Tempura rising

Overseeing Thailand's Fuji restaurants as they mark a quarter century, Daisaku Tanaka awaits the next phase

By Kupluthai Pungkanon
DAILY XPRESS


Japanese food is so ubiquitous in Bangkok these days that's hard to believe it was a rare thing 25 years ago, when the Fuji restaurants first started laying out the sushi for us.
"People only had Japanese food on special occasions," says Fuji Group managing director Daisaku Tanaka. "We saw the opportunity."

A whole lot of raw fish and rice later, the group controls 40 per cent of the Japanese-food market in Thailand, with nearly 60 branches, including its affiliates Shidai Koku, Coco Ichibanya and Sushi Tsukiji. It also does well with its Fuji drinks, salad dressings and sauces.
Ironically enough, in Japan, the Fuji Group's top restaurant is Bangkok Kitchen.
"Growth in the past two decades has been satisfactory," Tanaka says, somewhat modestly.
"We can separate Thais' adoption of Japanese food into three stages: First came the basic menu - grilled saba and tempura. Then there was more variety in the menu, with bento, futomaki, sashimi, sushi, teriyaki and tonkatsu.
"Now comes the third stage, in which restaurants will specialise in certain kinds of Japanese food. In Japan some restaurants sell only udon, or ramen, or maybe just eel dishes."



Tanaka, who's 36 and was trained in law, says the group remains a family business while employing 5,000 people. Each branch has 60 to 70 people on staff, and everyone has a specific job - if they're in the sushi department, that's all they'll prepare.
"We have a Japanese head chef and we run things in the Japanese way, with strict discipline, good manners, mutual respect and cleanliness."
The future challenge, he believes, doesn't involve the chain's further expansion, but making sure every branch meets those standards.