PROFILE
Born in 1992 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. He played baseball until his high school days and participated in Koshien. While working for an advertising company, he launched an apparel brand and is active mainly on Instagram. In March of this year, he opened a store in Kuramae with "Asahiichi" restaurant on the first floor and "KEBOZ" apparel on the second floor. He has developed various baseball-based initiatives, including collaborations with the local professional baseball team "Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters" and the movie "Major League Baseball. Currently based in Tokyo, the company holds pop-ups throughout Japan.
PROFILE
Born in 1992 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. He and KEBOZ owner kenbo have played baseball together since junior high school, and both went to the Koshien National High School Baseball Championships in their high school years. He took over "Isakaya Asahiichi" from his father, which has been in business for over 30 years in his hometown of Asahikawa, and opened "Asahiichi & KEBOZ" with Kenbo this year. The menu is based on the concept of his hometown, Asahikawa, and includes such local specialties as the "Oebi Shioyaki" (grilled shrimps with salt), which is used as the restaurant's logo, and "Shinkoyaki," a local specialty using the same sauce that has been passed down from the previous generation. The limited menu offered in conjunction with the "KEBOZ" pop-up is also a must-order.
Promises made when I was a student lead to the present.
The meeting place for the day was Asahiichi & KEBOZ, which opened this March. We often see select stores with cafes, but the business format here is izakaya (Japanese-style pub) x fashion. This unusual combination seems to be an unlikely .......
We were not aiming for the unexpected, but we wanted to satisfy the audience with what we had done. Rather than wanting to do something unusual, we wanted to satisfy the audience with what we had done.
This is what Mr. Monzen, the owner of Asahi Ichi, says. What he has been doing is running a tavern. He has been running the restaurant for about five years, following in his father's footsteps in his hometown of Asahikawa.
Kawamura (Kenbo) and I have been childhood friends since elementary school. When we were 18 years old, we were talking about doing a restaurant together in 10 years, and I never thought it would happen 10 years later.
Mr. Monzen closed his Asahikawa restaurant last May. Even though he was starting up the restaurant with his best friend, did he feel any resistance to leaving his hometown?
There was no hesitation. The Corona incident had caused a lot of trouble at the local izakaya. I wanted to do something interesting in the midst of the depression around us. Besides, I felt that I would be more successful if I started at an irregular time.
We knew that we were in a state of emergency when we opened this restaurant, so we have been working outside the framework of an izakaya for the past year. We made a special menu to accompany the "Kebozu" pop-up, and for a while from April, we operated as a café. Kevoz opens at 1:00 p.m. on the second floor, so we open at 12:00 p.m. and let people have lunch and then go upstairs to look at the clothes.
The "something interesting" that Mr. Monzen refers to is not limited to izakaya x select store. The original craft beer served at Asahiichi is a collaboration with the Harajuku beer store Three Feet Tokyo. The beer is not only fruity with a sour taste, but also contains CBD ingredients that can be expected to have a relaxing effect. Even a single item on the menu is a trick that is not simple.
