Our strong relationships with overseas partners stem from this very approach. We didn't just go looking for people who wanted to run famous Japanese franchises abroad! We get plenty of inquiries like that through our website. What truly matters is discerning the profile of someone who can be a long-term overseas partner.
“Pursuit of Essence”
is our business philosophy. 😁
Regarding Franchise Partners in Ukraine and Poland
August 25, 2017
I was in Kyiv, Ukraine.
At the Japanese Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.
I was waiting with JETRO for a certain person's presentation.
His name was Vladimir.
The presentation ended after about an hour.
He was an entrepreneur running restaurants in Kyiv and Donetsk, Ukraine.
He passionately shared how he grew his business, speaking in Ukrainian with a slight eastern accent.
He also operated about four Japanese restaurants in Ukraine.
I became very interested in him, so at the dinner reception afterward, which the Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine also attended, we exchanged business cards and contact information.
That was my first encounter with him.
It was nearly nine years ago now.
Perhaps intrigued by the Japanese food business, we held several online meetings afterward where I introduced various ventures. Eventually, he came to Japan to see different businesses and stores for himself.
November 2018
His first visit to Japan was during the cold season just before winter.
During his roughly one-week stay, I introduced him to 8 companies and 9 brands across Tokyo, Saitama, Osaka, and various regional businesses.
He listened intently to each brand owner and seemed to be experimenting with ways to adapt them for Ukraine.
After his week-long stay, the business concept he envisioned developing was Japanese sweets like cakes and bakery items.
Having visited Kyiv beforehand, I also had a clear vision for the business's success, so we decided to collaborate and push forward with that direction.
February 2019
They are highly motivated entrepreneurs, also expanding Japanese cuisine in Warsaw, Poland, Ukraine's neighboring country.
They invited me to come see the attractive market for myself.
I happened to have a three-day gap while traveling from Riyadh to Manchester, so I flew Riyadh → Dubai → Warsaw → Manchester.
After three days of being shown around Warsaw, I realized this was no longer the gloomy Eastern Europe of old. There are no more economic “walls” in this region.
August 2019
About ten months passed while all this was happening.
A food trading company asked us to participate in the world's largest vegan festival in Berlin.
We decided to participate in the festival, focusing solely on the miso vegan menu from “Takesan Miso Ramen,” the Japanese ramen franchise we assist.
When I told Vladimir, he said he'd come all the way from Kyiv to Berlin.
He'd bring our son from Toronto, Canada, and send the head chef from our Warsaw branch too.
Though Berlin's Vegan Festival was the world's largest, we knew nothing about it back then. It was only then that I realized how high-profile the festival was.
Many ramen shops had already opened in Berlin.
Some were local businesses, others seemed run by Japanese people.
We planned to observe while participating in the festival. Honestly, we weren't sure which would be the main focus...
In reality, the number of participating companies was huge, and so were the crowds. Serving samples every day was incredibly demanding.
I was glued to the noodle station the entire time, boiling noodles and churning out 300 servings a day...
They came from Ukraine, Poland, and Canada, tried our samples, and gave us excellent feedback.
They say “seeing is believing,” but in this case, “tasting is believing” was spot on. It was in scorching Berlin that they became genuinely enthusiastic about this ramen venture.
January 2020
We decided to move forward with the project and were in the midst of numerous online meetings when, six months later in January 2020... We received word from our Shanghai business partner.
I had returned to Japan from Singapore for the 2020 New Year celebrations and was scheduled to head straight to Shanghai on business...
“It's better if you don't come. For now, it's better if you don't come.” I didn't know why...
Then, right after that, ”that” whole thing started in Wuhan...
For nearly three years, it's fair to say not just the world's economic activity, but everything in the world came to a halt.
The Ukraine venture stalled, and travel became impossible for two years. The Beijing Olympics were held while the pandemic was still raging.
February 24, 2022
Then, immediately after the Beijing Olympics closing ceremony, "that" thing started again—this time from Russia into Ukraine...I kept in touch with Vladimir, but the reports were grim and heartbreaking.
“Akira, our store is gone. Bombed. The whole mall, everything is gone...”
November 2024
Amidst the still-raging war, he contacted me. He was coming to Japan for an inspection.
He asked me to show him that Berlin miso ramen place. I wondered how he'd managed to come from Kyiv, where flights weren't even operating at the time. He'd come on a tour organized by a travel agency to leave the country, but during his free time, he wanted to inspect Takesan Miso Ramen in Nagano.
November 2025
A year after his visit, after numerous online meetings, he decided not on Kyiv but on expanding to Warsaw, Poland.
He insisted I come back to Warsaw. I'd been there once before to meet Vladimir. It was a charming city back when udon and ramen shops were just starting to appear.
He flew to Warsaw with the owner of Takesan Ramen, the owner of a long-established miso shop, and the store designer, and it led to signing contracts with them.
It had been a full nine years since they first met. Amidst many events, they respected each other and cultivated a relationship of trust over that long period.
Franchising is about trust. It's not necessarily better just because the relationship is long, but the longer it is, the better you understand the other person's character 😁
That's the kind of relationship we want to cultivate between headquarters and franchisees.
We haven't even reached the starting line yet, but around May 2026, our miso ramen restaurant Take-san will open in Warsaw, Poland, becoming our third overseas location!
Stay tuned!!
(1st location: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia / 2nd location: Paris, France)
Assentia Holdings,Inc
CEO Akira
