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Kai Tanaka’s Strategy and Senses of Smell that Made the Lemon Sour Specialty Bar “OPEN BOOK” a Success

2023.11.21

#BOOK

A circle of friends connected by gootouchi! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.

On September 14, designer Takahiro Okazawa introduced Kai Tanaka, owner of “OPEN BOOK,” a lemon sour specialty store in Shinjuku’s Golden Gai, to the show. We asked him about his reasons for opening a lemon sour specialty store, his newly opened canned chu-hi factory, and his recently released book of essays.

Why did you open a restaurant specializing in lemon sours?

Takano (MC): It’s called “Mr. Golden Street.

Tanaka: That’s right.

Celeina (MC): (laughs). This is the second time you two have spoken in this corner, right?

Takano: Actually, yes. Let me explain a little about you, Mr. Hiraki, this is the third day since GRAND MARQUEE started! He appeared on the show about a year ago.

Tanaka: There was one more time after that, wasn’t there? I think we approached him, but he said no because there were too many people.

Takano: They said that connecting various people in Tokyo would lead to Mr. Hiraki.

Celeina: You’re kidding, right?

Tanaka: Because he is a fixer.

Takano: (laughs). I’m a fixer of Tokyo culture. It says October 5 of last year, so that means it’s my second appearance after October 5, 2022.

Tanaka: Nice to meet you. I consider myself a semi-regular.

Celeina: You are an older senior than me.

Takano: That’s kind of interesting.

Tanaka: Yes, it is. I remember at the beginning of FIST BUMP, we were going to keep introducing people week after week, and we said let’s ruin it by introducing a local high school classmate or something. So we decided to reset the introductions once a week, and that’s probably what happened.

Celeina: You mean it was Tanaka-san’s fault? (laughs)

Takano: I don’t think so (laughs). But that week was quite exciting. Everyone was a bit of a yankee, for example.

Celeina: At any rate, Kai Tanaka, listeners, maybe some of you haven’t heard the last time, so I hope we can talk about the OPEN BOOK, which is located in Shinjuku’s Golden Gai, right? The bar that is said to serve the best lemon sour ever.

Tanaka: That’s right.

Celeina: When did this one open?

Tanaka: 2015, so it’s been 8 years now.

Celeina: Lemon sour from the beginning?

Tanaka: From the beginning, we have been doing it with the body of ……, which is nothing but lemon sours.

Takano: With a body (laughs). Do you might have a back menu?

Tanaka: Of course.

Takano: Why lemon sour again?

Tanaka: It’s a long story, but it seemed like it would go viral if I made it very strong.

Takano: You mean like you liked lemon sours?

Tanaka: Not at all.

Takano: Really?

Tanaka: That’s right.

Takano: So, you were thinking from a marketing perspective that it was going to be popular (laughs).

Tanaka: I call myself the sparkler of the modern lemon sour boom.

Takano: I’m starting to feel that way.

Celeina: No, I’m already being drawn in by your tempo (laughs).

Takano: I heard that it is a very stylish restaurant, and I think the producer of this program visited there, but I haven’t been there yet.

Celeina: I want to go there too! Actually, I’ve never been to Golden Gai.

Tanaka: By all means, anytime.

Celeina: As a Golden Gai beginner, how about OPEN BOOK going first?

Tanaka: We are totally the first, and I recommend it. When we first opened 8 years ago, it was still a difficult place to go, but out of the 200 stores in Golden Gai, there were only 2 or 3 that were non-smoking, and OPEN BOOK was one of them.

Celeina: Is there a particular reason for the no-smoking policy?

Tanaka: I want to make it easy for people to come here. If the restrooms are dirty or if everyone is smoking, it makes it difficult for girls to come. If our store were in Ebisu, it would be an ordinary store, nothing fashionable. It’s a gap branding, because it’s in a dirty little place, so suddenly it looks fashionable.

Celeina: The business personality part is really showing (laughs).

Takano: Looking at the pictures of the store, the interior is stylish.

Tanaka: We did a great job on the interior.

Takano: The books are lined up in rows.

Tanaka: I started by wanting to use my grandfather’s collection of books for the interior. At first, I thought it would be okay if I only charged 100 yen for a glass of water. I thought I could charge 100 yen for just water. I didn’t really want to do it. But then I decided that if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it right, and I thought that if I focused on a single drink, it would catch on. Around 10 years ago, restaurants that were particular about one drink became popular. Like a specialty restaurant. That’s how I got the idea to open a specialty drink store.

Takano: That was the lemon sour. What kind of customers do you have?

Tanaka: Many of our customers are wonderful people.

