[Interview] Understanding the Essence, Offering Respect, and Finding New Forms. The Philosophy Yamato Furuya Entrusts to Tacos and MEDICOM TOY | MEDICOM TOY

DESIGN / FEATURES

October 31, 2026

[Interview] Understanding the Essence, Offering Respect, and Finding New Forms. The Philosophy Yamato Furuya Entrusts to Tacos and MEDICOM TOY | MEDICOM TOY

MEDICOM TOY

MLE × TACOS 3Hermanos

From MEDICOM TOY LIFE Entertainment (MLE), the MEDICOM TOY division dedicated to products that brighten everyday life, comes an exciting new collaboration with TACOS 3Hermanos, the popular taco shop celebrated for bringing the authentic taste of Mexico to Japan! The collection features a total of 12 items: four T-shirts utilizing archival visuals from 3Hermanos' own party event, "EL CHILANGO," alongside eight FABRICK® accessories—including tote bags, cushions, and slippers—adorned with their signature logo pattern. The collection launches on Sunday, November 1st, coinciding with "Día de Muertos" (Day of the Dead), the Mexican celebration that joyfully welcomes the departed.

Text by SHINNO Kunihiko｜Photo by NAGAO Masashi｜Edit by TOMIYAMA Eizaburo

If it doesn't exist in Japan, build it yourself

Yamato Furuya, founder of the taco shop TACOS 3Hermanos, began his taco journey in 2021. The major turning point came three years earlier, in 2018, when he received news from Japan while living in Mexico and returned home to care for his parents. He had been on the verge of settling down in Mexico, with his local export business to Japan finally gaining momentum, when the situation arose.

"After all, if I don't earn money, I can't support Mom and Dad, can I? That's why I came back to Japan."

Yamato Furuya

Born in 1974 in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture. Raised in a family associated with Sengen Shrine and Yoshinoike Hot Spring, known for its Mt. Fuji faith. After working as a musician and in advertising video production, he moved to Mexico in 2015. He founded the taco shop 3Hermanos in 2021, gaining popularity through food truck appearances in areas like Yokosuka, Fussa, and Yokota. He opened a shop at Lake Yamanaka in 2022 and a Harajuku location in 2024. Praised in Mexico even before Japan as "the real deal in Mexican tacos," the shop is now supported as Japan's only authentic roadside-style taqueria. His nickname is Yamita.

TACOS 3Hermanos

Instagram　@tacos_3hermanos_df
YouTube　@3hermanos_DF

Furuya, born in Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi, grew up in the family that manages the Sengen Shrine and the Yoshinoike Onsen, which centers on the worship of Mt. Fuji. Upon returning to Japan, the first thing he did was launch an Airbnb business utilizing his family home. Rather than giving the buildings—designed by his architect father—or his mother's side's hot spring facility, which dates back to 1856, a modern makeover, he decided to let overseas travelers experience them exactly as they were.

"I thought that 'as it is' would be the biggest draw. Surely what people with good taste and sharp minds are looking for is a truly authentic Japanese experience, right?"

That insight hit the mark perfectly, and lodging requests flooded in. Buildings and customs that seem mundane to Japanese people often hold a special, unique appeal to those visiting from abroad. His approach of conveying the history and life already present there, rather than creating a new performance, would later inform the way he started his taco shop.

However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp decline in overseas tourists, forcing Furuya to consider another line of work. That was when he turned his attention to the foreign population living in Japan.

For Furuya, who had lived in Mexico, tacos were not a special cuisine but an everyday meal. Yet, it was difficult to find the flavors he had grown accustomed to in Mexico back in Japan. He also felt a sense of dissonance in the way Mexican-American food, which evolved in places like Los Angeles, was treated as being the same as the culinary culture of Mexico itself.

"Well, then, I had no choice but to make them myself, right?"

When he started making tacos, he made no compromises, even when it came to choosing tools. He had pots and machetes (large blades) shipped from La Merced Market in Mexico City, and also brought in a machine dedicated to making tortillas. He prepared small tortillas suitable for authentic tacos, quite different from those commonly found in home kitchens.

The environment of Mexico City also plays a role in his meat preparation. At an altitude of approximately 2300 meters, water has a lower boiling point, leading to slow-cooking methods (confit) that result in a tender texture for the meat. To recreate the "fall-apart" tenderness he grew accustomed to locally, Furuya cooks his meat slowly at low temperatures. In the local style, the meat itself isn't over-seasoned, and the dish is finished with salsa. Almost all ingredients are imported from Mexico, and the beef is top-quality, sourced from the "Rancho El 17" ranch in the state of Sonora.

"I'm not the type to cater to someone just to make them like something."

Instead of rearranging things to make them acceptable to Japanese palates, he communicates the inherent appeal of Mexican food culture exactly as it is. His tacos, with their uncompromising commitment to local flavor, earned a reputation among Mexicans living in Japan and became known in Mexico itself through videos released in Spanish by YouTuber Alex.

