{"id":381,"date":"2022-04-20T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/workmill.jp\/en\/?post_type=webzine&p=381"},"modified":"2023-09-04T18:03:21","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T09:03:21","slug":"hyakushokuya-entrepreneur-20220420","status":"publish","type":"webzine","link":"https:\/\/workmill.jp\/en\/webzine\/hyakushokuya-entrepreneur-20220420\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcome the Fear of Failure to Take on New Challenges – Akemi Nakamura (Hyakushokuya)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With four branches in Kyoto City, Hyakushokuya has become famous for its signature dishes such as steak donburi, sukiyaki, and meat sushi, gaining widespread attention from both local residents and foreign tourists from abroad. However, regardless of the number of customers lining up, it only serves 100 meals per day. The restaurant is only open for three and a half hours during lunch, allowing employees to go home without having to work overtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hyakushokuya, which has come under the spotlight for its business model that achieves the perfect balance between creating a pleasant work environment for employees and safeguarding the company\u2019s profits, is managed by Akemi Nakamura, Representative Director of minitts Co., Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Nakamura hoping to achieve by running Hyakushokuya in this way? And what are the values underpinning her vision? In Part 1 of our interview, we asked Nakamura about the secrets behind this unique business model, her own work style, and her current project of \u201cHyakushokuya 1\/2.\u201d<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building an Employee-first Company Despite Being a Restaurant<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WORK MILL\uff1aMany people have a negative image of restaurants as being understaffed and having a high turnover of employees who work long hours and are underpaid. However, Hyakushokuya has made it possible to serve only 100 meals a day during lunch only and allow employees to go home by 6:00 PM with no overtime work. Despite the shortened working hours, employees are paid as much as they were before. There is also less food waste and greater staff diversity. There are so many positive things about the company that it feels almost unbelievable, to be honest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Akemi<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2500Akemi Nakamura, Representative Director, minitts Co., Ltd.
Akemi Nakamura was born in Kyoto in 1984. After graduating from Kyoto University of Education, she worked in public relations at a vocational school before setting up Hyakushokuya as a Japanese steak donburi specialty restaurant in 2012. She then opened other branches of the restaurant that specialize in sukiyaki and meat sushi. The restaurant has gained widespread attention for its \u201czero overtime\u201d policy despite its incredible popularity, with people standing in line every day. In 2017, Hyakushokuya was one of the companies featured in the \u201cNew Diversity Management Selection 100\u201d list. In 2019, Akemi Nakamura was awarded Nikkei WOMAN\u2019s \u201cWoman of the Year 2019\u201d Grand Prize. She opened \u201cHyakushokuya 1\/2\u201d in June of the same year. She is also the author of \u201cLet\u2019s reduce our sales: How I was liberated from the obsession with business performance\u201d (Writes Publishing Inc.).<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nakamura: That may be the case. When I first set up the restaurant 7 years ago, we were thoroughly bashed by experts who provide SME support. They told us that our model was absurd and that it would never work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WORK MILL\uff1aThe restaurant currently has four branches in Kyoto City, each selling out its limited-edition lunch sets on a daily basis and manned by around 30 employees. What makes such a business model possible?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nakamura: There are several reasons, but if I were to pinpoint a single strength of our company, it would have to be the quality of our dishes. In other words, it is the power of quality products. Our cost rate is around 50%, a figure that is unbelievably high for the F&B industry. A lot of people cannot believe it. However, our restaurant has been regularly featured in the media in the past year or two, which has prompted people from the same industry to dine at our restaurant. They would make remarks like \u201cI don\u2019t think we can offer this dish at this price\u201d or \u201cHow do you take the time and effort to do all this?\u201d They would then admit that they cannot reproduce our menu at their restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hyakushokuya<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

WORK MILL\uff1aThe steak donburi is exquisitely grilled and really delicious. It seems difficult to serve something that appeals to everyone since there are such diverse preferences when it comes to food. Do you have any secrets?<\/em><\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nakamura: At Hyakushokuya, each time a customer places an order, we will grill one portion of Japanese beef, rest it for a while on a tray, and slice it into smaller pieces after it achieves the perfect doneness before serving it on our special rice. Our homemade sauce is also prepared using luxurious red wine. The soy sauce we use is an ingredient that can only be procured by our restaurant. We have also introduced some innovative changes to our operations and other aspects of the restaurant that neither restaurant chains nor family-owned restaurants can imitate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WORK MILL\uff1aHyakushokuya serves steak donburi at its first branch, sukiyaki at the next branch, meat sushi at its third branch, and curry at its fourth branch. How did you come up with these different menus for each branch?<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Akemi<\/figure>\n\n\n
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Make the World a Tiny Bit Better – Akemi Nakamura (Hyakushokuya)<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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WORK MILL offers inspiration to create your \u201cWORK GOOD,\u201d your own unique style of work. We carried out a survey with people who have been featured in past issues of the WORK MILL web magazine to find out what \u201cWORK GOOD\u201d means to each of them. What does “WORK GOOD” mean to you? What do […]<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tRead Article\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t