CONCEPT
Just imagine it. The time when humanity saw for the very first time that water put beside a fire became hot water. The first dish humanity used must have been a shellfish. Water was put in a shellfish, placed beside a fire by chance, and boiled, becoming hot water. They felt joy and surprise when they experienced it. Such feelings must have been very naïve. I think we should never forget that joy.
Unlike other living things, humans who learned to use a fire gained the freedom to cook.
- Source: “Life and a Sense of Taste” by Yoshiko Tatsumi
(NHK Publishing, Inc. Paperback Book)
Infinity in the finity
Encounters between fire and meat, as something very simple and fundamental.
Humanity has been nurtured by encounters between fire and meat since the dawn of time. We have inherited this history and never stop trying to discover the best way to use fire so that it can extract the best taste of meat. We also strive to constantly provide the best answer to you.
Now is a time when the sense of sight is emphasized. Under such circumstances, we continue our challenge to search for how to heat with a fire to allow customers to experience the possibilities of meat to the maximum with their five senses. Starting with beef dishes made with a custom-order wood-burning stove, as well as dishes that are charcoal grilled, bonfire grilled, stone grilled, simmered, boiled, roasted, … we continue to pursue the limitless possibilities contained within a limited piece of meat.
In addition, we also aim to evoke the primitive memory of encounters between fire and meat, which is common to all of humanity, and to share the joy of eating together itself with everyone. We want to create a fulfilling time and place that involves food, which is essential and indispensable for humans, in a relaxed manner.
Through the food culture that humanity has spent a long time creating, we will take the time and gradually create the happiness of simply being together in a human-like manner again now and in the future.
MISSION
Even though we are small and have just begun our journey, as a company and as people, we have established the following mission. Committing to it and making it happen are the biggest goals that embrace our concept.
As implied by CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), companies in modern society have long been required to bear a social responsibility for the environment, including global warming, while pursuing profit. In fact, the extraordinary heat waves that hit various regions in the summers of 2023 and 2024 were an urgent message to us, humanity, and made us feel a sense of crisis literally through our skin that the survival of the earth and humanity is endangered if the situation goes on like this. Under such circumstances, we will implement the following principles thoroughly based on the SDGs adopted in the United Nations Summit in September 2015.
・Against global climate change and warming:
To reduce CO2 emissions, we will actively promote efforts to reduce environmental burdens in various possible scenes, including the simplification of packaging materials, utilization of recycled materials, and optimization of means of transport.
In addition, as a unique method to reduce CO2 emissions, we will actively utilize the wood-burning stove installed in the restaurant space and used to grill meat. Concretely, as firewood, we utilize wood that we have thinned ourselves in denuded forests in Shiga Prefecture to gradually restore forests into secondary forests with high oxygen concentrations. The more you eat meat, the more the forests are revived and breathe; we will continuously create such a new “cycle” for a long time. [13. Climate Action]
・Toward realization of a recycling society:
To reduce the volume of food waste, we take the utmost care so that the food processing process does not generate waste. For unnecessary portions generated during food processing, we will promote the development of products to utilize them as necessary. [12. Responsible Consumption and Production]
・Provision of a place for learning:
We think that a rich society is one where food, clothing, and shelter are fulfilled and anyone can participate in cultural activities. Therefore, we will implement a variety of cultural programs related to food, including dietary education, with the support of a variety of people. Through the provision of a space as a “meeting place,” we will strive to contribute to the community and to the happiness of more people. [4. Quality Education]
Finally, we believe that the foundation of the current trend to seek the social significance of companies has the same spirit as that of the “three-way satisfaction” that Omi merchants have nurtured with care. Business shall never be something that is self-serving for sellers and buyers. We, who utilize local resources, will create a new rich food culture with the community and actively deliver it with an altruistic spirit in mind and with stronger affection for the community than most.
HISTORY
The history of Morishima Co., Ltd., which operates our restaurant KAN KAN KAN, originated from the exceptional frontier spirit of brothers Kyuji Takenaka and Tomezo Morishima, who were leading Omi merchants of the area at the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912).
Under the strong influence of Buddhism, eating meat had long been prohibited in Japan since ancient times. Following the national isolation in the Edo period (1603-1868), the Japanese people broke free from this influence in and after the cultural enlightenment of the Meiji period. Many things were imported from the West, which brought substantial changes even to the food culture. Alongside of steam locomotives, gas lamps, and brick architecture, one of the symbols of cultural enlightenment was the beef pot, the predecessor of sukiyaki.
At the beginning of the Meiji period, eating meat, a new food culture, also gradually spread among Japanese people with the increase of foreign residents who lived mainly in Yokohama. At that time, Kyuji, the elder brother of the two was well-informed about various regions as a rice merchant, and he sensed a rapid increase in beef demand in the Kanto region.
Kyuji demonstrated brilliant foresight, discovering that cattle raised only for plowing the fields in provinces were of extremely high commercial value. So, he hired young people in a village in Omi, his home province, to drive more than 20 cows to Tokyo by road in about 2 weeks. He then started to trade directly in areas like Yokohama, which had many foreign residents who regularly ate beef.
