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Dialogue "Tarzan Yamamoto ×Toudoukan Director" 10.
9. Return > Imperial "Human Resources" Bank
10. My Way
Director: So, right around that time, my partner Taiyo (wife) came out here.
When Yasuyo was a student, we met at Waseda's Nagabuchi fan circle called "LICENSE", and we with each other from that time on, and by the end of the university we were living together.
▲ LICENSE Flyer at the time "The path is to the east" (laughs)
At the time, she was attending nursing college, and after graduating, she worked as a nurse at the Red Cross Medical Center. But since we were dating, one day I'm going to do my own business! He said.
She is a more independent woman than I am. All of her relatives were self-employed and had their own businesses, so she had no qualms about starting something.
I will be in my second year as a member of society. When the Imperial Human Resources Bank is poshed, hmm. I said, "Okay, let's start together!"
What's going on? For the time being, I said, "I'm going to open an okonomiyaki restaurant!"
I went to a local okonomiyaki restaurant in Tokushima for training, and I got a ladle, a trowel, and various other things, and I was ready to go. After that, I can do it if I buy a used small sales car.
"How about the name 'Superb Grilling'? I was invited (laughs).
Tarzan Yamamoto: Well, okonomiyaki?
Director: "Superb grilling" or oh, it looks delicious. For the time being, the name is.
I was born in Osaka, and I love okonomiyaki, and when people asked me what my favorite food was, I always said "okonomiyaki."
So, if you are a street food okonomiyaki restaurant, you can start with only your own savings.
At that time, if we combined all our savings, it was about 3 million, so I thought I could manage it.
Okay, maybe so. (laughs)
Tarzan Yamamoto: yes. Well, it's easy to get started
Director: For starters, I thought it would be a good idea. But.
If you imagine various things,
Can I really keep baking okonomiyaki? Even if Taiyo bakes it, will he be able to get by with it? Was okonomiyaki so important to you that you wouldn't regret it when you failed?
Also, I thought, well, wait a minute (laughs)
"I'm sorry! What.
Tarzan Yamamoto: I think I saw it there again. I've seen it all. What is the history of the director? This is no good! Called. NG！ NG！ NG！
Director: Hahaha (wry smile) Looking back, that's what happens.
From Taiyo's point of view, she had already quit being a nurse, so she asked, "So, is there anything you want to do?"
I replied, "No, there must be, but I haven't seen it yet."
(Oh, didn't I jump before I saw it?) I'm stuck in my heart (wry smile)
So, after that, every time we had a holiday, we started talking about what we should do, what we really want to do, what we can do for the world, and what we should do.
It's time for a moratorium.
If there is a vacant property passing by, I say, "If you were to do business here, what would you do?" I've tried to talk about hobbies and things like that, but I can't come to a conclusion.
So, I decided to take a break from my daily life for a while and slowly boil it down.
When I went on a trip with two people during the summer vacation、、、
Tarzan Yamamoto: Well, where did you travel?
Director: It was in Italy. Two people to Italy. She liked the movie "The Road." Let's go see the filming locations.
Tarzan Yamamoto: Wait a minute. Eh, is the "road" Fellini's "road"?
Director: That's right. It is Federico Fellini's "Road".
▲ A collection of photo of the movie "The Road" found in an old bookstore in Rome
Tarzan Yamamoto: That Zampano's, Gelsomina's! Oh really. Hey, do you like that "road"? It's rare for a woman to like "the road".
My favorite movie is The Road.
Director: Oh, that's right (laughs) I've been connected to the teacher there as well (laughs).
She loves Giulietta Masina.
Tarzan Yamamoto: It's going to be connected!
Director: Yes (laughs)
So, it's just in Rome that all the "roads" are connected.
On that trip to Italy, I went around Rome, Pompeii, Naples, Venice, and so on.
I'm a Pro Wrestling fan, a martial arts fan, and I was most attracted to the ruins of the large arena at the Colosseum in Rome.
▲ In front of the Colosseum
A large crowd gathered here and a battle was waged, and even though it was 2,000 years ago, the memory of the battle seems to still be ingrained in the ruins, and the spirit of the battle is transmitted through the ages.
As a Pro Wrestling fan, standing in this place, Antonio Inoki naturally chanted at the retirement game at the Tokyo Dome The poem of "The Road" also plays in my brain (laughs).
After all, if I am going to do something, I want to focus on "martial arts", and I want to see what I can do with it.
During the trip, I had a lot of time to reflect on myself, so I kept thinking about the path I wanted to take and what I wanted to do, thinking about it, and talking with Taiyo.
Where is the "path" where we are going?
▲ Which → do you want to go to (laughs)?
After all, if you want to do something, you have to fight for what you like in your own original way.
If it's my own way, I won't regret it even if I fail.
As I talked like that, I gradually began to see the shape.
I've always loved Pro Wrestling , I love going to used bookstores, and recently I've been addicted to manga cafes and used them a lot.
I thought it would be interesting if we could mix this like mixed martial arts and offer it.
"Can you do this with me?"
But if I do this, I'm definitely going to do it, but I don't know if it's going to work.
I mean, in such a world, it's not sweet, so it's probably going to fail.
But even if I fail, it will only go to zero, so at that time, I will work again to save money, and if I try again, it will be fine.
I was going to make a very heavy choice to her, saying, "It's going to be hard."
Unlike me, Taiyo is the type of person who makes quick decisions, so I said, "Okay! Absolutely interesting! That's it! Damn it!!" (wry smile), he immediately agreed with a light feeling like deciding what to eat for dinner (laughs).
Tarzan Yamamoto: Crackling. As expected, Mr. Taiyo, you are wonderful.
Director: Then, on the flight home, I wrote down the image of the Pro Wrestling Library, the prototype of Toudoukan, in my notebook.
By the time the plane landed in Tokyo, the shape became clearer, and I began to see the light on the "path" that we should take.
Don't get lost, go on this "road" that leads from Rome, you'll know when you go (laughs).
Okay, I'm going to do it.
Just six months before the opening of Toudoukan.
The flight arrived in Tokyo on September 23, 2000.
▲ On the return flight
▲ Toudoukan flyer proposal at the planning stage