On April 1st, a birthday party for a certain celebrity with a connection to the Isetan Shinjuku Men's Store was held at the Isetan Men's Residence on the 8th floor of the store's Men's Building. His name was Charlie Vice, a name sure to sound familiar to regular customers on the floor where the party was held. However, something unexpected happened as the party began. The main character, Charlie, hadn't arrived even though the scheduled start time had arrived. The clever host apologized for Charlie's tardiness and, absent from Charlie's presence, asked Taiyo Onishi, President and CEO of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, to propose a toast. President Onishi took the microphone and briefly explained his relationship with Charlie, saying, "I met Charlie about four and a half years ago," before raising his glass and proclaiming, "Cheers!" And so, the party began. As the audience chanted "Congratulations, Charlie!" without a single person in attendance, the emcee announced that numerous congratulatory messages had arrived from those who weren't in attendance. Message cards plastered on the walls of the venue bore handwritten notes from a host of distinguished guests, including broadcast writer and scriptwriter Kundo Koyama, musician Akira Senju, BEAMS CEO Hiroshi Shitara, and amadana CEO Hiroshi Kumamoto. As the guests marveled at the splendor of the setting, the emcee then passed the microphone around to attendees. The first to receive it was Tetsuya Aoyagi of Lirica Bikes. Aoyagi had recently become very fond of Charlie's YikeBike (¥600,000) personal mobility device and the Italian Montante bicycle, so he came to congratulate him with a message of thanks for always riding them. Incidentally, the YikeBike is a portable, foldable electric commuter bike developed by a New Zealand venture company. It's an amazing product, weighing only one-tenth the weight of the once-popular Segway.
Next, Yoshinao Shimada, designer of the apparel brand "Cherry Sunburst," presented the "Guitar Hanger" (70,000 yen), an iconic item from the brand that creates products "that people would actually want," along with a congratulatory message for Charlie. Apparently, it's also possible to create one using a personal guitar.
One guest also came to celebrate with a rare bottle of "77 BLACK WATER," a pitch-black water. This beverage, containing highly concentrated, highly pure, and highly functional fulvic and humic acids, may be helping Charlie maintain his health as he loves to travel and is constantly on the go. Furthermore, Kesennuma Knitting's president, Mizuko Mitarai, revealed that some of the colors of her company's knitwear were born from her encounter with Charlie. "Charlie tends to be unreasonable, but when he asks me, I can't refuse," she said with a smile. Also, "x SAKE Planner" Hikaru Kimura, who connected with Charlie through his love of sake, confessed, "Just a few months ago, I drank with Charlie until the early hours." The audience was thrilled. The final guest to take the stage for Charlie was magician Go!. Whether or not some guests were filled with anticipation, expecting Charlie to instantly arrive at the venue thanks to Go's incredible skills, his appearance, with his unique mystical aura, instantly heated up the venue. All the guests erupted in applause at the miracle unfolding before their eyes. President Onishi, who was straining his eyes to discover the hidden secret, clapped his hands as loud as he could on Charlie's behalf, praising the genius.
The items introduced at the party were available for personal use at the Charlie Weiss salon on the 8th floor of the building, where the party was held, and were also available for purchase on the Charlie Weiss official website.
Toward the end of the party, a birthday cake was unveiled, sent by Susumu Koyama, owner and pastry chef of eS KOYAMA. All the guests enjoyed taking photos of the gorgeous presentation, but the main character, of course, was still absent.
Although the guests expressed their disappointment, saying, "I hope to see you again next time," perhaps because they were so satisfied with the delicious food and cake, they all left with smiles on their faces.
