GRAPES, Inc.
10F-B Futaba Bldg., 1-16-6 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0043
TEL +81 3-6712-7165
TopAbout
A spotlight for the people and places that were not yet anything.
People whose names are not yet known. Places others called too difficult. Styles no one has tried. Guests who are not the majority, yet are undeniably there. GRAPES believes that it is precisely where the light has never fallen that undiscovered brilliance lies sleeping. To find that small light, shine on it, and nurture it into a place where people gather: that is our work.
01 — Spotlight
Not someone famous, but a talent no one has noticed yet. A place people have avoided. A style that has no name yet. Everything begins by looking closely at what has never been in the light, and turning a single spotlight toward it.
02 — People
When we shine a light on someone, we begin by listening. To what they alone do best, and to their strong desire: "This is what I want to do." We take that in as it is, then read the currents of the times, and together we envision and build the stage where they can shine brightest.
03 — Stand
A restaurant that runs smoothly on part-time staff alone certainly makes economic sense. But that is not the kind of place we want to create. There must be someone at its heart who protects the place and strives to make it better. That is what allows a restaurant to keep changing. We stand firmly behind each individual, and above all, we value being a place where you can see people's names and faces.
04 — Zigzag
No place is perfect from the start. Like climbing a mountain path, we sometimes change direction and sometimes pause. Never letting go of the power to keep changing, we take our time to cultivate a landscape that belongs to that place alone.
05 — Sustain
A single restaurant can be enough. Or it can spread across many towns. What matters is that every one of them stays healthy and steadily profitable. The strength born there becomes the light that illuminates the next person, the next place. Big or small, we start again from zero.
06 — In the Age of AI
No matter how smart AI becomes, nothing can replace the warmth of sharing sound, flavor and time with others in the same space. We use technology to make our places more resilient and stronger. And on that foundation, we treasure above all the time people spend face to face. We will keep these one-of-a-kind places alight.
I love the moment on stage when a spotlight falls on someone. A person who had been standing in the dark reveals, in the light, an expression that is theirs alone. I believe that is exactly what GRAPES sets out to do.
It has been a little over ten years since we began with a small live music venue in Kitasando. We have teamed up with people who are not famous in any obvious way, opened restaurants in places others called too difficult, and imagined styles no one had seen before. Time and again, we have chosen to serve guests who are not the majority.
When we work with someone, the first things we want to embrace are their most unique strengths and their strong desire: "This is what I want to do." We overlay that with the currents of the market and search together for the form that will carry that desire the farthest. There is no perfect answer at the outset. Like climbing a mountain in zigzags, changing direction again and again, a place grows over time.
Restaurants are made by people. A restaurant run on part-time staff alone certainly makes economic sense. Even so, we want to build our restaurants together with people who take ownership, who protect the place and strive to make it better. It is because such people are there, we believe, that a restaurant can change with grace. That is why, on this site, we show the names and faces of the people who make each shop.
One restaurant or many, it does not matter. What matters is that every one of them carries on in good health. And with the strength born from them, we want to shine a light on the next person, the next place.
The experience I have gained running companies in the internet world, I put fully to use in making our restaurants more resilient and stronger. And precisely because this is the age of AI, I want to carefully preserve what I hope will never be lost: sharing sound, flavor and time with others in the same space. With both human hands and technology, we will keep alight one-of-a-kind places where people gather.
Shin Takeuchi, CEO