Takano: Wonderful people (laughs). Like men and women of all ages.

Tanaka: Yes, they are. Some are typical Golden Gai people, and some are people who use our shop as a starting point.

Takano: Do you stand in stores a lot, Mr. Kairaki?

Tanaka: I don’t stand in stores. But if I am called, I will go. Please call me.

Celeina: Where do you go?

Tanaka: Recently, I have been drinking in Golden Gai.

Celeina: Are you drinking at a different restaurant?

Tanaka: Yes, I do.

Celeina: Is that private? Or is it a bit more business-like?

Tanaka: When I’m at the restaurant, I meet people all the time. I am happy that people come to see me, but I have to be there all the time. Also, I don’t remember the names of people I haven’t seen in a while.

Celeina: Honestly (laughs).

Tanaka: I don’t remember their names, but I call them “senpai.

Takano: That’s good!

Tanaka: Senpai, it’s been a while! Tanaka: Senpai, long time no see! Then there would be about five senpai.

Takano: There would be senpai all over the place (laughs).

Tanaka: Then there would be senpai, and then the teacher, and now the master, and it would be like, “It’s about time. It’s like it’s about to get bad.

Takano: But it’s a good solution, or a way to get by. You are very streetwise, Mr. Kai.

Japan’s first canned chu-hai factory newly opened

Celeina: I’ve heard a lot about the OPEN BOOK, and I was wondering about your roots. What kind of culture were you exposed to when you were a student? What kind of movies, hobbies, etc. do you like?

Takano: I have the image that you know a lot about it.

Tanaka: I’m a very athletic person.

Takano: Athletic? What did you do?

Tanaka: I played badminton for a long time.

Takano: Badminton! That doesn’t sound like badminton.

Tanaka: Yes, it is.

Takano: Like basketball. I was very tall.

Celeina: Do you plan to return to your roots in badminton?

Tanaka: I play just for fun once in a while. At the time, the university team was very strong. I was on the bench of the runner-up team in the intercollegiate tournament.

Takano: The bench, right? I don’t know if that’s great or not (laughs).

Tanaka: It’s a bench that doesn’t play in games at all. I don’t even bring my shoes.

Takano: But, since you were a student, were you exposed to a lot of music and movies?

Tanaka: I kind of liked it. I was also a member of a philosophy circle.

Takano: Philosophy circle? What do you do?

Tanaka: I spent four years reading “An Introduction to Psychoanalysis.

Takano: Sounds interesting, but I wonder. There is badminton and psychoanalysis in the philosophy circle.

Celeina: Then you grew up and became a lemon sour.

Takano: It’s chaotic in many ways, but I’m curious about the new restaurant you recently opened.

Tanaka: We opened a shop in Shinjuku Gyoen. Actually, I brought it with me today, and we built Japan’s first canned chu-hai factory.

Celeina: Inside a store?

Tanaka: It’s like having a store inside a factory. You see this with craft beer, too. You can drink it right next to where it is being made. We created a lemon sour factory and a store where you can drink it, just like that.

Celeina: The “OPENBOOK Break” in Shinjuku Gyoen.

Tanaka: That’s right. People tell me that I like Evangelion, but I told them otherwise. I told them that I am a Zeami fan. I told them not to say “Eva-inspired” or anything like that. I like both Eva and Zeami.

Celeina: (laughs). How did you come up with the idea of making that?

Tanaka: When I was working on Corona, I couldn’t run the store anymore, and I was just thinking that I wanted to make a product from now on. Japanese canned chu-hi is not very tasty, and even at convenience stores, it has the image of cheap sake. Craft beers are nowadays usually taking up all the shelves. I thought it would be nice to have a canned chu-hi that uses Japanese shochu and other Japanese ingredients. So I looked around for a factory that could make small-lot production, but there were no factories in the first place, so I decided to make it myself.

Celeina: Have you already opened?

Tanaka: We are open.

Celeina: What are your business hours?

Tanaka: I don’t remember. As I recall, we are open from noon on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Takano: We are open from noon (laughs).

Celeina: Where should I look?

Tanaka: SNS. We have an Instagram account called “OPENBOOKBreak.

Takano: Everyone, please search for it.

Celeina: So, let’s play a song here. I asked Mr. Kairaki to choose a song that everyone would like to listen to at this time.

Tanaka: We must be the same age, but of course we don’t know each other. I’ve always liked him, and I’ve always wondered if I would like to meet him someday. He is a very electronic type of musician. I chose him because I really like the image of him zipping through channels on TV, changing them all the time.

Celeina: That’s a good choice. Please introduce the song.

Tanaka: “Park with a Pond” by in the blue shirt.

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