Kitchen studio opens in Matsumoto, Kagoshima, offering food-related events and classes

On March 21, a kitchen studio Garden Kitchen Studio opened in Matsumoto, Kagoshima City. Table of Smile manages the business. Naoko Sugizuru, the president of the company and a certified food coordinator with first-class certification, opened the studio as a base for product development, photo shoots, food-related events, and classes. The studio will handle food photography and video shoots for promotional materials, recipe creation and testing of new products, and PR events to promote products. In addition, “an array of events are underway,” including lectures by Kagoshima Food Coordinator College, a program run by Sugimizu; nutrition education classes; and seasonal tasting events. The building is a two-story atrium. The first floor is mainly used as a studio, while the second floor houses the office. The interior walls are painted white for a good photographic effect. It has many windows and a view of a nearby creek. The studio plans to cultivate plants and fruit trees in the spacious garden and is selling original merchandise to raise funds to support the project. From the 19th to the 21st of this month, an opening event titled “Spring Yellow Exhibition” was held with local stores offering baked goods, bread, delicatessen items, pottery, and others. On April 18 and 27, a “Photography Styling Class Using Spring Desserts as Models” (4,000 yen per person), and on April 22, a miso-making class (5,000 yen per parent-child pair) will be held with a senior koji (the mold used in making soy sauce, miso, and other fermented foods and beverages) maker as the instructor. Information on events and classes will be posted on the website and Instagram. Sugimizuru said with a smile, “I want to make this a place where people want to come and visit and be loved.”

Ramen store ‘Menya Aburaya’ opens in OPSIA Misumi: limited edition menu available

On March 3, ramen restaurant Menya Aburaya – OPSIA Misumi opened in the first-floor food court of the commercial facility OPSIA Misumi in Usuki, Kagoshima City. Matsunoya Foods manages the restaurant. In March 2022, the company opened a western-style restaurant Usuki Yoshoku Daimon in the same facility but subsequently closed it due to soaring commodity prices. It reopened as a new restaurant in the company’s Menya Aburaya chain. The chain features ramen broth made from beef bones called Gyukotsu Paitan, or beef baitan. As the name implies, it also focuses on “abura (fat or oil)” and uses A-grade backfat from Kurobuta pork. Noodles, pickled bamboo shoots, hot sauce, and chicken oil are also made in-house. The Ramen menu includes Gyukotsu Paitan Ramen (790 yen), Gyukotsu Paitan Char Siu Ramen (990 yen), and Aburaya Soba (700 yen). A limited menu item, Kagoshima Tonkotsu Chuka Soba (750 yen), is available only at the OPSIA Misumi branch. The restaurant also offers a variety of rice dishes, such as Backfat Char Siu Bowl, Fried Rice, and Black Curry. Since many customers with families visit the commercial center, a Kids’ Ramen Set (250 yen) with toys is also available. Opening hours: 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Itaro, restaurant specializing in Korean grilled pork samgyeopsal, opens in Tenmonkan, Kagoshima

Itaro Kagoshima Tenmonkan, a restaurant specializing in Korean-style BBQ samgyeopsal, opened on March 3 on the first floor of the Gourmet Square Building next to CenTerrace Tenmonkan. Cosmo Supply manages the restaurant. It is a sister restaurant of NENE CHIKIN, a Korean fried chicken restaurant located on the second floor of the same building. The company opened the restaurant to offer Kagoshima pork belly grilled over charcoal. Itaro’s main branch is a Korean home-style restaurant in Shin-Okubo, Tokyo, serving samgyeopsal and cheese fondue made with Kagoshima pork. The restaurant has 60 seats, including 16 tables and eight counter seats, equipped with griddles tilted to allow the fat to flow, a grill, tongs, and long scissors. All pork is pre-grilled over charcoal and seared on the surface before being served, and the final touches can be done at each table. “The pork is cooked to a certain degree, so it grills quickly,” says Hirotaka Kumagai, the manager. In addition to samgyeopsal, the restaurant also offers pork loin, pork ribs, and pork jowl. Customers can order individual cuts of meat starting at two servings, each weighing 180 grams (1,520 yen). It also features a three-meat set (4,356 yen) and Kurobuta pork samgyeopsal (2,980 yen), along with a selection of Korean dishes such as jjigae hot pot, gimbap, and buchimgae. Kumagai added, “Compared with NENE CHIKIN on the second floor, Itaro is more for grown-ups. We hope our customers can enjoy Korean-style yakiniku in a relaxed atmosphere.” Opening hours: 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Kitchen studio opens in Matsumoto, Kagoshima, offering food-related events and classes

