〈　1998　〉

It was the advent of the expected small scale café boom. In actuality, what the industry had been experiencing for a while was in fact, not a boom, but the fact that the old style of dining had become stale. It was around this time we started thinking that if we built a more exciting Yakitori grill, with an exciting sense of experiential dining, in opposition to the tried and tested historical forumula, to showcase the Yakitori beloved by so many, that this would be more fun.

With only the thought that people would like this “experience” preparations started.

〈　2002　〉

The shop When an old building was knocked down, and a new one built in its place at the current site, we started our store, raising it up from just a bare interior. Even with the support of many kind parties, including the owner of the building, our estate agents, friends, and aquantances, it took about a half a year to fit out and open, but it was a great and opportune start.

At the time, Yoyogi Uehara, was not the food destination it was today, with view people getting off the train specifically to eat there. The place was made lively by the regular local clientele, who lived and worked in the area.

〈　We had a strong desire to build a fun restaurant.　〉

Using the grill as a stage, our intention was to build an experience with a sense of performance, where people not only ate, but could see and hear the grilling.

When imagining the store, the mental image was one of the restaurant, viewed from the outside, with billowing smoke, and people surrounding the grill, having fun, dining out.

〈　Introducing Japan’s traditional food culture　〉

Even though our restaurant was started without the intention of highlighting Japanese food culture, and for people to just have fun, we have been pleasantly surprised by how much people from far afield have come to enjoy our Yakitori.

Starting with only the good will of the locals, our restaurant has word of mouth positive enough to experience good will strong enough that even people from abroad come back multiple times. It is our greatest hope that we can continue a high enough level of service that we continue to delight customers.