Behind the scenes of the collaboration

--The collaboration with George Tokoro's "Setagaya Base" has been generating a lot of buzz...

That's right. Mr. Tokoro is a really nice person, and we're good friends in our private lives too. When I go back to my parents' house, I go to "Setagaya Base" about twice a month for tea. I call Mr. Tokoro and ask, "Is it okay if I bring croquettes as a souvenir today?" and then I buy some croquettes from a nearby shop, and we really just have tea.

So, I thought I'd ask Tokoro-san to collaborate with me, and I asked him, "I'm making a limited-edition collaboration cap for Isetan, how about a 'Odakyu Line collaboration' between Soshigaya-Okura and Seijo Gakuen?" and he immediately replied, "Sure, what's that? Are you doing something interesting again?" I was so happy to hear that; he's a really good person who understands what I'm talking about.

Also, I've had a long relationship with Atsushi Okubo from The Stylist Japan through TV and commercial appearances, and since this was a "competition where you can design it yourself," I asked Mr. Okubo to participate, but because of his profession, he was very strict in his checking, so his sample was the last to arrive.

--There are also three types of collaboration products with famous Hawaiian restaurants that have a connection to Noritake-san .

There's the select shop "KICKS/HI" and the restaurants "Bac Nam" and "ASAHI GRILL." I always go to KICKS to buy sneakers whenever I'm in Hawaii, so I go about once every three days (laughs).

Asahi Grill is a oxtail soup restaurant I often go to for lunch in Hawaii, and I've featured it on the show, so when I mentioned this collaboration, they said, "If it's Nori-san, then it's fine." I also thought it would be cool if Bac Nam designed the sign. Something like, "What's Bac Nam?" Bac Nam is a Vietnamese restaurant with an amazing crab curry. It's super local...

The owner of Kicks Hawaii asked me, "Who else are you collaborating with besides us?" and when I said Asahi Grill, he burst out laughing and asked, "Why?" When I said, "Because it's delicious," the owner praised me highly, saying, "What kind of taste do you guys have! It's too cool!" and added, "A collaboration between Asahi Grill and Baknam? I want Asahi Grill!" The owner of Kicks is a great guy who understands adult fun.

NEXT≫ From global corporations to Sakuzo Kinashi, it's full of collaborations that are typical of Noritake.