On March 21, a kitchen studio Garden Kitchen Studio opened in Matsumoto, Kagoshima City. Table of Smile manages the business. Naoko Sugizuru, the president of the company and a certified food coordinator with first-class certification, opened the studio as a base for product development, photo shoots, food-related events, and classes. The studio will handle food photography and video shoots for promotional materials, recipe creation and testing of new products, and PR events to promote products. In addition, “an array of events are underway,” including lectures by Kagoshima Food Coordinator College, a program run by Sugimizu; nutrition education classes; and seasonal tasting events. The building is a two-story atrium. The first floor is mainly used as a studio, while the second floor houses the office. The interior walls are painted white for a good photographic effect. It has many windows and a view of a nearby creek. The studio plans to cultivate plants and fruit trees in the spacious garden and is selling original merchandise to raise funds to support the project. From the 19th to the 21st of this month, an opening event titled “Spring Yellow Exhibition” was held with local stores offering baked goods, bread, delicatessen items, pottery, and others. On April 18 and 27, a “Photography Styling Class Using Spring Desserts as Models” (4,000 yen per person), and on April 22, a miso-making class (5,000 yen per parent-child pair) will be held with a senior koji (the mold used in making soy sauce, miso, and other fermented foods and beverages) maker as the instructor. Information on events and classes will be posted on the website and Instagram. Sugimizuru said with a smile, “I want to make this a place where people want to come and visit and be loved.”

Group Exhibition ‘SHUGO!’ in Kagoshima; works by graduates of Kuwasawa Design School, Tokyo

A group exhibition by four female artists based in the Kanto region, “SHUGO!,” will open on March 25 on the second floor of the TATEBA BLDG. near the Namidabashi Station. The organizer is Yuki Nakano, who runs the design office MACARONI DESIGN STUDIO in the same building. Nakano studied at the Kuwasawa Design School in Shibuya, Tokyo, and decided to organize the event as she hoped to hold an exhibition in connection with the school someday. All participating artists are alumni of the school. They include norahi, who creates collaborative works with apparel companies; Saki Machida, who draws illustrations for magazines; Ayaki Obata, who creates book illustrations and book covers; and Yumi Matsushita, a collage artist and spatial designer. Each will exhibit their works from “their own styles and perspectives.” On the 25th and 26th, a workshop will be held where visitors can have norahi’s illustrations silk-screened onto T-shirts and sweatshirts. The participation fee is from 1,000 yen per print. Reservations are preferred and can be made via TATEBA BLDG.’s Instagram. The event will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (until 5:00 p.m. on the 28th and 29th) until the 29th of this month. Closed on the 27th. Admission is free.

Public lecture on space research in Kagoshima, commemorating IAU Symposium

A public lecture commemorating the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Symposium will be held on March 25 at Kagoshima University Inamori Kaikan Kimi & Kesa Memorial Hall. The lecture will coincide with the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Symposium, “Space Masers,” to be held in Kagoshima City from March 20 to 24, in which many researchers from overseas will participate. It will be hosted by Kagoshima University and the Amanogawa Galaxy Astronomy Research Center. A cosmic maser is an intense radiation at microwave frequencies (maser) from space. Kagoshima University has been observing objects emitting cosmic masers with the 20-meter radio telescope at the VERA Iriki Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Because of its extremely high resolution, this telescope has been used for observations in Japan and cooperation with radio telescopes in neighboring countries and with overseas researchers. At the public lecture, three lecturers will explain the results of research on cosmic maser objects and the Milky Way Galaxy observed with VERA, the aspects of the universe they aim to elucidate in the future, cooperative observations with neighboring countries, and approaches and challenges to international cooperation. Associate Professor Hiroshi Imai of Kagoshima University’s Center for General Education hopes that the event will be an opportunity to convey the wonder of cosmic masers and the joy of interacting with people from various countries through space research while being in Kagoshima. The lecture will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. The maximum number of participants is 250 on a first-come, first-served basis.