Kanagaki Robun, Aguranabe, p.71, Iwanamibunko ▶︎
Omi beef originating from Tajima breeding cattle with high marbling of fat became very popular. Several years later, in 1879, he opened Yonekyu in Kayacho 2-chome (currently Asakusabashi), Asakusa-ku, Tokyo, to operate both a wholesale business for Omi beef and a beef-pot restaurant there.
At night of August, sitting in front of a table in Yonekyu
filled with pots boiling with steam
as if in the most comfortable nest in a world of their own
a crowd of people enjoy themselves to their heart's content now
with a big appetite and conversation
Its popularity had no equal. Kotaro Takamura, a leading poet of modern poems in Japan, expressed its prosperity in his poem “Dinner at Yonekyu,” and Roppa Furukawa, a popular comedian at the time, mentioned the beef pot of Yonekyu in his essay “From beef pot to sukiyaki,” saying that the “beef was stacked like a tower.” Of course, the background behind this was infrastructure improvements. The Tokaido Main Line, newly laid in 1889, facilitated the transport of cattle from Omi Hachiman Station in Shiga Prefecture to Tokyo, which also contributed greatly to its popularity. Yonekyu expanded to more than 20 shops, and it was so prosperous that more than 30 cows were slaughtered every day.
Yonekyu was all the rage; however, unfortunately, it lost all its shops due to the Great Kanto Earthquake and subsequent controlled economy during World War II.
After the war, in the decade from 1945 to 1954, the fourth president, Masao Morishima, made great efforts to establish the Omi beef Association to further promote Omi beef. These historical events, talked about even by later generations, included a massive march with cattle in Tokyo in 1954 and an unparalleled and extensive promotional activity in which beef was distributed to a residential area in Shinjuku by parachute from a Cessna plane. This further solidified the reputation of Omi beef, and it became one of the three major types of wagyu beef in Japan alongside of Kobe beef and Matsuzaka beef.
After that, a restaurant was opened in the hometown of Omi beef, Omi Hachiman City, with the ardent desire for local people to enjoy Omi beef one way or another, as it had become too expensive in the metropolitan area for the local people there to eat it. The fifth president, Tokuo Morishima, literally nurtured this restaurant with his own hands over the course of 40 years to propel it into a popular restaurant.
It happened under such circumstances that Yonekyu, which was operated by the Takenaka family, had a membership-based gourmet club, Shuntairyo, as a new organization in Shiba Park, Azabu, Tokyo, from the Taisho period (1912-1926) until it was destroyed by the Great Tokyo Air Raids in 1945. At that time, Shuntairyo was regarded as a rival restaurant of Hoshigaokasaryo, which was related to the artist Rosanjin Kitaoji and famous as a legendary restaurant. Shuntairyo switched all its serving dishes to Seto ware from a single potter, Shuntei Kato, and decorated its interior with a combination of the best arts of the time, including paintings by an avant-garde painter, to deeply fascinate customers. Its members included the poet couple Tekkan and Akiko Yosano, novelist Eiji Yoshikawa, folklorist Shinobu Orikuchi, and Baron Takashi Masuda, a great master of the tea ceremony in the Showa period (1926-1989) who established the foundation of Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
“KAN KAN KAN” was the name of the cultural magazine issued for members there every month. The magazine not only included a menu in which the words “Omi beef” were stated clearly for the first time in the history of Japan but also introduced a beef dish into Kaiseki cuisine, which is descended from Buddhist cuisine that did not include beef originally. It made an innovative, bold attempt to break the mold for the first time by introducing a cooking method that has become commonplace nowadays.
We, Morishima Co., Ltd., have inherited the historic time-honored name KAN KAN KAN through the kindness of the Takenaka family, and beyond the history of the past 100 years and space between Tokyo and Omi, we are embarking on a journey on the ocean of the future with the frontier spirit of the founder and our predecessors in mind to fascinate customers deeply.
Restaurant & Shop
A glass-walled space with the fragrant aroma of a wood fire where you can enjoy the view of the Hira Mountains beyond Lake Biwa and the sunset. Enjoy unforgettable times with your family, friends, or customers.
133-1 Higashigawa-cho, Omi Hachiman City, Shiga Prefecture 523-0027, Japan
Tel +81-748-38-5135 Fax +81-748-38-5355
Hours Lunch 11:00～14:30 (LO 14:00)／Dinner 17:00～21:00 (LO 20:00)
A small meat shop standing quietly in Omi Hachiman old town, a castle town created by Toyotomi Hidetsugu. You can surely find something useful for you daily life, from the very best Omi beef to original delicatessen foods made by chefs who put all their skills into them.
14 Obata-cho Naka, Omi Hachiman City, Shiga Prefecture 523-0874, Japan
Tel +81-748-43-1823 Fax +81-748-43-1824
Hours 10:30～18:00
KAN KAN KAN COCOSHIGA（TOKYO・Nihonbashi）
COCOSHIGA is a pilot shop of Shiga prefectural specialities, standing in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, the center of commerce and industry in Japan. You can enjoy the rich tastes of home in the restaurant space on the second floor.
2F 2-7-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027, Japan
Tel +81-3-6281-9872
Hours Lunch 11:30〜14:30(LO 14:00) 11:30〜15:30(LO 15:00)[Weekend]／
Dinner 17:00〜22:00(LO 21:00) 17:00〜21:00(LO 20:00)[Weekend]