Kujira Shoten
Store name: Kujira Shoten
Opened since: March 2014
Industry: Izakaya
District: Hachioji
Owner's motto: Earn your own money
Text & Photo: Atsuko Tanaka / Edit: B SABURO
Izakaya “Kujira Shoten” is located in a corner of the Hachioji shopping street. The owner, Tonooka is also a B-boy. He played baseball until the third year of high school and became familiar with breakdance on the late-night TV dance show "RAVE". It caught his attention and soon he begun practicing on the concrete in front of his house with his childhood friend. He was fascinated by hip hop culture, not only dance and music but also fashion and attitude.
After he graduated from high school, he went to Nihon University and studied economics. In 1999 while still a university student, he established the first street dance team in Hachioji called “8 North Gate” and participated in numerous break dance battles. In 2011, he won Japan's biggest street dance contest "B-BOY PARK".
In addition to his activities as a dancer, he established the dance studio "SHAKE DANCE STUDIO" in 2008, which has grown into the largest dance school in western Tokyo with over 1,000 students. He continued to demonstrate his strength as a businessman by setting up the design company "West Monkey Creation.” We talked to Tonooka about the izakaya “Kujira shoten” he opened in 2014.
Tonooka (on the right) and Kujira(on the left)
-Tell us what inspired you to open this izakaya.
I used to talk and drink with Kujira (meaning whale) who is the manager of this izakaya and also a core member of my dance team “8 North Gate” after we practiced dance every day. We always said that we should open a restaurant one day. When I was 33, I took on the last challenge of competing in a world breakdance competition and decided to retire after that. I thought it was time to try something new and opened this izakaya.
-Based on the name of the restaurant, I thought it was specializing in whale cuisine lol.
Yes, I get that sometimes lol. I didn't want it to feel like it’s my restaurant, and the reason I chose the name was to make people interested and wonder what kind of restaurant it is.
-What’s the concept of this restaurant?
Whoever comes here, can have a good time while drinking.
-Which food on the menu is the most popular?
Tomato tempura and “Calorie-on” have been very popular since the opening. The tomato tempura was on the menu at an izakaya that I used to visit a long time ago. Calorie-on is something Kujira used to make when I would go to his house. I simply wanted to have something high calorie and he made stir-fry with lots of stuff mixed with mayonnaise and meat sauce over the rice. That's why I named it Calorie-on.
-How do you usually come up with the menu?
When I tell Kujira to try making something that I've eaten elsewhere and thought was delicious, he makes surprisingly good stuff. Nowadays, grilled chicken livers and hearts are also popular.
-What kind of customers do you have?
A lot of them are my old dance buddies. Speaking of Hachioji, KICK THE CAN CREW is famous and I’ve been working with one of the members LITTLE, so he often comes here too. Also our dance studio is right there, so the students' parents come too. There are a lot of regular customers, so we’ve been doing fine and I appreciate that.
-Is there anything you paid particular attention to when creating the store?
It's about how to make it look like the masses. At first, we had the idea of making it look hip hop style, but we thought we should to do that in our dance studio or our office instead. So we focused on creating an atmosphere that anybody could enjoy. We have a little shack we built ourselves, a space with tatami mats, and we put out a round Chinese table so people could enjoy different stuff. The picture of the whale in the back was drawn by my graffiti artist friend.
-Besides your activities as a dancer, you also managed a dance school before starting this restaurant. How was it to open a restaurant business which is completely different from what you had done?
In the beginning of course it was difficult to make a profit, but I was young and energetic so I could overcome it. My dance teammate's father is a fisherman and runs a fresh fish shop in the Goto Islands, so I was able to purchase good fish directly from him at a bargain price. Originally, I just wanted to create a place in Hachioji where everyone could gather and have fun and I didn't think I'd do it this well. I feel like I tried it and turned it into a business.
-I see. But now in addition to this restaurant, you also run a Japanese restaurant "Heisei Gakkichiya" and a food truck "Kujira Sand,” and the other day you opened a new restaurant "Hamayaki Nikuyaki Dekosemaki".
Gakkichiya will be in its 7th year this year. I've always liked eating out and I’ve been to many restaurants in Tokyo. I was thinking that it would be great if I could open a high-class Japanese restaurant in Hachioji. Then one of my friends introduced me to a chef and we immediately hit it off, so I decided to get a loan from the bank and open the restaurant. Dekosemaki is a restaurant where you can enjoy grilling seafood and meat on your own. I always thought it would be nice if I could open a restaurant like that, and one day a member of my staff approached me and told me about wanting to open his own restaurant so I decided to do it.
-So you’re a true foodie.
Yes I turned to be. But I quit drinking alcohol two years ago and now I don't drink at all. In December of last year, I got back on dancing and started to challenge the competition again. Now that my company has settled down, I want to concentrate on my dancing again.
-So what would it be if dancing and cooking have something in common?
You need something original, but the basics are important.
-What is the most memorable thing that happened in the restaurant so far?
A small fire happened in the second year after opening the store. That night I was practicing dance with my team mates at the dance studio, and Kujira joined us. A phone call came to him and he got really flustered and ran out of the studio. I wonder what happened and ran after him, then I saw there were fire trucks and smoke coming out of the building…I thought my life was over.
-What was the reason of the fire?
Back then, we used to boil hand towels for the customers in a pot to sterilize them. That night Kujira left the restaurant and asked another staff member to close. But he forgot to turn off the fire and left. It was a deep pot, so the fire didn't spread out but the smoke went all the way up. It was really bad.
-I’m so sorry to hear that. Have you learned anything from that experience and changed anything?
I enhanced fire insurance immediately. Of course I had it originally, but I strengthened it. Also, we stopped the boiling the towels and got rid of any dangerous work. We tend to be forgettable when we’re tired, and since it's an izakaya, the staff sometimes drink while working so we need to be really cautious.
-That’s true. Besides that, do you have any positive memories that made you happy?
I'm happy to see customers and friends having fun drinking. And all three founders are still here. But when my friends tell me about Kujira, they say if he hadn't met me, he would have become a nobody without the dance or izakaya. That makes me happy and feels like giving me a reason for my existence.
-He wasn’t dancing before he met you?
No he wasn’t. When I was practicing with my friends at Hachioji Station a long time ago, he suddenly came over and asked us if he could join our team. That’s how it started. But he didn't practice at all lol.
-Tell us about the neighborhood.
It is a calm place and a little away from Hachioji's underground bar district. However recently the number of adult shops is increasing.
-Lastly give a message to people who are thinking of visiting your izakaya for the first time.
Now, in addition to sashimi directly delivered from the Goto Islands, there is another popular menu which is pork roll skewers. I definitely want everyone to try them, but the best thing is to experience the great humanity of Kujira. I think he’s pretty interesting lol.
Kujira Shoten
Address: 9-22 Yokoyama-cho, Hachioji-city, Tokyo OK-3 Bldg. 2Fl
Phone: 042-649-2119
Business Hours: Sunday-Thursday 5PM~1AM (last order 0AM)
Friday and Saturday 5AM~2AM (last order 1AM)
Instagram: @kujirashoten