Ramen store ‘Menya Aburaya’ opens in OPSIA Misumi: limited edition menu available

On March 3, ramen restaurant Menya Aburaya – OPSIA Misumi opened in the first-floor food court of the commercial facility OPSIA Misumi in Usuki, Kagoshima City. Matsunoya Foods manages the restaurant. In March 2022, the company opened a western-style restaurant Usuki Yoshoku Daimon in the same facility but subsequently closed it due to soaring commodity prices. It reopened as a new restaurant in the company’s Menya Aburaya chain. The chain features ramen broth made from beef bones called Gyukotsu Paitan, or beef baitan. As the name implies, it also focuses on “abura (fat or oil)” and uses A-grade backfat from Kurobuta pork. Noodles, pickled bamboo shoots, hot sauce, and chicken oil are also made in-house. The Ramen menu includes Gyukotsu Paitan Ramen (790 yen), Gyukotsu Paitan Char Siu Ramen (990 yen), and Aburaya Soba (700 yen). A limited menu item, Kagoshima Tonkotsu Chuka Soba (750 yen), is available only at the OPSIA Misumi branch. The restaurant also offers a variety of rice dishes, such as Backfat Char Siu Bowl, Fried Rice, and Black Curry. Since many customers with families visit the commercial center, a Kids’ Ramen Set (250 yen) with toys is also available. Opening hours: 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Group Exhibition ‘SHUGO!’ in Kagoshima; works by graduates of Kuwasawa Design School, Tokyo

A group exhibition by four female artists based in the Kanto region, “SHUGO!,” will open on March 25 on the second floor of the TATEBA BLDG. near the Namidabashi Station. The organizer is Yuki Nakano, who runs the design office MACARONI DESIGN STUDIO in the same building. Nakano studied at the Kuwasawa Design School in Shibuya, Tokyo, and decided to organize the event as she hoped to hold an exhibition in connection with the school someday. All participating artists are alumni of the school. They include norahi, who creates collaborative works with apparel companies; Saki Machida, who draws illustrations for magazines; Ayaki Obata, who creates book illustrations and book covers; and Yumi Matsushita, a collage artist and spatial designer. Each will exhibit their works from “their own styles and perspectives.” On the 25th and 26th, a workshop will be held where visitors can have norahi’s illustrations silk-screened onto T-shirts and sweatshirts. The participation fee is from 1,000 yen per print. Reservations are preferred and can be made via TATEBA BLDG.’s Instagram. The event will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (until 5:00 p.m. on the 28th and 29th) until the 29th of this month. Closed on the 27th. Admission is free.

Grand opening of wedding photography studio in Usuki, Kagoshima; 130 rental dresses available

Eggfilm Kagoshima Wedding Studio (Phone: 099-800-9473), specializing in wedding photography, had its grand opening on March 1. The studio is located near the Wakita train station. Miyazaki-based CHAMELEON manages the business. The company opened its first studio, Miyazaki Wedding Studio 1st, in the city in February 2020. It was followed by the opening of family studios in Miyazaki City, Miyakonojo City, and Kanoya City and the second Miyazaki Wedding Studio. Last August, the sixth studio was pre-opened in Usuki, Kagoshima City. The studio covers an area of 550 square meters and has 19 studio booths. It features a theatrical set with an abundance of flowers, antique furniture imported from abroad, and a layout that takes natural light into account. “We specialize in photographing brides as beautifully and prettily as possible,” says president Shogo Arikawa. He designed the studio and even attached the roses on the walls himself, one by one. The studio has a Dress Room, a first for the company, with 130 dresses and 40 tuxedos on hand. The One Dress Plan includes the rental of one dress and one tuxedo, hair and makeup, accessories, bouquet, retouching, and a DVD of photo data for 129,800 yen. The company is active on Instagram and currently has 29,000 followers. Many inquiries come in via Instagram, and more than half of the customers come from outside the prefecture. Arikawa says, “We allocate the advertising costs saved by social media operations to providing better services to our customers, and this leads to word of mouth. We will continue to improve the quality of our wedding photo services.” Opening hours: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Kitchen studio opens in Matsumoto, Kagoshima, offering food-related events and classes

