Runs Breathgate dining bar in Hachioji City Tomoya Kagami, who runs a dining bar "Breathgate" in Hachioji City Tokyo Metropolitan Corporate Location Advisory Center website on December 5.

Bar owner enlivens his beloved city of Hachioji with whiskey

2023.12.05 11:30

東京都企業立地相談センター

On December 5, 2023, the Tokyo Metropolitan Business Location Advisory Center (TBC) published an interview with Tomoya Kagami, who runs the dining bar "Bless Gate" and the Japanese-style bar "Hachioji Blossom" in Hachioji City, on its home page.

Article URL: https://ilsc.tokyo/voice/038.html

Tomoya Kagami, who runs the dining bar "Bless Gate" in Hachioji City, opened his second restaurant, "Hachioji Blossom," in the city this December. In addition to running the restaurant as the owner, he has also launched whiskey-themed events to enliven the city of Hachioji.

We visited Mr. Kagami at his new store, which is currently undergoing renovations, and asked him about the impetus for opening the store, its features, and the merits of its location. We also asked him about how he started the event and his vision for the future.

Tomoya Kagami, representative of "Bless-gate" and "Hachioji Blossom

Mr. Tomoya Kagami has been involved in the restaurant business in Hachioji for a long time before setting up his own restaurant. His new restaurant is a bar with a Japanese taste.

Mr. Kagami is from Yamagata Prefecture. He has been involved in the restaurant business in Hachioji for a long time before opening his own restaurant.

He says, "I worked for a company that has been in the restaurant business in Hachioji for 26 years and experienced many different restaurants. In particular, I deepened my knowledge of whiskey and cocktails at the counter bar where I worked from the age of 23 to 30, and at the Italian restaurant where I served as manager, I also joined the kitchen and trained the chef in Italian and French cuisine."

With such a career, he opened the dining bar "Bless Gate" at the north exit of Hachioji Station in June 2018. With 200 to 300 kinds of whiskey and 50 to 60 kinds of wine selected by Kagami, who is also a sommelier, this is a place where one can enjoy a meal to go with the drinks.

We started thinking about a second restaurant at the same time our staff was growing. Last year, "Souzu Terrace" opened, and I wanted to open a restaurant with a Japanese taste in this area. I looked around the area but couldn't find a suitable property, and after a while I was approached about a space within the terrace. I was told that a plot that had already been reserved had been cancelled, so I was able to open a restaurant in a location that I had never hoped for.

Kuwato Terrace is a space for the inheritance of traditional culture and exchange that was created as part of Hachioji City's basic plan for revitalizing the city center. It is a popular spot where visitors can experience a variety of contents, including Hachioji geisha geiko, kuruma dolls, and oayashi (traditional music).

The new restaurant is a Japanese-style bar where you can enjoy domestic whiskey and Japanese cuisine. Japanese whiskey has won international awards and is very expensive overseas. If we can enjoy it casually, we hope it will be of interest to customers from overseas.

Hachioji City subsidies for renovating vacant stores were used for the opening of the store. The subsidy was intended for businesses that opened stores utilizing vacant stores in the city center, and they were able to cover part of the renovation costs.

Exterior view of the new "Hachioji Blossom" store in Kuwadu Terrace

The first floor is a chic counter

The second floor has table seating and a terrace. The walls and staircase are also sprinkled with Japanese taste.

A casual lunch menu is available during the day.

Whiskey events are held in collaboration with restaurants to promote Hachioji

In 2019, an event called "Hachioji Whiskey Street" will be launched with Kagami as the initiator. After a hiatus due to the Corona disaster, the second event will be held in 2022 and the third in 2023. We asked how the event was launched.

The starting point was to give back to the restaurants in Hachioji and to increase the number of customers who come to Hachioji for the event. In addition to the growing popularity of whiskey, there are no whiskey events being held in the Tama area. Then, I decided to do it in Hachioji, and my junior colleague and I became the initiators. The first time, we went around visiting bars in the city one by one to ask for help with the event. It was only natural that they would refuse, as they had worked until midnight the day before and volunteered to work from the morning of the next day. However, many of them said, "This is fun, let's do it! Let's do it!

At the event, manufacturers set up booths along West Radiation Euro Road at the north exit of Hachioji Station, offering more than 500 types of domestic and foreign whiskey for visitors to enjoy tasting in special glasses.

This year, about 1,000 people visited the event. This year, about 1,000 people came to the event. 37 whiskey makers and about 60 bartenders from the Tama area cooperated, and we were able to have many people enjoy the whiskey. The event was highly regarded as an enjoyable event that attracted people from a wide area, and we are feeling a positive response. We would like to continue this event next year and beyond, and to establish a whisky culture in Hachioji.

Hachioji Whiskey Street 2023, held on October 28, was crowded with visitors (courtesy of Mr. Kagami).

Advantages of being located in Hachioji, Tokyo

　Increased number of visitors due to the new facility. People-to-people connections are the driving force behind the revitalization of the city.

Hachioji City is one of the largest cities in the Tokyo metropolitan area with a population of approximately 580,000. It is the largest city in Tokyo in terms of both population and area, and can be considered the leader in the Tama region. What advantages do you see in your current location?

There are a wide variety of stores around Hachioji Station, and West Radiation Euroad is bustling with events every weekend. I feel that with the construction of new facilities such as Kuwato-Terrace and Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe, people from a wider area are now visiting Hachioji. Hachioji is also home to Mt. Takao, which attracts many tourists and climbers from Japan and abroad. Many used to come only for Mt. Takao, but if there is a spot nearby where they can experience traditional Japanese culture, such as Kuwato Terrace, more people will stop by on their way home. In that sense, too, I am looking forward to the new store."

Above all, he says, the people-to-people relationships are a major attraction.

People in Hachioji have a strong sense of camaraderie, and they value human relationships very highly. I have made it this far thanks to the support of the customers who have come to me since my last job. I feel that it is also a great benefit that I have made horizontal connections with people in the same food and beverage industry through whisky events.

Finally, we asked him about his future outlook.

In recent years, people have been leaving the restaurant industry. People have dreams but give up when they can't make money, or can't take the plunge into opening a business. In order to support these young people, I would like to increase the number of restaurants to about four. We would like to train people and put them in charge of the restaurants, and in the future, we would be willing to transfer the restaurants to others.

The second-floor terrace at Hachioji Blossom. The second-floor terrace of Hachioji Blossom, a prime location from which to view events held at Kuwanto Terrace.

Date of interview: November 6, 2023

Store Outline

Store name ： Hachioji Blossom Kuwadu Terrace

Location ： 11-8 Naka-machi, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0085

Access： 7 minutes walk from JR Hachioji Station

Business hours: Tuesday-Sunday, the day before national holidays

　　　　　 11:30 - 14:29

　　　　　 15:00 - 12:00 (Food L.O. 23:00, Drink L.O. 23:30)

Closed: Monday

Seats: 40 seats

URL : https://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ003649302

Company Profile