Mitchan Souhonten opens its first store at an outdoor festival in Tokyo! A look behind the scenes at the "Hiroshima Furusato Festival"

What is the Hiroshima Furusato Festival?

*This article is an excerpt from the YouTube channel of "Hiroshima Okonomiyaki Mitchan Sohonten [Official]".

The Hiroshima Furusato Festival, in which Mitchan Souhonten will be participating, is a gourmet festival event held at Ueno Park for four days from January 10th (Friday) to 13th (Monday), 2025. This will be the first time that Mitchan Souhonten will participate in an outdoor event in Tokyo!

[January 9, 2025] The day before the event

On Friday, January 9th, the day before the event, the second generation owner, Mitsuo Inune, arrived at Ueno Station in Tokyo. Afterwards, he met up with the staff from the Shinbashi store and headed to the event venue to begin setting up and preparing for the event.

This event is expected to attract a total of 120,000 visitors. We are preparing 700 pieces of food per day, enough for 1,400 meals!

The Mitchan Souhonten will also be taking on the challenge with its largest number of staff to date. From Hiroshima, the Orizuru Tower store's manager, Kimura, the Jido Street store's manager, Hideshima, from Tokyo, the Shinbashi store's Mr. Okada, and the Planning and Business Department's Mr. Itohisa participated.

[January 10, 2025] First day of the event

Finally, the first day of the event has arrived!

[8:12] Preparation begins

At 8:12, three hours before the event started, preparations had already begun at the Mitchan Souhonten booth. "We started preparing early to prepare for unforeseen circumstances that may occur on the first day," says store manager Hideshima.

After that, other members arrived one after another, and they started preparing the ingredients and dough. Because they were cooking in a different environment than usual, they checked the details such as the boiling time of the soba noodles.

This time, the event organizers had told us that they expected 120,000 visitors over the four days, but that the first day was a weekday and so not many people would show up. As a result, the staff seemed a little worried...

[10:55] Cooking begins

Five minutes before the doors opened, cooking began. Okonomiyaki were made one after another so that they could be served to visitors immediately.

[11:00] Opening of the first day of the event

The first day of the Hiroshima Furusato Festival has begun. People started gathering within 10 minutes of opening, and Mitchan Souhonten seems to be the most popular restaurant. In the eating area, customers could be seen munching on okonomiyaki with gusto. At 11:20, the event was broadcast live on television, further increasing the attention! Contrary to initial expectations, orders came in one after another.

The number of people continued to increase by lunchtime, and by 2:07 p.m., 200 cakes had been baked in three hours.

[16:30] Sales end

Sales on the first day ended at 4:30 p.m. Five and a half hours after opening, customers continued to come in without interruption, and exactly 300 okonomiyaki were made that day! In total, 600 meals were sold.

"I'm even more excited for tomorrow," Okada said, expressing his enthusiasm for the second day of the event. Meanwhile, Hideshima, the store manager, was dismayed at the lower sales figures on the first day. "I can't go back to Hiroshima unless we get twice as many customers on the second day." What will happen on the second day?

[January 11, 2025] Event Day 2

On the second day of the event, the doors will open at 10:00, one hour earlier than on the first day. The staff will arrive before 8:00 and steadily proceed with preparations. "I want to make the highest sales in the history of Micchan's events!" Manager Kimura is also full of enthusiasm!

[9:32] Cooking begins

Cooking began at 9:32, 30 minutes before the doors opened. As it was expected to be busier than on the first day, they decided to make 8 okonomiyaki each, double the number from the previous day. In anticipation of the large number of visitors, the okonomiyaki were cooked one after the other!

[10:00] Event Day 2 opens

The second day of the Hiroshima Furusato Festival has begun. Many people gathered at the Mitchan Main Store immediately after the doors opened, and within 30 minutes a line had formed...! The number of customers far exceeded that of the first day, and the staff were extremely busy.

"It tastes authentic!" "It's delicious and tastes the same as at the Hiroshima main store!" The okonomiyaki at Mitchan Souhonten is hugely popular with customers of all ages!

[11:54] A long line

By 11:54, the line had grown to a length that stretched all the way to the entrance of the venue. There were a whopping 80 people waiting! The staff were unable to keep up with the ever-growing line, and they began to show signs of impatience. In order to reduce the waiting time even a little, the staff used their skills to the best of their ability and continued to make okonomiyaki with all their might.

Even after lunchtime, the line continued unabated, and by 1:41pm the queue had grown to over 120 people. The temperature started to drop gradually after 3pm, but the line of people wanting okonomiyaki continued unabated.

[17:03] Sales end

At 5:03 p.m., the last customer was served okonomiyaki, and business for the day closed. "It was the busiest we've ever been," "We were glad we could serve the last customer in about 30 minutes," and the participating staff looked relieved to be able to safely finish the second day of business.

On the second day of the event, over 1,000 servings of okonomiyaki were served, setting a new record for the event to date!

Mitchan Souhonten's okonomiyaki is very popular in Tokyo too!

This time, we brought you the story of Micchan Souhonten's stall at the "Hiroshima Furusato Festival". Many customers came over the remaining two days, and it seems that Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki was very popular even in Tokyo! This time, the stall was in Tokyo, but we will continue to actively set up stalls at events around the country in the future. If you see us at an event, be sure to try our authentic Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki.

▶YouTube video "[Close-up] Behind the scenes of the Hiroshima Furusato Festival, an event with a total of 120,000 visitors" can be found here

▶Click here for the YouTube channel of "Hiroshima Okonomiyaki Mitchan Sohonten [Official]"