Tourist sees success in sharing Japanese culture to Cebuanos

A Japanese tourist saw the opportunity to earn in Cebu by sharing the Japanese culture to Cebuanos.

Shunki Matsushima, 25, of Kitakyushu City in the Fukuoka Prefecture has come a long way since 2015 when he visited Cebu together with his teacher for a vacation.

Matsushima said he fell in love with Cebu and he also saw the need for Cebuanos to experience the authentic Japanese culture, which is one of the most well-loved cultures in Cebu.

Because not all Cebuanos can claim experiencing this unique and respected culture firsthand since not everyone can fly to Japan to see and experience the colorful traditions and interesting activities that the Land of the Rising Sun has to offer, so he decided to bring this experience to Cebu.

Matsushima has since set up and invested together with his local partners P750,000 for Kawaii Cafe in September 2018.

“I really want the Filipinos to experience the Japanese cultures, art, and hospitality by providing authentic Japanese food and entertainment through anime and excellent customer service,” Matsushima shared.

In Japanese, “kawaii” means cute.

The cafe is located inside J Centre Mall in Mandaue City.

Special Menu
Kawaii Cafe serves a variety of Japanese-style food and snacks and a variety of drinks.

They have ramen, curry rice, pika rice, omurice, yakisoba, pancakes, burger, and taiyaki that are plated so adorably — like rice formed into the face of Pikachu or Hello Kitty.

They also serve special drinks namely the hentai, yaoi, oppai, and senpai drinks. As to their flavors, it’s a surprise for every customer.

For those not as adventurous with their drinks, they also offer milk tea, coffee, fruit sodas, smoothies, and flavored tea.

But aside from the menu, it’s the entire experience inside Kawaii Cafe that is bringing in their customers and loyal patrons.

“Kawaii Cafe is the only Japanese-themed Maid Cafe in Cebu. The only cafe that welcomes cosplayers and anime lovers,” Matsushima said.

The cafe has seven staff, four of which are “cafe maids.” These servers are dressed in Japanese-style maid outfits that are popular among anime shows.

Customers can also wear a yukata, or the Japanese traditional garment, as well as costumes of some famous anime characters.

At the same time, the cafe boasts of a replica of a washitsu or the traditional Japanese-style rooms where guests dine on small tables and on a tatami or the type of mat used as flooring in traditional Japanese rooms.

Challenges and plans
Matsushima admits that since they have only recently opened, their biggest challenge is increasing the awareness and acceptance of a Japanese-themed cafe in Cebu.

But it is also this uniqueness that is bringing them customers.

“The business now is gaining popularity. Our usual customers are students and anime lovers,” he said.

Social media posts and recommendations from customers also helped them grow their customer base.

And while they are still new, Matsushima said he already hoped to get even more customers as well as open up more branches in Cebu soon.

Starting out
Matsushima has been going back and forth in Cebu and his hometown Kitakyushu City since his 2015 vacation here.

But since starting the business, he had been staying in Cebu for good.

He graduated with a degree in General Education at the Baiko Gakuin University but had decided not to pursue a career in the academe.

Before finding his home in Cebu, Matsushima had been traveling to different countries in the world alone.

He said that he did not like working in a company in Japan, so he tried to save money by actually sitting in the streets of Japan and waiting for people to drop in some coins and bills.

An undertaking that did not bring him enough money, and worse, another man was getting more donations by playing his guitar in the street.

He was on a quandary because he had no talent to share that would win over people to give them their money.

Then a friend suggested that he try balloon art, where he would transform balloons into animals or items.

He took the advice and started self-learning different balloon art tricks.

He then brought this balloon art tricks to the streets of Japan and it worked.

From a person sitting on the street getting close to nothing from passersby and spectators, he would get up to 20,000 yen or around P9,000 as donations.

He was able to save enough money to travel around.

Matsushima said he tried to bring balloon art to Cebu but it did not take off.

He also started a different cafe in the downtown area of Cebu City but had to close it due to some conflict.

Around a year after closing, that was when he opened Kawaii Cafe in J Centre Mall and he has been satisfied with the outcome so far.