The new series, "Japanese People Active Overseas," introduces stories of Japanese people who are active in various fields on the global stage.
The third guest is Muneo Nishida, president of Hyakunosha International Limited, which is currently expanding its stores in Hong Kong at a breakneck pace. The company name Hyakunosha embodies Mr. Nishida's strong will. In other words, the company's philosophy is to "create agriculture for the next 100 years."
"We always have over 20 types of omusubi on display in our stores. We've offered around 300 different fillings so far, and we release new products every month. Our current bestseller is the 'yakiniku omusubi'. Other popular items include 'sukiyaki omusubi', 'grilled salmon omusubi' and 'omelet omusubi'. We also sell omusubi with fillings that aren't available in Japan, such as XO sauce, red snow crab salad, crab miso and abalone, which is only available during the Lunar New Year.
We often get hints from our customers. We also get suggestions for ingredients from a Facebook fan page set up by a fan with over 7000 followers. We also invite one customer who has become close with us at the restaurant every week to talk for about an hour and receive various requests."
The cheapest is 12 Hong Kong dollars per piece, and the average is 20 Hong Kong dollars (about 400 yen). Now, these rice ball specialty stores are growing at an incredible pace.
It all started in Hong Kong in 2011. Founded by just two people, the rice ball specialty store "Hanamusubi" has now grown to 2022 stores and approximately 150 employees, including the new brand "OMUSUBI" which launched as a global flagship store in 1000.


Products from the new brand "OMUSUBI"
A charismatic retail manager gives me inspiration to pursue farming
How did a manager who could increase sales so dramatically in just 10 years come about? Nishida was unique even when he was a student at Waseda University.
"When I was in my second year of university, I started an IT company. Although I started the company with vague ideas, I was busy with daily tasks such as cold calling. I had a desire to contribute to society through my business, and I felt more and more strongly that I couldn't continue like this. So I read books by various business managers, and found that there were people who said that the pursuit of profits for a company and contributing to society are not contradictory."
What's a little different about Nishida's initiative is that he takes a concrete step forward.
"I thought it would be quicker to go and meet the senior managers in person and listen to what they had to say. I wrote letters to 400 prominent managers at the time, including those who had graduated from Waseda. I received replies from 40 people, and I went to meet them one by one.
So I asked him, 'I started a company, but I have concerns about social issues. Can you tell me how I can achieve what I want to achieve?'
The person who gave the young Nishida an epiphany was the charismatic founder of a retail company.
"He told me, 'There are three industries that we were unable to change in our generation, so choose from those.' The first is education, the second is defense and security, and the third is agriculture. 'Agriculture is Japan's core industry,' he said. I thought of agriculture not only as an industry that produces food to support people's lives, but also as something that is deeply connected to our values and Japan's traditional culture, and is rooted in the very foundations of Japan. It is nothing less than 'a business to dedicate your life to.' I thought it would be a great honor to be involved in it, so I decided to do a business related to agriculture."
Founded in Hong Kong in 2011, amidst great adversity
That was when I was 20 years old.
He then spent five years studying agriculture, visiting producers all over Japan and even going to markets to learn about how it all works.
"When I was 25, I realized that if Japanese rice went out more into the world, it would bring about major changes in Japan's agricultural policy and the agricultural system itself. Until then, producers had only looked at the domestic market. I thought that if we added the perspective of exporting Japanese rice to that, it would be a game-changer in a sense. I thought that doing so could open up a breakthrough in solving social problems such as a decline in food self-sufficiency and an increase in abandoned farmland. So I went to Hong Kong, the region where the most Japanese rice was exported."


