When I started working in this sector, in October 1989, the restaurant brand name was the element attracting the customer; today, patrons are attracted by the figure of the ‘owner chef’.

It is an ‘interesting evolution, yet my attitude and feeling towards the business has not changed and I’m still working and adapting to changes in the environment.

We own a few restaurants. We opened one of them – “Tsuru to kame” – with the intent of improving and supporting the status of women who, for historical reasons, have not always been recognized as chefs despite their capabilities, being humble and hard working.

The store concept – managed in continuous collaboration with the 7 female chefs – is aimed to pass on the culture and traditions of kaiseki seasonal Japanese cuisine to the next generation, in an welcoming environment.

I feel that, particularly today, the success of our activities depends on two key aspects: investment on training and business model development.

My first responsibility is to train properly itamae chef and refine our customer service.
Itamae training does encompass both the learning of food and utensils, manners on how to deal with the clientele, how to speak etc. In addition, it includes the daily study of ceremony, calligraphy, English, haiku, tanka, Kojiki, etc. to develop human sensibilities and soft knowledge.

Learning the job requires a lengthy practical apprenticeship; of about 2~3 years.

Food preparation training is divided into phases. Sushi training is organized daily in the mornings, while fish cooking is arranged over a period of 1 week in one of our restaurants specialized in fish cooking.
Apart from the store we also run a lunch box sales business; each trainee would spend some time there and prepare the ingredients – cutting, simmering, and baking training – for 100 jars of vegetables and fish every day.
During the training we work, learn and experiment with ingredients, making expensive ‘osechi’ dishes (special dishes to eat on New Year’s Day) learning professional skills together – craft cutting of blowfish, sushi, soft shell turtle, and game – a type of training that blend cooking and human qualities into professional craftmanship.
We are lucky to be able to conduct a training that may not be possible in a small store.

The most difficult part of our job is to be able to create teamwork and share one purpose.
We try to achieve that by placing young female chefs in the front-of-house while seniors support and educate them from behind the scenes; in this way, young people are kept motivated and grow professionally without being afraid to take responsibility.

Besides the care in the preparation of our employees, we try and keep up to date on the market and analyse our business on a regular basis, to answer to customers expectations and needs.

The restaurant – due to its location in Ginza – is often used for business entertainment and enjoys a regular clientele of ‘couples’ as well.
Customers like to enjoy refined food in a place that conveys a spirit of hospitality and service. They are impressed by the teamwork over the counter, as well as aesthetical presentation of the food.

The pandemic this year – and the relative decrease in restaurant guests – teach us the importance of thinking and experimenting different concepts, in different ways to manage the business.

We have been serving the younger generation, offering bento boxes outside the restaurant in the hope that they will become regular costumers/fans with time. Now, we have expanded this service to a larger audience and increased the quantity of bento boxes we sell them daily at our stores, as well as from our food trucks.

Our future business models will aim to develop and offer good value suggestions and guaranteeing food safety to our customers to a level where even babies could eat our food.
We are very keen on providing safe food without genetic modification.
For that purpose, we are considering creating, among other things, a dedicated agricultural facility.