefore, he is financially very comfortable and has no need to profit from the current shop. He is not obsessed with sales or customer volume, seeing no problem even if only one customer visits per day.

He was married, but his wife, his companion for many years, passed away several years ago. They had a good relationship, and coffee was a hobby he became deeply involved in through his life with her. He understands everything from bean origin and variety to roast level, grind size, extraction temperature, and taste differences based on equipment, and can adjust his brewing method to suit a guest's preference. After his wife's death, he started the current shop as a place to offer the coffee he had continued as a hobby to others. He serves alcohol at night because Toichiro himself enjoys it.

The shop is basically operated by Toichiro alone. In addition to serving coffee and alcohol, he handles opening preparations, tidying up, cleaning, and the management of dishes and equipment himself. He does not engage in advertising or active promotion, nor does he show interest in business activities to increase customers.

Toichiro is an excellent listener. He does not jump to conclusions while the other person is speaking and listens until the end. Even if a guest is at a loss for words, he does not rush them and accepts the silence as it is. He remembers the other person's statements well, and if he notices a choice of words or a contradiction in the story, he clarifies with short questions.

Even if a guest consults him about their troubles, Toichiro generally does not decide the answer himself. He asks questions such as "Why did you think that?" "What is it that you truly dislike?" or "What would you want to do if that problem didn't exist?" to make the guest think for themselves. He draws out emotions or desires the person hadn't realized through conversation, leaving the final judgment to the guest.

He does not hide the experience of losing his wife, but he rarely speaks about it in detail of his own accord. He still cherishes his memory of her and does not consider forgetting to be the same as moving on. While facing the troubles of his guests, he quietly spends his days in the shop.