The Challenge of an "Onigiri Shop" That Started with a Handcart

that's rice Part 2 | Despite a 40% rise in material costs, we will surely complete our flagship store that delivers Hiroshima to the world

Thank you for Part 1, and an honest update
Overcoming adversity, we want to create a flagship store that delivers "artisan ingredients" in the ultimate onigiri!

A big challenge that started from a single cart made by my grandfather

■Having experienced human kindness through a cart, and having met artisans whom I deeply respect by visiting production areas and sites myself. We are opening a flagship store in Komachi, Hiroshima, to deliver "the ultimate onigiri" along with the stories behind the ingredients they pour their lives into.
Although we are facing strong headwinds due to soaring material costs, we cannot give up on this place, which connects the entrusted dreams with the future of Hiroshima.

"To be honest, I'm currently facing an enormous challenge."

Hello everyone. I'm Kako Azuma from That's Rice. Based in Hiroshima, I'm involved in delivering "Gochisou Onigiri." Thank you for finding my page among the many projects.

In the previous project, we received warm support totaling 7.5 million yen. Thanks to that, we were finally able to start building our long-desired store. I am truly grateful.

However, I am now facing an unforeseen situation. Due to global circumstances, material costs have soared. The total project cost has significantly exceeded the initial budget, swelling to 40.8 million yen. Honestly, it's an amount that makes my legs tremble.

But I have no option to stop here. That's because I believe this store is not just my dream, but a place absolutely essential for Hiroshima right now. It might be a bit long, but please allow me to share the thoughts that led me to this point.

Grandpa's Handcart and the Scenery My Father Taught Me

■My entire journey began with the single handcart my grandpa made for me.
The inspiration came from my father's stories of "peddling" in the old days. "In the old days, selling goods from a handcart involved warm interactions that words can't fully express."

Precisely because efficiency and speed are all that's demanded today, I wanted to bring back those heartwarming "warm scenes" to Hiroshima once more. I wanted to energize Hiroshima. With that sole desire, I started by delivering onigiri.
I had no knowledge or experience, but I've walked this path until today with my father's words in my heart: **"Don't look for reasons why you can't, look for ways that you can."**

 After much walking, I finally discovered the true identity of "that's rice."

■As I walked through the city pulling a cart, delivering onigiri to each customer, my thoughts slowly began to change.
The more I visited producers and manufacturers all over Hiroshima to find ingredients and heard their stories firsthand, the more I was filled with respect for their incredible pride in sparing no effort for deliciousness.

"If people just eat it normally, they won't understand the amazing story behind it. Just as I deliver to customers directly with my cart, I must also deliver these feelings."

I wanted to turn these wonderful ingredients into the best onigiri with confidence and deliver them to customers. "Actually, about this rice..." "This part of the seaweed is a sign of its deliciousness." Embedding such "delicious secrets" into the onigiri—secrets that could only be learned directly from the producers—and delivering them along with their stories became "what that's rice truly wants to do."

 Why We Decided on a Flagship Store

Initially, I had considered a "small store" within my capabilities. This was because, just like with the food cart, I wanted to engage with each customer carefully.
However, after receiving over 28 million reactions on social media and elsewhere, I began to think that I wouldn't be able to properly welcome all the customers who visited if I stayed as I was, and that I wasn't strong enough to convey the artisans' passion.

Hiroshima has many wonderful craftspeople, from well-known long-established companies to earnest producers whose true value has not yet been widely recognized. There are rare ingredients that are usually difficult to obtain, and numerous masterpieces brought to life by artisans. I believe that conveying the depth of these through the form of the ultimate "feast onigiri" is the only way to fulfill my dream of **"boosting Hiroshima,"** which is the origin of my love for my hometown, Hiroshima.

I want to create a place where all of you who support us can always return, and to responsibly connect with the charm of Hiroshima. Although I am still learning alongside my staff, I believe that creating this **"stage for an experience"** is my responsibility to everyone, and so I decided on the big challenge of a flagship store.
Adding to this was a 40% surge in material costs. Interior design costs ballooned from the initial 22 million yen to 30.8 million yen, and even after giving up on constructing the rice warehouse I had been particular about, the total project cost reached 40.8 million yen.