Hanamiyabi store
When I came to Hong Kong, I made some new discoveries.
"Japanese rice was being sold in supermarkets, but it had been milled six months or a year ago, so it was not fresh. What's more, the correct cooking method was not explained to customers. Japanese rice needs to be soaked for 30 minutes to an hour.Until then, Hong Kong customers had mainly been eating Thai rice, which did not require the soaking process. In other words, Japanese rice was not delivered to consumers in a tasty form.
So we came to the conclusion that if we made and sold rice balls, we could deliver Japanese rice to customers in the most delicious way.
We were founded in 2011, but the Great East Japan Earthquake happened right after we opened. There was a lot of negative publicity that anything with the word "Japan" on it wouldn't sell. The import of rice didn't stop that much, but every moment with customers at the store was a battle. We carefully explained the safety of our rice balls to each and every customer."
Besides that, the biggest difficulty was the difference in food culture. Hong Kong people are not used to eating cold rice. At first, customers would ask, "Why don't you have tuna?" and "Why don't you have soy sauce?" That was the level we had to start from.
"I explained carefully what omusubi is and how it is different from sushi. It is Japanese soul food, and that it is a food culture that uses Japanese rice and is the most delicious way to eat rice. 'It's convenient, you can eat it with one hand, and you can eat it anytime, anywhere, so please give it a try,' I said. When they tried it, they responded, 'Hmm, it's surprisingly delicious.' If I saw them in front of the shop again, they would say, 'Thank you for yesterday,' and it was a continuous cycle."
The sender of the scolding message was the head of a Facebook fan page!?
What about the ingredients in the rice ball?
"At first, we didn't know what ingredients would be well-received, so we just used Japanese ingredients like kelp, plum, and salmon. People said that the salmon was too salty if it was left with the Japanese flavor, and we listened to that feedback one by one and made repeated adjustments. Even now, when you make a purchase, there is a QR code on the receipt that says, 'Please send a message to President Nishida,' or 'Please leave a comment.' I receive an enormous number of comments every day. I go through each one with my customer service team and reply to all of them.
If they send me a message of criticism, I meet them, and if they send me a message of praise, I invite them to an interview. I do this every day, accumulating information and using it to develop new products. That's why many of our menu items have been developed by our customers."


Hanamiya brand rice balls
These are probably the most useful because they are raw, honest responses.
"Once, a small foreign object was found in the filling of a rice ball, and a customer sent me a message of thanks. I went to meet the customer, apologized, and explained the situation carefully, and the customer was deeply moved. Then the customer asked me, 'Do you know who I am?'
I didn't know this, but she was actually the representative of a Facebook fan page that was independently set up by fans of "Hanamiya". When she wrote about the incident on Facebook, it was picked up by media outlets all over Hong Kong, and the response was tremendous."
It's a touching episode.
"I was surprised too. But it really boosted our brand awareness. That was around 2019."
Perhaps the Japanese style of humble behavior was a good thing.
“I think that was the case. I think it’s important to both stick to the Japanese way and be flexible.
As for the company culture, ours is relatively flat, and we talk to everyone equally. Employees are career-oriented and tend to voice their opinions, so we take them into account when making decisions. We put a lot of thought into decision-making and team building."
The number of stores is the same as Starbucks
When did you start to feel a sense of accomplishment?
"We opened stores in the MTR (subway) and at the IFC Mall in Central in 2015, and then in 2019 when we received the message from the customer I mentioned earlier. Now, with 150 stores, we have about the same number as Starbucks, and the brand has grown into one that is known by most people living in Hong Kong."
Some stores apparently sell 3000 units a day.
"We use rice from all over Japan, from Hokkaido, Yamagata, Aomori, Niigata, Miyagi, Nagano, and other places. I have direct relationships with the producers and hold online meetings every month, and I often travel back and forth between Japan and Hong Kong. We share our ways of thinking, principles, and awareness of issues with the producers, and it is important that they tell us about the challenges they are facing. Rather than being chased by short-term goals, we are conscious of working on projects with a span of around 3-XNUMX years.
The company has its own quality standards for rice. In addition, we also focus on environmental conservation, so we are working to reduce the methane gas emitted from rice fields through processes such as mid-drying and autumn tilling. We also try to limit the use of pesticides as much as possible."


