Kiyohisa Nanri: Connecting the World Through "Food"

2020/02/10

It has been over 20 years since I graduated from university. Looking back now, I am filled with regrets about things I didn't do or couldn't achieve. In particular, I led an extremely extravagant student life, spending six years at Hiyoshi and Mita—the same amount of time as students in the School of Medicine. However, at the time, I was more devoted to nightclub activities, which I arbitrarily dubbed "extracurricular lessons," than to my studies.

Since my days as a high school student at Keio, I had a strong desire to "create something myself." However, in those young days, I had neither capital nor experience, and could do nothing but dream. Yet, for some reason, through those "extracurricular lessons" and external interactions, I began to take an interest in creating places where people gather and the mechanisms for bringing people together.

In my late teens and twenties, while still a student, I operated "club production," providing venues that offered the cutting edge of the era. Being in a position to create and being of the same generation as the people who gathered there, I believe I was developing marketing for the youth demographic.

However, upon graduation, I became interested in the path of creating sustainable culture rather than just the latest trends. Utilizing my experience traveling the world, I began the work of "place-making"—providing "spaces where one can experience the good things of Japan" to the world, and "the good cultures of the world" to Japan.

As part of that work, I engage in "brand production" of food and culture—bringing a cafe culture that has been family-run in Italy for over 250 years with a commitment to food and branding to Japan, and bringing the Japanese spirit of hospitality to Qatar through "food."

Furthermore, at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit held during the landmark 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Italy, I provided "hospitality sweets" that fused Italian and Japanese food. Last year, at the G20 Osaka Summit, I provided world leaders with baked goods representing a "fusion of local ingredients and overseas brands" using edamame from Yao, Osaka.

I love traveling and have visited over 100 countries. On those trips, I always visit local Japanese restaurants, and my interest in places that provide a country's finest commercial products has become my current job.

Having studied at Keio University since the Elementary School, I have been blessed with many mentors, classmates, and juniors. The bonds with Keio University alumni I meet all over the world connect and link Japan, Qatar, and Italy. I believe that what was most helpful for this was Yukichi Fukuzawa's "Sekai Kunizukushi" (All the Countries of the World), which I read in a class at the Elementary School.