Before I opened my first restaurant, I had already been working in the fishery industry for over 30 years. By then I already had a rich network of suppliers, and was confident that I could provide fresh sushi at all hours, even midnight. I wanted to help restore Tsukiji back to its former glory by attracting visitors through sushi. I was enthusiastic when SUSHIZANMAI Honten (The Main Store) opened its door. Please remember, this store opened at a prime location just outside of Tsukiji that had Japan’s largest public market and was situated right next to Ginza, Japan’s number one entertainment district. In the morning shoppers coming to the market for fresh produce, during the day the residents and office workers from nearby companies stopped for lunch. In the evening, Ginza Kabuki theater or moviegoers, office workers finishing their jobs would visit Tsukiji. Even from late night to early morning, truck drivers who made fresh deliveries would come in. I thought there was plenty of demand. But what I didn’t count on was that I couldn’t get any customers late at night.

At that time, there were around six thousand trucks gathering in Tsukiji after 11:00 PM, all filled with the freshest catches and harvested vegetables from around the country. Once the truck drivers are done with deliveries and complete their work, they would go out to eat with their colleagues and companions. I considered 10% of those, that is 1200 persons daily, as potential customers for fresh sushi. I even sent out flyers specifically targeting the drivers, but the reality was different.

Why was that? When I asked a driver whom I was friendly with about this, I learned that the drivers were ordered to drive to other markets in Yokohama, Chiba, Omiya and elsewhere after Tsukiji. If they didn’t leave Tokyo before the morning rush hour, they would never make it on time to the next stop. The driver even said, this was not the time to be casually eating sushi with their girlfriends. All of this went contrary to my expectations, and I was at a loss for words.

<<Unexpected Saviors>>

Operating a 24-hour shop meant that finding customers from midnight until dawn was key. From the very start, this was an unexpectedly difficult roadblock. Aside from truck drivers, who else could be potential customers coming into the shop at these hours. Nobody knew the answer. As a last ditch effort I decided to make a phone call. I called three hostesses, the proprietors of luxury clubs in Ginza that were fond of me. I told them about my new 24-hour sushi shop, and asked if they could come visit with their customers after they were done working. I made that call out of desperation and a wish for somebody to come.
That day, late at night, being the honest soul that she was, one of the hostess visited my shop with 3 of her customers. The next day, another one’s was a party of 8, that included her staff and customers. The following day, another one of the hostesses brought a party of 16 … Maybe it was like a competition between them, but as for me, the clientele from Ginza was increasing. It was only later that I learned that the news — about a sushi place, where one could casually enjoy sushi after the bars and clubs have closed — traveled around Ginza.
Our first place only had 40 seats, lines started piling up. It was a peculiar sight indeed. At 3 in the morning on the corner of Tsukiji in the middle of Tokyo, there were lines of rich men and beautiful women in kimonos lining up in front of a sushi shop. This spectacle became featured in newspapers, on television programs and magazines, all were wondering what was going on. That had spread the news further, and the general public came spurring to visit our shop. Affordable and fresh sushi at midnight in the fishery Mecca that is Tsukiji. We gained such popularity, that eventually, not only guests from all over Tokyo were visiting our shop, but some even drove here at night from Mito, Nagoya and elsewhere. It seems that we were even featured in some foreign guidebooks, as from midnight to dawn there was an increase of foreign travelers who came here from Narita Airport during their transit.
Now that I look back, I think the 24-hour shop would never have worked out, if I didn’t call those three hostesses. It was a strike of luck, I guess. Although some hostesses have since retired, I always make sure to return the favor, say hello and have a drink at their bars or a place operated by their former staff members.