On March 21, a kitchen studio Garden Kitchen Studio opened in Matsumoto, Kagoshima City. Table of Smile manages the business. Naoko Sugizuru, the president of the company and a certified food coordinator with first-class certification, opened the studio as a base for product development, photo shoots, food-related events, and classes. The studio will handle food photography and video shoots for promotional materials, recipe creation and testing of new products, and PR events to promote products. In addition, “an array of events are underway,” including lectures by Kagoshima Food Coordinator College, a program run by Sugimizu; nutrition education classes; and seasonal tasting events. The building is a two-story atrium. The first floor is mainly used as a studio, while the second floor houses the office. The interior walls are painted white for a good photographic effect. It has many windows and a view of a nearby creek. The studio plans to cultivate plants and fruit trees in the spacious garden and is selling original merchandise to raise funds to support the project. From the 19th to the 21st of this month, an opening event titled “Spring Yellow Exhibition” was held with local stores offering baked goods, bread, delicatessen items, pottery, and others. On April 18 and 27, a “Photography Styling Class Using Spring Desserts as Models” (4,000 yen per person), and on April 22, a miso-making class (5,000 yen per parent-child pair) will be held with a senior koji (the mold used in making soy sauce, miso, and other fermented foods and beverages) maker as the instructor. Information on events and classes will be posted on the website and Instagram. Sugimizuru said with a smile, “I want to make this a place where people want to come and visit and be loved.”

Grand opening of wedding photography studio in Usuki, Kagoshima; 130 rental dresses available

Eggfilm Kagoshima Wedding Studio (Phone: 099-800-9473), specializing in wedding photography, had its grand opening on March 1. The studio is located near the Wakita train station. Miyazaki-based CHAMELEON manages the business. The company opened its first studio, Miyazaki Wedding Studio 1st, in the city in February 2020. It was followed by the opening of family studios in Miyazaki City, Miyakonojo City, and Kanoya City and the second Miyazaki Wedding Studio. Last August, the sixth studio was pre-opened in Usuki, Kagoshima City. The studio covers an area of 550 square meters and has 19 studio booths. It features a theatrical set with an abundance of flowers, antique furniture imported from abroad, and a layout that takes natural light into account. “We specialize in photographing brides as beautifully and prettily as possible,” says president Shogo Arikawa. He designed the studio and even attached the roses on the walls himself, one by one. The studio has a Dress Room, a first for the company, with 130 dresses and 40 tuxedos on hand. The One Dress Plan includes the rental of one dress and one tuxedo, hair and makeup, accessories, bouquet, retouching, and a DVD of photo data for 129,800 yen. The company is active on Instagram and currently has 29,000 followers. Many inquiries come in via Instagram, and more than half of the customers come from outside the prefecture. Arikawa says, “We allocate the advertising costs saved by social media operations to providing better services to our customers, and this leads to word of mouth. We will continue to improve the quality of our wedding photo services.” Opening hours: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Female entrepreneur school in Kagoshima accepting participants for its third phase

KCL, a human resource development and training company, will begin the third phase of its “Female Entrepreneurship 360 Project” in April, combining an entrepreneurship development school and a shared kitchen. The company launched the two-year business coaching school last April at the co-working space HITTOBE and other venues. Participants take a 10-session course on business planning, including financial and taxation procedures, menu development, and other subjects, and then spend about a year and a half gaining experience at an actual restaurant while learning business management. Last September, Kitchen 360, a shared kitchen outlet, opened in the second-floor food court of Yocado Kagoshima. Currently, seven women in their 20s to 60s who participated in the first phase of the program are operating the business. They are learning business management, marketing, and digital utilization through practice, aiming to open their own business in the spring of 2024, such as a home business, online retailing, or a food truck. In the third phase, the course will run from April to October, followed by practical management experience at Kitchen 360 and engaging in restaurant operations. The program is targeted at women who want to start their own businesses in the food and beverage industry, including students who wish to gain experience in management and those who are thinking of doing it as a side business. Participants can also be from established restaurants considering opening a second outlet or requiring their female employees to gain management experience. Men may also participate in the course, provided they are enrolled as a partner. Tuition for two years is 275,000 yen for a regular course, 165,000 yen for experienced business owners, and 330,000 yen for a couple. Emiko Nakagawa, president of KCL, said: “Most of our participants want to launch a business, but they don’t know where to start. If you are at all interested, we hope to see you at the orientation session. We also welcome people who want to try starting their own business while continuing their day job.” The company plans to open courses in fields other than food and beverage in the fall. Orientation sessions will run until March 31 at HITTOBE. The hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (consult availability). Saturday, Sunday, and holidays are negotiable.

