Hello everyone. My name is Nakajima and I manage the Monosasu website and am in charge of announcements at Kamapan & Friends (Natural Products Center), a small additive-free food store in Ginza.
Kamapan & Friends Natural Products Hall , which opened at the end of November 2020, brings together local favorites, fresh vegetables, bread, and more every day from producers all over the country.
Standing in the center of the store is the store manager, Yuge-chan.
Even though it's a small shop, there's a lot of work to do, including selecting products, communicating with the makers, informing customers, contacting coworkers, updating social media, managing sales, etc. I'm always impressed by Yuge-chan, who cooperates with the people around him and pushes things forward with a smile and determination.
I met Yuge-chan in October, just before we started Kamapan & Friends Natural Products Store . We now talk on the phone for 30 minutes every week to write articles introducing the products we have in stock and the makers, but it's hard to find time to "sit down and talk about something other than work over a meal."
One day after closing time, when the store had finished cleaning up, I had a chance to chat with her while munching on some cookies that had arrived from the maker. I would like to introduce you to the kind of person Yuge-chan is through the way we talked while munching on our cookies.
- What made you want to get involved in food?
I didn't like vegetables. I really didn't like them. When I was in college, I started working part-time at a restaurant in my hometown of Mitaka. They made meals for us. It's hard to leave food behind when you're eating meals.
- That's right. It really feels like it was made just for me.
So I had no choice but to eat them, and the vegetables were really delicious. They were locally grown vegetables, right nearby. I wondered if vegetables grown close to home could be so delicious if they were cooked properly. From that time on, I began to think that one day I would like to open my own grocery shop that collected local ingredients from Tokyo.
- So I started working at my previous job at DEAN & DELUCA.
Yes. I worked there for about three and a half years. I learned a lot from being put in charge of managing a small store. The store had prepared dishes and packaged items lined up. Maybe it's because I was born in Tokyo, but I couldn't imagine it.
- Can't you imagine?
I didn't know how they were grown, how they were processed, and why they were priced that way. I thought I'd never understand unless I saw the process for myself, so I decided to work at a local farm and quit my job.
- So rather than trying to study while working, you felt like you were changing jobs.
That's true. There's also talk of her getting married. Isn't it nice to quit work to get married?
- But then you moved to Kamiyama to work at the Food Hub Project.
That's right. When I told Yokokawa, the CEO of DEAN & DELUCA, that I was going to quit, he said, "What you do is important, but who you do it with is also important," and introduced me to Manabe from Food Hub. It was a place I was interested in, so I stayed there for one year. I decided to work in Kamiyama because I would be returning to Tokyo after one year.
- It's hard to get married. How was Kamiyama?
I thought everyone was really talkative. They were always vocal about the things they were curious about.
- What are you talking about?
"The vegetable loaf didn't rise very much today, but maybe the vegetables had too much moisture." Rather than just giving my impressions of what came out, I wondered why it turned out like this, and how I could make it better.
In Tokyo, it's important to have consistent quality, but I was quite surprised to find that it's natural that this isn't the case here.
- You worked as a store manager, came back after a year and became the store manager. It seems like your job is to create the store.
That's right. I really love shops. I really love them. When I go into a shop I like, I like it so much that I draw a layout diagram of it. This is a coffee shop in Tokushima.
Unlike taking a photograph, when you draw something, you look at the small details. How many chairs there are, the musical instrument next to the mug on the stand, how many light bulbs there are, etc.
- I'm continuing this for my own future shop.
That may be part of it, but it's also fun. I like the way the personality of the shopkeeper shines through the space. It feels like I'm getting inside someone's head.
- What kind of store will Kamapan & Friends become?
I want it to have a sense of clutter, and to be fun to explore. Something that makes you go, "Whoa!" when you come down the stairs. I also want it to be a place where you can encounter something stimulating, whether it's the products, the makers, or the way the POPs are written.
Even though there are so many things I want to do, right now it feels like I'm not able to put them into practice.
- You do a lot of different things, but what are you good at?
I'm good at getting things done quickly, but I'm not so good at dealing with the little things that get scattered around. Someone is always there to help me, so I'm really grateful.
When I hear something fun, I reply without really thinking about it. Like, "I said I was going to Kamiyama, but I was actually getting married!" I often find myself wondering what to do afterwards. It's hard, but since I said I was going to do it, I have no choice but to see it through, and I just go along with it, saying I'll do my best.
-Finally, what are you looking forward to right now?
The other day, I saw a TV program about making dorayaki. I have beans in my shop, so I want to make red bean paste and bake dorayaki on a hot plate. Another idea I have is to make hand-rolled sushi.
Thank you for telling me your story when you were hungry.
By the way, Yuge-chan got married after Kamapan & Friends <Natural Products Store> opened. Her husband, who came to the store the other day, was a very kind man, just as you would expect.
The limited-time Ginza store will be open until the end of September. The remaining six months will surely pass in the blink of an eye, so let's do our best together while eating delicious food.
NAKAJIMA Kimi
Freelance, living in Ryukazaki, Ibaraki. I first encountered Monosus through an interview with “Nihon Shigoto Hyakka” and am now involved in several things, a bit outside of Monosus.