Real Twin Peaks 2026 – Twin Peaks and Japan: Connections to Washington State and Beyond

When Mark Frost and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks first aired on Japanese televisions in May 1991, audiences couldn’t get enough of their wonderful and strange show. During the Real Twin Peaks 2026 event, I presented an hour-long, free panel on Saturday, February 21 at the Black Dog Arts Cafe in Snoqualmie about the show’s connections to Japan. Months in the making, Dugpa and I researched the first Japanese tours to Snoqualmie Valley, the overwhelmingly positive reception Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and the legendary 1993 Georgia Coffee commercials directed by David Lynch.

TWIN PEAKS AND JAPAN AT THE BLACK DOG ARTS CAFE IN SNOQUALMIE, WA

The “Twin Peaks and Japan: Connections to Washington State and Beyond” panel was held on Saturday, February 21 from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Due to a last-minute personal situation, Dugpa was unable to join me for this discussion. Yet we began working on this panel at the end of 2025 when we presented our annual Peaksmas on Twin Peaks Blog. This was seven days of content about Twin Peaks in Japan including a look at the Georgia Coffee commercials.

This year’s presentation was held once again at the Black Dog Arts Cafe, located at 8062 Railroad Ave. SE in Snoqualmie. This location has hosted discussions during the Real Twin Peaks 2023; the Real Twin Peaks 2024, where long-time fans John Thorne, Josh Eisenstadt and Steven Miller discussed Twin Peaks film locations in California; and the Real Twin Peaks 2025 when Vinnie Guidera and I shared more fun facts about Twin Peaks filming locations in Washington and California.

Founded by Cristie Coffing in 1990, owners Maxine Loveless, Raelynn Salvage, Seth Engle took over the cafe in 2020 with a mission is to serve healthy handcrafted food in an environment that promotes and supports the arts, waging culture and peace in the community. The crafted a mostly Peruvian-influenced, vegan menu with in-house baked goods that are 100% vegan. It’s a wonderful spot to enjoy damn, fine coffee, engaging conversation and delicious food. Dugpa loves the mock tuna chickpea sandwich as “it’s to die for!”

TWIN PEAKS AND JAPAN PRESENTATION

Special thanks to Dugpa, Ben Oliver, Naofumi Komai, Frank Turner, John Thorne, and actor Takanori Higuchi who played Detective Ken Saito in the Georgia Coffee commercials.

There is a portion of the presentation that included never-before-seen photos provided by Taka from the filming of the Georgia Coffee commercials. At his request, these images were only shown to attendees at the Black Dog Arts Cafe during the event. In the video, the audio description of these images remains but the images were replaced with screen captures from the Georgia Coffee commercials and other photos.