Kanou Restruarant

The world of Japanese food has found its way into China decades ago, and among the hundreds of thousands of Japanese cuisines in China, Kano Ichiki’s Japanese-styled Izakaya has stood out not only through its fascinating dishes, but also Ichiki’s own captivating story of life in China. In my interview with Kano, we discussed how he came to bring the amazing signatures of Japanese Izakaya to the Chinese food industry. We also explored the impact of his Japanese background on both his career and daily life in China.

Spending the past 20 years of his life in China, Kano had an unique relationship with the country beginning as a scholar. Kano came across the opportunity of moving to China because of his background for studying abroad in Shanghai, working as a photographer and video editor for Japanese tourists in China. Having studied in China in the late 1990s, Kano experienced the changes in the Chinese society first hand.

My first prompt for Kano was straight forward “Do you feel easily accepted by the Chinese as a Japanese living in China?” To this, he answered, “During that time, numerous roads were still under construction, and life was inconvenient—therefore when I first entered China, the conditions for a foreigner were quite different and filled with challenges. My appearance was a shock to some locals since the number of Japanese in cities of China was scarce, and for many it was their first time meeting a foreigner.” Later on, as Kano officially stepped into the trails of business and life in China, he was welcomes by the local community, with many unfamiliar faces stepping up and supporting him. Because of this, Kano ultimately decided to stay in China. To a certain extent, his ambition of eventually starting a restaurant of his own passion was kindled then.

Along the same lines, Kano ran into many issues as a foreigner in China. In spite of being able to adjust to the Chinese society, many issues still existed in terms of Kano’s daily life throughout these years. When I interviewed him on this topic, he revealed some problems that he encountered due to differences in language and culture. “The cultural difference between the Northern and Southern parts of China has also made me recognize a challenging point. There was once when I was on a Taxi in Northern China when the driver drove the wrong way, and even though he did not admit and claim his mistake right away, the driver still had a warm heart and offered a free ride. On the other hand, when I was stuck in a similar situation in the Southern locations of China—Shanghai, the driver there was not as kind on the inside even though he honestly admitted his mistake on the outside.” Similar to Kano’s experience, many Japanese business owners in China have also been cheated in different ways. He also mentioned that the first time he started a business in Beijing, local partners who appeared supportive also took advantage of his profits. Despite being taken advantage of due to his Japanese identity and meeting challenges at various life-stage, Kano said that he loves the local lifestyle and the open-minded, encouraging spirit of the country.

Kano’s current focus, his Japanese Izakaya—a traditional Japanese restaurant bar—originated from his love for food and Japanese culture. And Kano’s experience and confidence in his restaurant today were the results of one of his previous careers.

“I attempted to found a bento meal company as a side occupation throughout my job as an editing photographer in earlier times; however, this business was not successful. Back then, there were much less companies that were in competition for the restaurant business, and if I had continued with that original idea, it would have eventually prevailed. It could have been a great addition to my current Izakaya.” Kano reflected on his past failures in his pursuit of excellence as a restaurant owner. Even though the bento business ended with regrets, this experience taught Kano how to avoid making the same mistakes in his culinary career.

Challenges, both big and small, persisted through Kano’s business experience. Within his current Japanese restaurant, small obstacles have also often challenged him. For example, the imitation culture in the restaurant and food industry resulted in other restaurants’ borrowing and forging of Kano’s dishes. On the bright side, however, plagiarism between restaurants also allowed Kano to shine, once customers realized that Kano’s Izakaya is where these brilliant dishes originates. As a result, Kano’s restaurant rose to the top among hundreds of similar restaurants.

Yet, the need for the ability to deal with fatal issues was reflected within Kano as what seemed like the biggest challenge he had experienced over all these years came to him—more specifically, his business. Kano’s Japanese restaurant bloomed with customers and highly amazing compliments around the opening in 2019, with every seat full in December of the same year. But a sudden hit of the COVID-19 changed the entire future of the restaurant. Just as the food warmed up in people’s mouths, the pandemic two months later resulted in a temporary closure of the store and took away the lively atmosphere. Kano’s words revealed how even though the popularity of the business gradually grew back months later, it never did go back to the high morale in the beginning. Under all the pressure from a potential failure of another company, Kano stood firm and strong, managing to fight and bring back his profits and success of his business. His urge and determination into doing so was because of his growth and the desire to create a better future and change the past.

Other than discussing obstacles to his business endeavors, Kano also explained how developing the restaurant has been a unique and fulfilling experience. “My Chinese employees are all very eager to learn, holding lots of dedication within themselves everyday. This is despite that the overall education level in China is lower than that in Japan.” He replied with respect. This is another reason why Kano found starting a restaurant business a very different yet amazing experience than all his jobs beforehand. As mentioned before, Kano has always admired the Chinese mindset. He not only enjoyed being around his Chinese employees, but also loved the Chinese lifestyle and society traditions.

Furthermore, Kano has found care and support in every step of his transition into the Chinese society. He claimed, “What I really love about Beijing is, like in Japan, the social status of the individuals is not the key to human interactions. When I first came to Beijing alone, many strangers were very warm and welcoming. They truly supported me.” The idea of a charismatic and easygoing society really engaged Kano, as he accepted help from the locals. From old colleagues in Japan to new friends in China, they have all been a significant part of Kano’s growth over the years in China. In addition, Kano also shared an interesting observation. “When I was in Western countries, where you sit at dinner reveals your social status. As a Japanese at those dinners, the fact that Japanese is a racial and ethnic minority is easily reflected from where I sit. What I really love about Beijing is, like in Japan, the social status among each individual is not important.” For this reason, despite the many differences in culture and customs between the two countries. Kano accepted China as part of his identity, just as he recognized himself as Japanese.

Of course, there are many differences between the two countries, both in terms of customs and personalities. Kano explained that the Japanese are highly organized and often stick to the scheduled, where Chinese people are always willing to take risks and try new things. “I really admire this way of taking action, which is why I always wanted to stay in China and continue with my career.” Kano claimed that he enjoyed the lifestyles here in China with a relaxed and open-minded spirit. He not only forged a bond between the two nations through his life’s actions, but also found similarity and enjoyment within each way of life. Beginning with his first career, he embarked on the journey to connect Japan and China through photography. Kano’s later contributions to the Japanese food industry in China continued to develop the relationship between the two countries that he loved.

Kano also commented on the impact of the pandemic on his personal life. He remarked with hope, “Aside of all the great facts I love about China, my newborn daughter is currently waiting in Japan for me to return, so I wish to be connected with my family again, hoping that the pandemic will end soon.”