Gaia Series 9: New Challenges For Famous Founders Of "Gyomu Supermarket" And Popular Chinese Restaurant Chain "Hidakaya"

This week, we shine the spotlight on the enterprising founders of two famous Japanese companies - low-cost supermarket Gyomu Super and restaurant chain Hidakaya. 

Gyomu Super’s founder is 70-year-old Shoji Numata. He went through tough times as a youth, selling futons as a peddler. In 2000, he opened Gyomu Super and the business has since boomed, thanks to its low prices. He is a skilled entrepreneur who made it into a popular supermarket chain with more than 1,000 stores nationwide. Gyomu Super is operated by Kobe Bussan. Its president is Mr Numata’s oldest son, Hirokazu Numata, who inherited the business about six years ago.

After withdrawing from Gyomu Super, the older Mr Numata decided to take up a new challenge of delving into geothermal development and setting up a geothermal power generation business. 
About seven years ago, he started the Machiokoshi Energy company in Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture, where Gyomu Super's headquarters is located. 

When it comes to geothermal energy, Japan has the third most potential in the world. But it comes in 10th in the world for geothermal capacity. Only 0.3 per cent of the total electricity is generated by geothermal energy. After drilling for six years, in 2022, Mr Numata discovered geothermal energy in the mountains of Oguni Town in Kumamoto Prefecture. In January 2023, he visited Oguni Town again, setting up a second drilling site to find geothermal energy hidden underground. 
 
In 2021, Mr Numata started full-scale drilling in Yusui Town in Kagoshima Prefecture. It is located next to the Kirishima Mountains, which are active volcanoes. It is thus seen as one of the ideal locations in Japan for geothermal energy. He uses data from past drillings by governmental agencies and power companies, showing altitude, depth and maximum temperature. He uses this information as a reference to try to find a new spot with geothermal energy. 

In February and March 2023, Mr Numata visited Yusui Town to meet the mayor and the town’s representatives to discuss the setting up of a geothermal power plant. It is hoped that the facility will attract businesses and provide employment for the locals. During the briefing, Mr Numata also allayed the fears of the locals who feared the impact of drilling for geothermal energy, especially since Yusui is also a hot spring town. Mr Numata used the data he had accumulated for over two years to reassure the town’s representatives that the drilling will not affect the hot springs. On a separate day, Mr Numata also took them to the drilling site for geothermal energy. He explained to them that with the location's potential, the company should be able to provide stable energy to more than 10,000 people. 

In March 2023, a geothermal power plant was constructed in Oguni Town, at the spot where Mr Numata had found geothermal energy. It is believed that the plant can provide energy to 8,000 households, 2.6 times the number of households in Oguni Town. Mr Numata has started full-scale drilling for geothermal energy in Hokkaido as well. 

Hidakaya is a popular Chinese restaurant chain boasting more than 400 locations. It was founded by Tadashi Kanda, who is now in his 80s. It suffered a drop in sales during COVID-19 but things have since picked up. Mr Kanda opened a 16.5-square-metre shop when he was in his 30s and later changed its name to Hiday Hidaka. It is now a huge company with about 1,000 employees.  Mr Kanda is the chairman of the company while Mr Hiroshige Aono, who worked his way up from a part-time worker, is the president. Parent company Hiday Hidaka’s headquarters are located in Omiya ward, Saitama City.

Mr Kanda decided to open a new restaurant in the city, this time focusing on authentic Taiwanese cuisine. He started by setting up an “experimental” restaurant called Tainan, in July 2022, located on the first floor of the building housing the company’s headquarters. Its head chef is Mr Didi Liu. Its recommended dishes included stir-fried water spinach and aiyu jelly. 

After six months, Mr Kanda saw that the restaurant was only meeting 64 per cent of the monthly sales target. He soon realised that the number of customers at night is low, compared to the daytime. He decided to include snacks and smaller dishes in the menu, so that customers can pair them with their drinks. Mr Kanda assigned Mr Masaya Suzuki, the product development section chief in charge of creating the menu, to come up with new dishes that go well with drinks. He plans to open the first branch of Tainan sometime in 2023. Mr Kanda then took a major step. One day, he gathered all his employees and announced that he was going to give all his shares to them, to thank them for all their hard work over the years.

Tips:

1)    Gyomu Super is a supermarket chain known for its low prices
2)    Areas with active volcanoes are believed to be ideal locations for geothermal development