Not sure where to put this news, but Ayu's mom's shop hanaBi is closing on May 1st.
It appears that there was great damage done to the building during the earthquake, and since then, the candle area on the upstairs floor hasn't been open...I know not that many people from here have actually been there, but for those of us who have (and who wanted to go in the future) it's really sad...
Items will remain purchasable through their website, but as for the actual store, that will be closing.
Funny thing is, the day of the earthquake, I was at hanaBi!!! I left hanaBi, got on the subway, and the quake hit.
Anyway, here's the blog post from hanaBi staff:
http://ameblo.jp/hanabi-staff/page-3.html#main