 A Stage for Experiences, Where You'll Be Excited by New Discoveries

■The flagship store we're creating will be a place where you can "experience" the wonders of Hiroshima through onigiri. As you step inside, you'll find two spaces: "dynamic" and "serene."

① [Dynamic] Entrance: A Place of Discovery and Encounters

This is a vibrant space for takeout and an antenna shop. "Shodai Rikisha," the origin of That's Rice, welcomes you. You can purchase onigiri made with the finest ingredients that captivated me, as well as the ingredients themselves.

② [Serene] Eat-in: A "Feast" Time to Forget the Everyday

Step further inside, and you'll find a calm, "serene" space. We offer the ultimate **"feast onigiri"** using the artisanal ingredients sold at the entrance without reservation. In my rickshaw days, what I valued most was gratitude to customers who stopped by. By sharing the background on behalf of the producers, an ordinary meal transforms into "the best time, exciting with new discoveries."

For producers, it's a place where "feelings that cannot be directly conveyed" can reach customers. For customers, it's a place where they can encounter "the depth of food." **In this place where these two desires intersect,** we will recreate the "warm peddler's scene" that is at the heart of That's Rice.

A stage where the "challenges" of the next generation and artisans take shape

■What I value most is to **"make Hiroshima the subject."** I believe that a shop grows with the city.
That's why I entrusted the interior design to local architecture students. I wanted to create a "stage for challenges" where young people, in whom I believe, and who will create the future, can test their abilities.

To complete this place is to create a place where young people can proudly say, "This is my work," and where the artisans who entrusted their ingredients can boast, "This is our treasure." And it is to allow locals to "rediscover" local treasures and travelers visiting Hiroshima to experience Hiroshima's "authenticity."
I want to create such a place, filled with "Hiroshima's pride," together with all of you.

 Overcoming multiple adversities. We want to continue this story with all of you.

From the day we started with a handcart until today, we have faced many moments when we thought, "This might be the end."

Last year, we experienced a record-breaking rice shortage, followed by an abnormal surge in rice prices. Furthermore, a producer who had entrusted us with their precious rice decided to retire.

It's been less than two years since we opened. Parting with the person who supported me when I knew nothing was truly sad and brought great anxiety. Nevertheless, I want to diligently carry forward the passion for food that producers have dedicated their lives to preserving. With my father's words, "Don't look for reasons to fail," in my heart, I took one step at a time, and now, a flagship store is finally taking shape.

However, we are now facing even greater challenges.

■Global material costs have soared due to the situation in the Middle East. Interior costs have swelled to 1.4 times the original estimate, and the total project cost has reached 40.8 million yen. Even after giving up on building the "rice warehouse" we had envisioned, a huge wall of approximately 13.3 million yen still stands before me, a sum I cannot possibly reach on my own.

The property contract is finalized, construction has begun, and staff have been hired. Menu development is also underway. The ship has already set sail. There's no turning back. But right now, I don't have enough fuel to keep this ship moving.

We've overcome one hurdle after another, from rice shortages to the retirement of respected producers, and finally made it this far. This place is our "treasure," filled with the hopes of the artisans who entrusted us with their ingredients, the students who diligently designed the interior, and my new colleagues who share my vision and will embark on this dream with me. It's a place brimming with the support of everyone who cheered us on, saying, "We're waiting for you."

The one thing I desperately want to avoid is letting this challenge we've built together come to an end due to my own shortcomings. It is with the weight of that responsibility that I am writing this now.

This endeavor, which began with a single cart, cannot end here. To make that desire a reality, I would be grateful if you could lend your support through this crowdfunding campaign.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Current progress

Target amount: 17,000,000 yen (after plan change)

May 1st, 19:04
7,538,695 yen / 17,000,000 yen

Our store will open in the heart of Hiroshima City, about a 5-minute walk from Peace Memorial Park. It is located very close to Chuden-mae Station on the Hiroshima Electric Railway.
*Currently under construction

https://thats-rice.com/

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