Today, the business has seven locations in total, including the Kichijoji shop opened in September 2026. In Asakusa, in addition to the taco shop, he also operates "Hermanas," which serves breakfast menus such as chilaquiles. Furuya's goal is to ensure tacos don't end up as a passing trend, but take root in Japan as a culture. He mentions that he is thinking of a system where profits can be returned to Mexico through the sourcing of ingredients and tools.

"Because tacos are love."

That sentiment encompasses not only his passion for the cuisine but also his stance of trying to connect the culture he received to the next person.

The essence of culture, learned through music

To understand Furuya's approach to culture, one must look back at his music career in his youth.

Furuya had been into skateboarding from a young age, and at the same time, he would connect two turntables at home and play by rubbing 7-inch records. When he became fascinated by reggae DJs at age 15, he began working part-time jobs to save up and buy records. He expanded his interests to Muddy Waters—a leading figure in the blues, which are the roots of the Rolling Stones—and then into soul and funk.

"If you don't properly understand those roots, there is no music today."

Instead of taking in music as a superficial style, he chose to know where it came from and what it inherited. That attitude led him into the world of Mods. Upon moving to Tokyo to attend the Setsu Mode Seminar, he was discovered by central figures in the Tokyo Mod scene, such as Manabu Kuroda, and became active as the frontman for the band "SOUL NISSION," becoming known by the nickname "Prince." Afterward, he expanded his expression into hip-hop incorporating live bands, poetry reading, and dub, and also participated in fashion shows and installations.

What Furuya was drawn to was not the simple reproduction of Mod fashion.

"I'm not a Mod revivalist; I'm the type who became interested in the mentality behind it. So, there’s always this strong feeling that things have to be new, or that I have to get out of this comfort zone."

During our conversation, he mentioned names like Sly and the Family Stone, Arrested Development, and The Roots as bands that influenced him. Understanding the spirit behind past styles and updating them into an expression for his own time—the exquisite sense of balance required for this is precisely the point Furuya explores.

Eventually, after his music career, Furuya moved on to video production and advertising, successfully building a business for product introduction advertisements using QR codes. On the other hand, while he was supposed to be pursuing interesting expressions, he began to feel a sense of discomfort that the sole objective had become just earning a profit.

Then, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake became a catalyst for him to re-examine his life, and he began thinking about wanting to communicate directly with people around the world. In the midst of this, a Mexican girl he met in Japan who loved reggae music showed him the path forward.

"She said, 'I think I might want to live in Japan,' and immediately went for an English conversation school interview, then got a 5-year immigration visa. I thought, 'So this is how the world is built.'"

After that, partly due to her influence, he moved to Mexico without even knowing the local language and lived there. Furuya says that experience has become the foundation of his current work. And just as when he traced the roots of music, he tried to understand not just the form of tacos, but the life and values inside the culture.

The appeal of MEDICOM TOY's "remix"

Furuya's philosophy is also evident in the shops and uniforms of TACOS 3Hermanos. The design is handled by art director Tomoki Uematsu, with whom he has had a relationship for 20 years. The red and white of the store's interior weren't chosen simply for being eye-catching colors.

TACOS 3Hermanos Kichijoji Branch

1F TOP Kichijoji 2, 1-9-10 Kichijoji Minamicho, Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-0003

"In Mexico, a taquería (taco specialty shop) is attached to the edge of a carnicería (butcher shop). Everyone working there ends up covered in blood and fat. So, of course, it has to be white and red."

Instead of making it look "Mexican-style," he understands the cultural background and applies it to the design. That is what Furuya calls a "remix."

This collaboration came about when Tatsuhiko Akashi, President of MEDICOM TOY, received a copy of the book Furuya published in 2025, *Ai o Tsuranuku: Tacos 3Hermanos no Kakumei* (Type Slowly), through someone Furuya trusts.

"If I had asked him myself, it definitely would have been different. It seems like Mr. Akashi just thought it was interesting, and the conversation proceeded from there. I am very grateful."

Furuya is particularly charmed by the expressive power of the BE@RBRICK created by MEDICOM TOY. It is the skill of the collaboration that takes in various brands and cultures and converts them into another art form.

"In Mexico City, there are cool guys around me who properly understand what a BE@RBRICK is and treat it as an art piece. People who like Comme des Garçons or Y-3 see BE@RBRICK with a different set of values than in Japan."

For Furuya, this collaboration is also an opportunity for the connections he has built overseas and Japanese craftsmanship to intersect.

"I have friends in Italy, the UK, and Mexico who know me, so I'm really excited right now, looking forward to reactions like, 'What? You're doing something with MEDICOM TOY?'"

An exquisite balance that conveys the brand's personality through color, texture, and logo handling while making use of the BE@RBRICK shape. 3Hermanos' famous bottled Coca-Cola also recently became a BE@RBRICK, and he is impressed by that design sense as well. <Iconic new release for BE@RBRICK × COCA-COLAⓇ>

"The way it's in the bottle, the fact that it's bright red and they deliberately didn't write 'Coca-Cola' on it... isn't that incredibly clever? Japanese people are just outstanding when it comes to that kind of detail and good taste."

For this collaboration, Furuya chose not to specify designs in minute detail, but instead had them choose visuals for the T-shirts from past flyers of "EL CHILANGO," the party event that 3Hermanos holds periodically. His thought process is that for those who know the past events, it will evoke memories, and for those who don't, it will serve as an entrance to understanding the culture behind it.

