Japan Eats!23 Jul 2020

Running A Japanese Restaurant Empire

Our guest is Sakura Yagi who is the chief operating officer at the T.I.C. Group. The T.I.C. Group is very important for the Japanese food culture in NYC. It is founded by Sakura’s father Bon Yagi who is regarded as the founder of the Japan Town in the East Village. In 1984, Mr. Yagi opened his first restaurant Hasaki in East Village. Since then Mr. Yagi opened more approachable and high-quality unique Japanese restaurants and now the T.I.C. Group operates 13 restaurants in Manhattan, mostly in the East Village. (If you are interested in Mr. Yagi’s intriguing life and inspiration, listen to Episode 14.)

Sakura joined the T.I.C. Group 8 years ago and has been working hard to keep the company authentic as well as fresh and modern.

In this episode, we will discuss why Sakura decided to work for his father, challenges she faces in managing the diverse collection of Japanese restaurants, what is happening in the Japanese food culture in NYC, how she is coping with the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and much, much more!

In March, HRN began producing all of our 35 weekly shows from our homes all around the country. It was hard work stepping away from our little recording studio, but we know that you rely on HRN to share resources and important stories from the world of food each week. It’s been a tough year for all of us, but right now HRN is asking for your help. Every dollar that listeners give to HRN provides essential support to keep our mics on. We've got some fresh new thank you gifts available, like our limited edition bandanas.

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