More stores to open in the Covid-19 disaster area, and the man behind the high-end bread boom opens up about his “setback

Takuya Kishimoto, 46, the bakery producer who sparked the boom in high-end bread, has rather increased the number of stores even as the restaurant industry has been hit hard by the spread of the new coronavirus. Last year alone, he increased the number of his bakeries by 133, not only in Japan but also in other countries such as China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Australia, and currently produces about 350 bakeries in Japan and overseas. His motto is, “I want to see everyone’s happy face. Behind his success is a childhood experience of bullying that he has rarely shared with us.

At the age of one, he was involved in a traffic accident. ……

In fact, I was bullied because I stuttered badly. When I was one year old, I was hit by a car and I was so shocked that I lost my voice…. From kindergarten until I was in the third grade, I had a really hard time… I was even nicknamed ‘Stammerin’.

Shocking words from Mr. Kishimoto, who has clearly explained the process of becoming the first bread producer and has increased the number of stores. I can’t imagine what he looks like now, but his unexpected past, which he never told his parents about, may be the root of his commitment to service.

I have to be strong. This is the question I kept asking myself as a child. At that time, I couldn’t wait to see my relatives. They always welcomed me with a smile.

To repay them, I must make them laugh and make them happy.

Mr. Kishimoto vowed to do so, and when he imitated Sawada Kenji, who was at the peak of his popularity at the time, he was greeted with “Baka-uke! Everyone laughed from the bottom of their stomachs. So I practiced hard at karaoke. I used a cassette (laughs), pressed two buttons to record and practiced frantically. Everyone laughed at me, and I was really happy.

Even though she was bullied, she was able to learn something.

Even though I was bullied, I learned something. I looked for people who would protect me. This was very difficult at first, and I had my teachers on my side. I also had to figure out how to get along with the people who were bullying me.

For example, I made friends with the girls and got them on my side. On Valentine’s Day, I appealed to them. Give me some chocolate! I said to myself. I got more chocolates than the girls who were bullying me. That was the start of a gradual change in my situation. My days were spent trying to survive, but there was always someone to protect me. When I think about it now, this experience was very important for me to go out into the world. In the end, you have to find someone to protect you. I still keep in touch with the people who bullied me (laughs).

Mr. Kishimoto’s first encounter with bread was when he started working at a foreign-affiliated hotel (Yokohama Bay Sheraton Hotel & Towers).

In my third year with the company, I was put in charge of planning and marketing for the bread department. I really dug deep into it. There was something I realized. A bakery can please people of all ages. For me, the sight of people of all ages being pleased with the bakery was like an image of a festival where everyone gets excited.

In 2006, at the age of 30, he started his own business. In 2006, at the age of 30, he started his own business. He chose Okurayama, one of the high-end residential areas in his hometown of Yokohama, as the location for his store. He was confident in the taste and quality of his bread. However, the number of customers was decreasing year by year. In the two years since 2008, just three years after starting the business, he struggled to pay the salaries of the three employees who had joined him in his ambition and to pay off debts.

When I look back, I realize that I had become a ‘hotel brain.

I had the idea that I wanted to please people of all ages. I had built a successful career in luxury hotels. However, this became a hindrance.

I was offering only maniacal bread. I felt like I had to offer an upscale lifestyle, and I couldn’t differentiate myself from the hotel I worked at. I don’t think I was getting carried away, but I was being pushy.

But even at that low point, a savior appeared. But even at that low point, there was a savior: someone who became my ally, just as he had when I was being bullied.

It was the head teacher of the nursery school who used to come to buy our bread. She said, “Your bread is definitely delicious, but could you deliver melon bread or butter rolls? She said, “Your bread is delicious, but could you deliver melon bread and butter rolls? I wanted to compete with other breads that other people didn’t sell, so I was very reluctant at first. At first, I was a little puzzled, thinking, “Why am I making melon bread? I thought. But I couldn’t turn my back on it, and the smiles on the faces of the preschoolers when I went to deliver the bread saved my life. I was also saved by the smiles of the children.

It was up to Ms. Kishimoto to make the nursery school teacher’s comment her “ally. If he had remained pointy, he would have disappeared from the industry by now. The most important thing is to listen to even the smallest things,” she reiterated.

Another store opened at the station where McDonald’s withdrew.

Mr. Kishimoto’s toughness in overcoming life or death predicaments seems to be a driving force for him to jump into “adversity. In October last year, he opened a bakery he produced just a minute walk from the south exit of Ikuta Station on the Odakyu Line. The name of the bakery is “Star Napping. Ikuta Station is the nearest station to universities such as Meiji University, Senshu University, and Japan Women’s University. Even so, the “urban legend” of the withdrawal of McDonald’s stores became a hot topic. It must be difficult to open a new restaurant in a place where even a major restaurant like MacDonald’s has to pull out, even though the number of customers is expected to increase. But Mr. Kishimoto was different.

I was convinced that this was the right station. I was sure this was the right station. （The express train (Odakyu Line) does not stop here. And there is nothing unique about Ikuta. However, students may not become buyers, but they will transmit information. I asked the many students to become “influencers” and drew a picture that would be bought by the housewives who eat bread in the morning. To do this, we created a very prominent vector.

Mr. Kishimoto, who is confident in the taste of his bread, thought about adding value other than bread. I am confident in the quality of my bread,” he says. He also sends out information on social networking services to ensure that people can buy the bread when they come to buy it.
Since its opening, the bakery has become known as “the bakery where you have to wait in line,” and it continues to be a success, selling out in the evenings.

In order to break out of the “dead end,” Mr. Kishimoto has been thinking hard and discovering what is necessary for each region. In order to increase his knowledge, he visits not only bakeries but also restaurants that are “selling well” or “popular. That is why I eat out almost 365 days a year. He says, “My brain gets the most tired” as he examines the flavors and carefully observes the people eating. As a result, he says, “ideas come to me,” even when he is confused about the subtle differences in taste, such as what would add a little sweetness to the bread.

As a result, unlike other high-end bread stores, he is able to subtly change the taste of the bread in all the stores he has opened. When I was thinking about it to the point that my brain was most exhausted, I also came up with ideas to please the customers other than having them eat the bread.

The bread dough before baking is so soothing to touch. I thought, why not make it into bedding? I made a ‘Twisted Bread Hug Pillow’.”

While the restaurant industry was hit hard by the Covid-19 disaster and many people were forced to close or close their businesses, sales of the hug pillow that Mr. Kishimoto created were strong, and he has a new goal to “revitalize the local area” in the future. He has a new goal to “revitalize the local area” in the future. He seems to be one of those business leaders who stand out from the crowd, but Mr. Kishimoto’s thoughts are different.

I know that it is ideal to have a big vision and to do things systematically in order to achieve it, but I haven’t been able to do so because I am so busy every day. However, I still have the same mission of ‘making people happy,’ so I keep thinking about what I can do to achieve it.

There is always a reason why a convenience store or a flower shop is popular in a rural area. In a sense, I was raised by the people of the countryside because my senses are sharpened when I go to the countryside or overseas. In a sense, I was raised by the people of the countryside. However, I feel that the countryside is losing its individuality. I want to do something to revitalize them. I would like to increase the number of directly managed stores in cities, towns, and villages with a population of less than 100,000.

The motivation to “make people happy” may have started out as a way to overcome painful feelings. But now it has become a mission to make the world a better place. Through his bread, Mr. Kishimoto is searching for seeds somewhere, even today, to bring smiles to the faces of people around the world, even those he has never met.