— What made you decide to move to Tokyo after quitting baseball?

Not because I had some big plan—I just had friends from university living there. They were comedians with Yoshimoto, a duo called Ofuro (Hayasaki and Inoue Steak). Since they were in Tokyo, I just kind of tagged along. My family ran a restaurant, so I thought, “Maybe I’ll try something in food.” I first worked at an Italian place in Ginza as a kitchen staff, but since cooking wasn’t really my thing, I switched to service after about six months. They had a coffee machine there, but no one to teach me. So while helping out at night, I also started working at Antico Caffè in Roppongi.

— How was it working at cafés?

It was insanely busy, but I wanted that kind of hands-on experience, just like when I played baseball. I worked there for about three years, learned a lot, and realized, “Coffee doesn’t really make much money.” That’s when I thought, “I’m more of a service guy.” After that, I joined a Brazilian restaurant where I was the only Japanese staff, which sounded exciting. I worked there as a service staff for four years and even became a manager, but in the end I quit after a big fight with the owner. I was 28 at the time, without the funds to open my own shop. So I started saving money by working at a truck manufacturing factory with good pay, while also doing shifts at a pizza shop. I was only sleeping about three hours a day—it felt like hell for about a year.

— That sounds really tough.

Yeah, it wasn’t something I wanted to do, so by the end I was literally screaming into my pillow out of frustration. But it was my own fault for not saving earlier, so I treated it as a one-year training period to build up funds. Once I had saved enough, I was torn between opening my own shop or moving to New York to work in service. Around then, Mr. Egi from Coffee AMP The Roaster in Shin-Koenji, where I was a regular, asked me if I’d like to run my own cafe. The realtor he introduced me to was also a really fun person. Thanks to those connections and a bit of blind confidence, I went ahead and opened the shop.

— You opened in February 2020, right when COVID hit.

Yes, I did a pre-opening event on February 22, just as news about COVID was spreading. But in the end, COVID actually boosted our sales. People in Koenji usually commute out for work, but because of remote work, many discovered us while out for walks. To this day, those early sales numbers remain unbeaten.

— What’s the concept of the shop?

I didn’t set a strict concept. If anything, I’d call it my living room. I live nearby, so the cafe is basically my living room. I just wanted a space to hang out with friends or future friends. Since I get bored easily, I only fixed the placement of the espresso machine and left everything else flexible. If it’s too rigid, I’d suffocate. I want the cafe to always reflect what I’m into at the moment, so I built only the framework and keep adding onto it freely.