"That feels more like the Grateful Dead, doesn't it? That feeling of, 'You have the T-shirt from that event we did that day?' (laughs)"

In addition, there are FABRICK® items that repeat the store's logo, as well as T-shirt body colors they hadn't produced themselves before. Rather than presenting their worldview exactly as is, a new charm is born through the addition of MEDICOM TOY's interpretation. Encountering a form they wouldn't have thought of on their own—that, for Furuya, is the real thrill of collaboration.

Incidentally, the name "Hermanos" means "brothers" or "siblings" in Spanish. It reflects the idea that anyone who comes to the shop, regardless of nationality or age, is family.

"I met Tomoki Uematsu, who designed it, when he came back to Japan from Portland during his time at Wieden+Kennedy. It's been 20 years since then, and I had him join our company. I asked Uematsu for the store logo, and asked illustrator Shuntaro Takeuchi to draw it. There are three people; the one in the middle is me. You see, I'm wearing a crown like Biggie (Notorious B.I.G.). I got a little carried away and asked, 'Can you let me wear a crown?' (laughs)"

For this collaboration, a bobblehead featuring Furuya himself is also in production. It seems it will reproduce the pose of him holding a kitchen knife in one hand and making his signature hand sign.

"MEDICOM is amazing. They make such interesting stuff. The final version is incredibly accurate (laughs)."

Furuya accepts being treated as an icon as a form of expression. He says he is increasingly being spoken to by strangers in Mexico or being told by people that they are supporting him after watching documentaries on YouTube. His philosophy is that he doesn't make being the center of attention the goal, but if others are having fun, he will take on that role.

"And luckily, I look just like a super famous singer in Latin America named Marco Antonio Solís. Once, when I was asked at a party full of Mexicans, I showed up in an Enka-singer-like suit, and it was a huge hit. In the past, I probably would have refused, saying, 'No thanks.' But playing that role to the end is important. I mean, I'm a professional, right? You have to see it through, don't you?"

That sensibility was also cultivated in his music career and on the party scene. It's not just about how he looks, but about what the people there are enjoying and what kind of experience they take home. While sticking to his own convictions, he values leaving room for others to participate.

Using his ego for the next generation

What Furuya is trying to build is not a system just to make his own name bigger. He says that by expanding stores, creating workplaces for Mexicans living in Japan, and periodically organizing "EL CHILANGO," a party event where people can enjoy music and dance, he is preparing an environment where the younger generation can each find their own form of expression. Most of the employees at 3Hermanos are Mexican. Some don't even speak Japanese.

"The feeling of using my ego for everyone else's sake."

Sticking to one's own convictions and acting only for oneself are different things. For Furuya, "love" is something used to help the people around him demonstrate their strengths. Continuing the taco shop, creating spaces for music, and creating new products with MEDICOM TOY are all on the same trajectory. It’s about not consuming culture as a temporary buzz, but respecting its background, returning value to the people involved, and passing it on to the next generation.

The "love" that Furuya puts into his tacos isn't just in the food. It's in respecting culture, connecting people, and leaving room for new expressions to emerge beyond that. That philosophy is what connects TACOS 3Hermanos and MEDICOM TOY.

【MLE × TACOS 3Hermanos】

Scheduled for release on November 1, 2026, at TACOS 3Hermanos Asakusa and Kichijoji branches, various MEDICOM TOY directly managed stores, and the MEDICOM TOY OFFICIAL STORE.

※Samples under supervision are photographed here. Some details may differ from the actual products released.

©︎ 3Hermanos

T-SHIRT A

Expressing the diverse and energetic world of Mexican street culture with a color gradient reminiscent of Lucha Libre posters. The gorilla character, possessing an urban outsider vibe, conveys the direction of the event.

T-SHIRT B

Adopts the Axolotl—so beloved by the Mexican people that it appears on banknotes—as the key visual. The form with its unique curves is fused with lively typography to express the rhythm and dance woven by Mexico's "Sonidero" sound systems.

T-SHIRT C

A "Day of the Dead" event flyer adopting a work by José Guadalupe Posada, a representative Mexican printmaker, as the main visual. It expresses the festival, which has recently been garnering attention in Japan as well, with a worldview that values the original culture and traditions so that Mexican people can celebrate from the heart.

T-SHIRT D

Superimposes the diverse and vibrant cityscapes of Mexico City onto the world of "EL CHILANGO," an event where music and people intersect. To capture the street culture feel, the rough texture of printing on kraft paper is intentionally recreated on the T-shirt.

MLE × TACOS 3Hermanos T-SHIRT

T-shirts incorporating four pieces of artwork that symbolize the history of "EL CHILANGO," a party that TACOS 3Hermanos hosts irregularly, bringing the heat of Ciudad de México (Mexico City) directly to Japan.

Size｜S, M, L, XL

Price｜6,600 yen each (tax included)

【MLE × TACOS 3Hermanos FABRICK® Items】

Items that color your life with fun, using the 3Hermanos logo pattern.