A tall hat. A pure white cooking uniform. Inspired by the chefs I saw on TV, I decided to become a chef when I was in kindergarten. Without knowing anything, I would bring out the contents of the refrigerator, cut them up, heat them, and season them according to my own taste. Looking back, it wasn't even something that could be called cooking, but when I had my parents eat it and they were happy, that was the origin of my decision to become a chef.

In fact, my first job was also influenced by television. When I graduated from culinary school, I found a restaurant that was used as a location for a popular drama at the time, and it was very cool, so I found the restaurant and decided to work there on impulse. My motivation was simple, but once I decided to do something, I did it. In a year, the number of my classmates, which was 50 people, dropped to less than half, but I persevered and worked there for six years, imbuing myself with everything I could learn. After that, I worked in several hotels for 20 years, and what I learned was the importance of communication in cooking. Assuming that you have the skills, a chef who makes the kitchen tense, makes himself look strong, or cannot converse with the service staff cannot be called a good chef. Of course, some dishes are born from ideas that come from conversations with customers. I feel that these values are the basis of my work as a chef, even now that I work at HAPPO-EN.

After I changed jobs to HAPPO-EN in 2019, I experienced a variety of jobs for a while. For the first month, I managed pop-up events outside the garden, and then I moved on to planning the central kitchen. With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in mind, we launched a kitchen with the theme of "food diversity" to welcome customers from various countries. Since it was essential to be considerate of people with various backgrounds, such as Muslims, I acquired knowledge by reading books and going on business trips about ingredients, equipment, and the underlying philosophy. It was a job I had never even imagined before changing jobs, but I was secretly happy. I honestly thought that both myself and HAPPO-EN were great, as I was able to take on new challenges even at this age.

However, shortly after, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. A state of emergency was declared while we were preparing for the host town event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and the Olympics were postponed. HAPPO-EN itself was forced to close for six months, and events outside the garden could not be held. I never imagined that "wanting to cook but not being able to" would be so painful for me, something I had never experienced before. Despite the circumstances, everyone, including the president, discussed what they could do, and we decided to use the central kitchen that we had worked so hard to create as the backbone of weddings and banquets. This was the start of my first ever challenge in cooking wedding food.

As wedding receptions have started to resume, I was surprised again by how attentive the individual food service at HAPPO-EN is. For example, in a hotel, there is a brand image that inevitably comes with a line that says, "We can't do more than this" when it comes to customers' allergies and likes and dislikes. Of course, this has gradually changed recently, but HAPPO-EN places great importance on "not saying no to requests, but offering better alternatives," and I even feel a sense of pride in that. For example, for a vegetarian guest, instead of "combining raw, steamed, and grilled vegetables," each person will come up with a menu proposal, such as "a dish you've never tried before," whether it's Western food or Japanese food. Having worked in the hotel industry for a long time, I was shocked by the level of attention to detail that goes into each customer.

While catering to the needs of each customer, it is also common to take care to make the food look as similar as other customers' dishes as possible. Recently, we served a dish that looked the same as the restricted ingredients to a customer who had dietary restrictions that he had not mentioned to those around him, and he was very pleased. On weekends, many wedding receptions are held in a single day, and sometimes the number of events requiring individual meal preparation can exceed 100. However, behind the scenes, they are able to do it because of the "Team for Wedding," where each staff member works hard for the sake of the customers. I believe that this is a state of mind that would never be achieved without the team at HAPPO-EN.

Of course, once the food is eaten, it's gone. What's more, wedding food, no matter how delicious it is, is not something that will make customers say, "I'll come back next week." That's why it's all about how memorable it is. The taste, the temperature, the way it's presented, the way it's served. I keep in mind that what I make is equal to me, and I focus on each and every dish. I keep telling this to my staff, and I continue to work hard to enhance what makes it "unique to HAPPO-EN" for my customers.

What I want to do at HAPPO-EN from now on is to encourage the growth of the young and promising staff by expanding my network and proactively creating opportunities for collaboration with external chefs. The person comes out in the food. With this belief, the more I advance in my career, the more I understand the importance of a chef always putting himself in a stimulating environment and not getting rigid. The kitchen staff work with one heart and passion for "the customer." The biggest driving force for my growth right now is the desire to make all of them think, "I'm glad I chose HAPPO-EN as my workplace."