After graduating from junior high school, Shigeo Nakamura worked at several restaurants before he opened his own establishment, Nagahori, in Shimanouchi, Osaka. He was 27 when this occurred, and the year was 1984. Since then, his goal of “serving tasty food at all times” has not deviated at all. In choosing ingredients for his business, Nakamura makes numerous visits to local food producers, only buying what truly satisfies him.
“It was about 15 years ago when I was teased by some of my friends from Tokyo and Sapporo,” recalls Nakamura. “They said that other than takoyaki (octopus dumplings) and okonomiyaki (savory pancakes), no food in Osaka, whether it was French, Italian, soba, sushi, or traditional Japanese, truly tasted good. I found such comments both frustrating and strong motivating. These days, I eat at a host of different restaurants in order to better define what better taste means to me. I also have very good relations with those people who produce the food that I use as ingredients. My goal is to be totally committed to only serving menu at my own establishment that is truly delicious.”
Nakamura says that when he was an apprentice cook, it was uncommon that senior cooks would share their experiences and cooking knowledge with younger colleagues. In those days, the only way by which young cooks could improve their skills was for them to study by themselves.
“I wanted to act the complete opposite in terms of how I worked with young cooks and other restaurant owners,” says Nakamura. “I began introducing these people to reliable producers, wholesalers, and media people, who I already knew. In return, I was able to build a really good relationship with younger generations within the restaurant trade. This relationship has become the basis of what is now the Tondo Festival.”
This year’s Tondo Festival was held under sunny skies on January 12th, and it attracted between 30,000 and 40,000 people to Kozunomiya Shrine. Crowd numbers prove that the festival, which is both based on local popular traditions, and supported by highly motivated local partners, is steadily growing into one of Osaka’s most popular events..