Kitchen studio opens in Matsumoto, Kagoshima, offering food-related events and classes

On March 21, a kitchen studio Garden Kitchen Studio opened in Matsumoto, Kagoshima City. Table of Smile manages the business. Naoko Sugizuru, the president of the company and a certified food coordinator with first-class certification, opened the studio as a base for product development, photo shoots, food-related events, and classes. The studio will handle food photography and video shoots for promotional materials, recipe creation and testing of new products, and PR events to promote products. In addition, “an array of events are underway,” including lectures by Kagoshima Food Coordinator College, a program run by Sugimizu; nutrition education classes; and seasonal tasting events. The building is a two-story atrium. The first floor is mainly used as a studio, while the second floor houses the office. The interior walls are painted white for a good photographic effect. It has many windows and a view of a nearby creek. The studio plans to cultivate plants and fruit trees in the spacious garden and is selling original merchandise to raise funds to support the project. From the 19th to the 21st of this month, an opening event titled “Spring Yellow Exhibition” was held with local stores offering baked goods, bread, delicatessen items, pottery, and others. On April 18 and 27, a “Photography Styling Class Using Spring Desserts as Models” (4,000 yen per person), and on April 22, a miso-making class (5,000 yen per parent-child pair) will be held with a senior koji (the mold used in making soy sauce, miso, and other fermented foods and beverages) maker as the instructor. Information on events and classes will be posted on the website and Instagram. Sugimizuru said with a smile, “I want to make this a place where people want to come and visit and be loved.”

Group Exhibition ‘SHUGO!’ in Kagoshima; works by graduates of Kuwasawa Design School, Tokyo

A group exhibition by four female artists based in the Kanto region, “SHUGO!,” will open on March 25 on the second floor of the TATEBA BLDG. near the Namidabashi Station. The organizer is Yuki Nakano, who runs the design office MACARONI DESIGN STUDIO in the same building. Nakano studied at the Kuwasawa Design School in Shibuya, Tokyo, and decided to organize the event as she hoped to hold an exhibition in connection with the school someday. All participating artists are alumni of the school. They include norahi, who creates collaborative works with apparel companies; Saki Machida, who draws illustrations for magazines; Ayaki Obata, who creates book illustrations and book covers; and Yumi Matsushita, a collage artist and spatial designer. Each will exhibit their works from “their own styles and perspectives.” On the 25th and 26th, a workshop will be held where visitors can have norahi’s illustrations silk-screened onto T-shirts and sweatshirts. The participation fee is from 1,000 yen per print. Reservations are preferred and can be made via TATEBA BLDG.’s Instagram. The event will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (until 5:00 p.m. on the 28th and 29th) until the 29th of this month. Closed on the 27th. Admission is free.

Public lecture on space research in Kagoshima, commemorating IAU Symposium

A public lecture commemorating the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Symposium will be held on March 25 at Kagoshima University Inamori Kaikan Kimi & Kesa Memorial Hall. The lecture will coincide with the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Symposium, “Space Masers,” to be held in Kagoshima City from March 20 to 24, in which many researchers from overseas will participate. It will be hosted by Kagoshima University and the Amanogawa Galaxy Astronomy Research Center. A cosmic maser is an intense radiation at microwave frequencies (maser) from space. Kagoshima University has been observing objects emitting cosmic masers with the 20-meter radio telescope at the VERA Iriki Observatory of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Because of its extremely high resolution, this telescope has been used for observations in Japan and cooperation with radio telescopes in neighboring countries and with overseas researchers. At the public lecture, three lecturers will explain the results of research on cosmic maser objects and the Milky Way Galaxy observed with VERA, the aspects of the universe they aim to elucidate in the future, cooperative observations with neighboring countries, and approaches and challenges to international cooperation. Associate Professor Hiroshi Imai of Kagoshima University’s Center for General Education hopes that the event will be an opportunity to convey the wonder of cosmic masers and the joy of interacting with people from various countries through space research while being in Kagoshima. The lecture will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. The maximum number of participants is 250 on a first-come, first-served basis.