Curious, I went to a record store and bought a John Denver album. Listening to “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” I was surprised—it was a slow ballad, completely different from the upbeat tune I’d heard in the drama. A little disappointing at first, but from then on I began listening to John Denver regularly.
This might seem like a long detour from the sofa story, but all of that is why the word “Denver” stayed with me.
As I kept sketching this sofa, I imagined something that might have been built around Lake Lac Le Jeune, where BJ, Ken, and Akira lived. Something thrown together from the 2x4s lying around the site—a piece made on the spot, using the materials at hand.
A sofa that feels like it belongs in a simple cabin in the Rockies, somewhere between Colorado and Canada.
That’s why the name became Denver Sofa.
The leather is the same one I’ve used for nearly ten years in Bird, the café next to TRUCK. It’s striking that I had never used it on a sofa before—it has aged so beautifully. Right now it still feels fresh, but I look forward to the sheen that will develop with use.
The seat offers a balance of firmness and depth: structured enough to sit upright, yet relaxed enough to sink into. With this sofa, I could easily imagine sitting back and rewatching Rice Curry.
The drama influenced me so strongly that at nineteen I traveled abroad for the first time, spending three months in Kelowna, Canada, helping to build log houses. I even visited Lac Le Jeune and Banff. Of course, in the car I played the theme song—“Alone & Alone” by Ryudo Uzaki and Saburo Tokito.
