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May 27, 2022
What Role Will a Long-Standing Nori Shop Play in Preserving Japan's Traditional Food Culture? | YAMAMOTO NORI
YAMAMOTO NORI | Yamamoto Nori Store
An Interview with Takahiro Yamamoto, President of Yamamoto Nori Store
Founded in 1849 (Ka-ei 2) by Tokujiro Yamamoto, the Yamamoto Nori Store has remained in its Nihonbashi Muromachi 1-chome location for 173 years. Takahiro Yamamoto inherited this legacy. On July 19, 2021, at the age of 38, he was appointed President of Yamamoto Nori Store. We spoke with him about how a long-standing establishment plans to move forward.
Photographs by OHTAKI Kaku | Text by KOIZUMI Yoko | Edit by TSUCHIDA Takashi
What Role Will a Long-Standing Nori Shop Play in Preserving Japan's Traditional Food Culture?
After graduating from university, he joined a major city bank. In 2008, he began working at Yamamoto Nori Store.
“As a banker, I was taught that a company that generates operating profit is a wonderful company. The idea was that a good company makes profit by buying low and selling high.
My first assignment after joining the company was in the procurement department, the upstream part of the business. At that time, the purchase price of nori was lower than the previous year, so I told the director in charge of procurement, ‘It’s great that the unit price per sheet is lower than last year!’ He rejected my comment, saying, ‘What are you talking about? If Yamamoto Nori Store is buying cheaply, there is no future for the nori industry.’ That’s when I realized that my position carried the responsibility of protecting and nurturing the industry, and that the person in charge was working with that spirit. I was genuinely impressed and shocked.”
After working overseas, he established the management philosophy in 2014 when he became Senior Managing Director. Due to its long history, the company had lost sight of a unified direction for all employees, and he wanted to somehow bring everyone together.
The management philosophy, woven from keywords contributed by each person and created together by everyone, was:
“With pride as the world’s best nori company, we contribute to society by enabling more and more customers to enjoy Japanese culture, centered around delicious nori, for a long time to come.”
This has since been significantly shortened to:
“Enabling more customers to enjoy more delicious nori.”“Enabling more customers to enjoy more delicious nori.”This management philosophy helped all employees reaffirm that nori is a soul food for Japanese people and a food culture that must be passed down.
We Buy Yamamoto Nori Because It's Delicious
Before the management philosophy was established, Yamamoto Nori Store's business model was to sell high-end products at high prices as gifts during the mid-year and year-end gift-giving seasons at department stores. The main price points were ¥3,000, ¥5,000, ¥10,000, and ¥15,000. Being handled by department stores maintained a high sense of prestige. However, times have changed dramatically, and the gift market for mid-year and year-end occasions is now in steady decline.
Therefore, the company shifted its strategy to target the entire gift market by focusing on seasonal occasions other than mid-year and year-end gifts. They enhanced their daily item offerings under the top brand "Ume no Hana," available for around ¥1,000. This broadened the demand from heavy gift items to casual souvenirs, encouraging home consumption.
Yamamoto states, “We shifted from ‘buying Yamamoto Nori because it’s high-end’ to ‘buying Yamamoto Nori because it’s delicious.’”
Yamamoto Nori Store can confidently say they are "dedicated solely to nori" because they have upheld the taste since their founding. Nori harvested in winter is graded by quality inspections at each production site. There are over 800 types of grades. At Yamamoto Nori Store, the procurement department, staffed by experienced buyers, carefully selects and procures truly delicious nori, but this fact has never been widely communicated.
“Perhaps it’s the ‘chic’ of Nihonbashi, but we felt it was unrefined to say, ‘We are a long-established store,’ or ‘Our nori is delicious.’ We only ever said, ‘We have been dedicated to nori for 173 years.’ We have pursued deliciousness with long-standing dedication and are confident in our taste. There are countless points to discuss about our nori, but we never mentioned them. I think we also had an image that this made us more high-end. However, from now on, we want to put effort into correctly communicating the deliciousness of Yamamoto Nori Store’s nori.”
To Let People Know the Appeal of Nori
Nihonbashi is currently undergoing redevelopment. Yamamoto Nori Store is included in the redevelopment area, and its head office building, completed in 1965, is scheduled for demolition in 2023. The store will move to a temporary location, but Yamamoto views this redevelopment positively, stating, “Change is an opportunity.”
“For the past five years, we’ve held events called ‘Nori Enjoyment Gatherings’ to enjoy eating nori deliciously. We want to commercialize this, in other words, create a place where people can eat something made with nori.”
Until now, they have only sold nori, but with this opportunity, they plan to launch a food and beverage division.
“Most food courts in Japan have ramen shops, right? In Australia, there are hand-rolled sushi shops in food courts at that level. In Shanghai, China, there are hand-rolled sushi shops where you can freely choose your ingredients, and people eat them casually while walking around. Seeing that gave me confidence, thinking, ‘Nori is great! Nori has a future!!’ (laughs). However, it wouldn’t mean anything if it wasn’t done with our delicious nori. Our goal is not just a restaurant where you can eat delicious nori, but ‘a restaurant where you can eat Yamamoto Nori Store’s nori in the most delicious way.’”
The completion of the new building is scheduled for around 2029.
Global warming is also significantly impacting nori cultivation, and poor harvests have continued since around 2017.
“Nori is a creature that grows in winter, so if the sea is warm, it doesn’t taste good, and the yield is low. We maintained a production volume of 8 billion sheets (19x21cm each) for a long time, but this year it was 6.2 billion sheets. In addition to global warming, the number of fishermen is decreasing, presenting a harsh reality for the industry.”
Nevertheless, Yamamoto Nori Store’s mission is to continue its efforts to support fishermen, cultivate nori, maintain its taste, and lead the industry. This is, after all, because Yamamoto loves nori.
“Nori is the only natural food that contains all three major umami components: inosinate (bonito), glutamate (kelp), and guanylate (shiitake). There is nothing else like it, before or after, to the right or to the left – only nori (laughs).”
He says that the most delicious way to eat nori is as nori sashimi.
“You eat freshly roasted, slightly warm nori with wasabi soy sauce. I call it nori sashimi, and it’s incredibly delicious!”
We encourage you to experience the true quality of Yamamoto Nori Store.
Yamamoto Nori Store Nihonbashi Main Store
- Address | 1-6-3 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Phone | 03-3241-0290
- Business Hours | 10:00 - 18:00
- Closed | Open daily (except January 1)
- Access | Immediately after exiting A1 exit of Mitsukoshi-mae Station on Tokyo Metro Ginza Line/Hanzomon Line
