executive impact

Ikuo Murata: Helping society through healthy dining

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By Chris Betros

Tucked away in the Omotesando area of Tokyo is an elegant restaurant called I.K.U. Aoyama. It is the brainchild of Ikuo Murata, founder and president of Murata Tactics, and a former executive at Gulliver, Japan's largest dealer of used cars and other vehicles.

After seeing Gulliver through a period of hyper-growth from 1995 until 2009, Murata felt a calling to try something new — create restaurants with the emphasis on healthy dining. I.K.U., which opened last September, is the first in an ambitious plan to open 333 restaurants in Japan.

“I.K.U. is my first restaurant. The concept is simple — healthy and elegant,” Murata says in fluent English. “There are many casual healthy restaurants but I wanted to create an elegant restaurant, using organic products. The response has been so good that I don’t need to advertise. I rely on word of mouth and we get a lot of repeat customers who appreciate the atmosphere with Michelin-class food.”

Born in Shizuoka in 1958, Murata spent five years after college in Quebec from 1980 (“I had a great time,” he recalls). After coming back to Japan, he worked at an education company, then a management consulting company. When that company invested in Gulliver, Murata joined the used car dealer. But by 2009, he was looking for new challenges and decided to move on, by creating his own company. Murata initially focused on management consulting and remains an adviser to companies such as used car dealer Nextage and Snow Peak, an innovator of technical outdoor products for camping and backpacking.

“Then I realised that I wanted to focus on the food industry,” he says. “Basically, I wanted to help society through healthy food which is often expensive and difficult to produce. I thought I could best do this through restaurants.”

For I.K.U., Murata enlisted the help of a dynamic lady, Miho Akino, to design the restaurant and menu. He then spread the word via social media and by doing some media interviews. Since its opening, the restaurant has proven popular among women and some celebrities.

One floor above I.K.U. is another restaurant, Glamping I.K.U., which indulges another of Murata’s passions — camping. “Glamping” has become a trend in the United States and Europe, and has caught on in Japan, too. It refers to a style of camping with amenities and, in some cases, resort-style services not usually associated with "traditional" camping.

“Glamping has become popular in Japan since Hoshinoya opened a hotel near Mt Fuji,” says Murata, referring to the Kyoto-based operator of luxury ryokan, resorts and holiday villas. “On our fourth floor terrace, we offer elegant dining in an outside setting.”

Emboldened by the success of the I.K.U. restaurants, Murata is going ahead with his goal to open 333 restaurants. “Our next one will be a walk-in store selling food and with some eat-in space. Some people want to take out food and drinks like cold-pressed juices,” he says. “That will open in August, also in the Omotesando area.”

Murata is aware the restaurant business can be very risky, especially when the economy is not growing. “The restaurant industry is a big market and people will always want to go to restaurants, especially high quality ones. They don’t mind paying for a fine dining experience.”

Murata knows it is important to keep up with developments in the food industry. He sometimes visits other restaurants to see new dining trends, but 70% of the time, he can be found at I.K.U.

“Working and playing are the same of me,” he says cheerfully. “I like eating here, chatting with customers and connecting different people. When I can do that, I really feel like I am contributing to society.”

See Japan Today's review of I.K.U. Aoyama here.

© Japan Today

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