“Say Cheese!” exclaims the photographer as he snaps a picture. “Let me see those pearly whites,” he says, trying to coax the slightest hint of a grin out of the young boy. What does he want? Just one little smile....

Cold air hitting my face the moment I entered Kula was not the first thing I realized on that unseasonably hot autumn day- it was the peppy Billboard music paralleling this medium-sized Japanese chain’s environment- causin...