Kinpachi Japanese Restaurant owner Misako Kamata, third left, with staff member Sonia Siwa, center; manager Yoshiko Song, left; maintenance worker Alberto Ignacio, second left; food server Vangie Lagmay, second right; cook Zacarias Sakisat, backrow; and accountant Priscilla Mendoza pose for a photo outside the restaurant on Friday last week.
KINPACHI Japanese Restaurant, which has been serving the island for 43 years, is grateful to local residents for their support during challenging times.
“I cannot believe we have reached 43 years,” restaurant owner Misako Kamata said in an interview.
She was still in college when her father, the late Yoshio Kamata, brought her to the island during school break to help run the restaurant. After she graduated, she worked full-time for Kinpachi, which opened on Sept. 15, 1980 in an area that would soon become Saipan’s tourist district.
Misako said her father had many local friends. Through the years, the good relationship that her father and mother, Keiko, built with local residents became stronger.
Misako said the patronage of local families has been passed on from one generation to another.
Today, she said local customers who continue to enjoy Kinpachi’s authentic and delicious Japanese dishes are the third generation of families that dined at the restaurant when it opened 43 years ago.
“They continue to come here because their grandparents and parents loved this restaurant,” Misako said.
In 1980, she believes that many locals liked Japanese food and culture probably because their parents and grandparents still recall the time when the NMI was administered by Japan.
“People here were so nice,” Kamata said. “When I came here, many people spoke Japanese. And there were locals who attended school in Japan. They really sounded like Japanese when they spoke. And they treated us very well,” Misako said.
Good and bad times
“We started this restaurant very small,” she added. “Now, look at our building today.”
But this year’s anniversary celebration “cannot be too happy because of the more challenging times ahead,” she said.
Misako said the financial assistance that the CNMI government and people received from the federal government helped keep businesses afloat over the last three years, but she strongly doubts that more help from the U.S. is forthcoming.
She said the CNMI will have to stand on its own.
“But look, the CNMI has not recovered yet. The recovery of our tourism industry is just starting,” Misako said.
More Korean tourists are again visiting the island, but the Japanese market, which is also Kinpachi’s main market, “is really hurt.”
“So this coming year, to me, is really challenging,” Misako said.
She added that when Japan Airlines pulled out from the Marianas about 18 years ago, “I was really worried. I really thought we could no longer continue.”
But the local people “were really the ones who helped us,” she said.
In over four decades of running the restaurant on island, Misako said she has realized that the local people have been just as important to Kinpachi’s success as the tourists.
In return, she said Kinpachi always sees to it that it gives back to the community. She said they do all they can to help keep Garapan clean, safe and attractive by participating in many community activities, including cleanups and cultural events.
Awaodori
About 16 years ago, Misako organized the local Awaodori team, a group of young people who perform Japanese cultural dances.
She said it was in 2007 when the Awaodori dancers from Japan came to the islands to perform at the Japanese Autumn Festival and during the Liberation Day parade.
“We met with the dancers, and we realized that what they wanted to do and what I wanted to do matched. That’s how we started the local Awaodori,” Misako said.
Two weeks ago, the Saipan Awaodori team arrived from Japan after seven weeks of participating in the various Awaodori festivals. there.
Loyal employees
Kamata said Kinpachi is also lucky for having very loyal employees. One of them is Sonia Siwa, who has been with the restaurant for 38 years now.
A hotel and restaurant management graduate in the Philippines, Siwa was a cashier at Duty Free Shopping at the Manila International Airport when she met Yoshio Kamata, who was impressed with her excellent way of dealing with customers. He offered her a job on Saipan, and the rest is history.
Besides Siwa, Kinpachi’s other legacy employees include manager Yoshiko Song, accountant Priscilla Mendoza, food server Vangie Lagmay and general maintenance worker Alberto Ignacio.
Misako is also grateful to the rest of her crew.
“It’s our customers and employees who have created our legacy,” she added.
