The couple's shop eventually became "everyone's shop."

SPROUT was created with the ideal of Seattle's cafe community in mind, but how has it grown since opening?

"As the sign for SPROUT says 'OUTDOOR ESPRESSO,' we initially opened the cafe as a couple hoping to create a place for outdoor enthusiasts to gather. But gradually the number of staff increased, and people who had no interest in the outdoors started working there. That's when we thought, why not just force people into our own mold?"

Before he knew it, he realized that each staff member had their own community. For example, on days when a staff member with deep music knowledge works at the storefront, music friends gather, and on days when a staff member who loves snowboarding works at the storefront, snowboarding friends gather, and so on, a different community is born each day.

Furthermore, since Togega-san had a child, the cafe has become a bustling gathering place for local mothers.

"At first it was just a husband and wife shop, but it gradually became a shop for everyone. They showed me a lot of worlds that I had never been exposed to before."

It was interesting to watch the changes in SPROUT, a place that has been nicely Niseko-ized while still being based on Seattle cafe culture. At the same time, however, Touge felt that "there are few places where people with unique personalities can utilize their own strengths."

Meanwhile, another building connected to the current SPROUT was to be demolished due to deterioration. When the property was purchased, this building was also owned by Touge, so he began to wonder, "Is there something we can do with this location?"

"It's easy to hold one-off events or markets, but I thought that if we could create a place where we could continuously share information, we could do something even more interesting."

The building to the right of SPROUT was left vacant after the weight of snow caused the beams to break due to aging. It feels like something new is about to begin.