President Nishida visiting a farm
What's important is contributing to Hong Kong
What makes President Nishida stand out as a businessman is that he is serious about contributing to society in Hong Kong.
"My original intention was to export rice to improve Japan's agriculture and solve social issues in Japan. But that was a perspective seen from a Japanese perspective, and it didn't resonate at all with the people of Hong Kong. It's impossible to get the people of Hong Kong to empathize with me in that way from the start. So the important thing is to think about how I can contribute to local Hong Kong society by spreading Japan's omusubi culture."
So we started with our employees.
"Only about half of Hong Kong's residents have health insurance.There is a current situationTherefore, the scope of medical insurance provided by the company to employees will be expanded year by year, and from 2023,Full-time/Part-timeNot just employees,Full-time employeesWe also provide medical insurance to children under the age of 18. This is a very pioneering initiative in Hong Kong and has been covered by various media outlets."


Hanamiyabi production factory
Supporting people's lives is also one of our company mission statements.
"For example, we have a store in a residential mall in Kowloon Bay, located under an escalator. Half of the space is used as a sales area and the other half is used as a park, open to the local residents.Living space is limited in Hong Kong's housing environment, so many people don't have their own rooms. These people come to our shop from their homes and use it as a place of relaxation.
There is a parent and child couple - a father and daughter. They often come to the shop, so I spoke to them. The father is 82 years old and has been suffering from illness, which causes his hands to shake and he is unable to use chopsticks. The daughter usually helps him with meals, but she told me, "Because my father can eat rice balls with his own hands, it helps to protect my father's dignity." I felt grateful to hear that. It also reminded me of the value of rice balls. It is important to support Hong Kong society and the lives of local people."
He also visits local elementary schools.
"There is no agriculture in Hong Kong, so not many people know how rice is grown. So I go to local public elementary schools to conduct food education activities. I explain how rice is grown, and that it is a precious rice that requires a lot of work. I also make rice balls together with the children."


Rice ball workshop
The mid- to long-term goal is 10,000 stores worldwide
We mentioned at the beginning about the new brand "OMUSUBI," which was launched as a global flagship store in 2022.
"Environmental awareness, food safety, and global expansion. Based on these three keywords, we asked Kashiwa Sato to provide creative direction."


New brand "OMUSUBI" store
The stage is already expanding to mainland China.
"Last year, we opened a test store in Shenzhen, just north of Hong Kong, and sold rice balls made with Japanese rice. This test store was also significant for Hong Kong's economy, and on the first day, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong visited the store and tried our rice balls in his hands."
The future goals are also ambitious.
"My goal going forward is to expand OMUSUBI to 10,000 stores around the world. Beyond that, I want to make it a brand like Starbucks. Starbucks originally brought the dark roast coffee culture of Italy to Seattle in the United States, and then expanded globally from there.
We want to bring Japan's omusubi culture to the international city of Hong Kong, further brand it, and then take it to the world. If the number of omusubi stores were to reach the same scale as Starbucks, about 10 percent of Japan's rice production could be exported overseas, creating jobs for XNUMX people. I believe that omusubi has that kind of potential, so I want to achieve this somehow."
Finally, some advice for those who want to expand their business overseas.
"I'm not sure if what I've done will be of use to others. But looking back, I've realized that it's not enough to just pursue profits for your company. I think it's also important to think about how much you can contribute to the local community in which you are expanding your business."
Text by Toshizumi Ishibashi
Muneo Nishida
Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1984. Founded an IT company while studying at Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics. Changed course to promote agriculture as a "lifelong business." Established "Hyakunosha International Co., Ltd." in Hong Kong in 2010, selling rice balls. Founded "Hanamusubi" in 2011. Launched new brand "OMUSUBI" as a global flagship store in 2022. Currently, there are 150 stores and approximately 1000 employees.
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