When we first met, it was still less than a year after Tandoor went into business, right?

Yes, I think it was probably about six months since I opened the restaurant. The first time I met Komaki-san was when I purchased hand towels and paper napkins from a certain company.

Right. Back then, our company was a trading company dealing in foodstuffs for restaurants and eating establishments, and we delivered materials to restaurants that dealt in Western-style cuisine and to izakaya (Japanese style pubs). In fact, my parents’ home is in Shizuoka, and we had a relationship with a paper napkin manufacturer in the same town, so we also handled such accessories. I was approached by that manufacturer and was asked if I could deliver their products to a restaurant called Tandoor.

So at first I thought Komaki was a company that dealt mainly in hand towels and paper napkins.

I see. Well, I also visited Tandoor without knowing at all what kind of restaurant it was, so I was surprised to see a restaurant with an atmosphere that I’d never experienced before. It was the first time in my life that I set foot into an Indian curry restaurant. That was 35 years ago.

Already 35 years have passed since then. Komaki-san and I have known each other for a really long time.

I was surprised that it’s been that long. After that first visit, I visited Tandoor several times to talk with you guys and asked if I could take a look at your warehouse. When you showed me around, I found a variety of goods stored there, and I told you that we could handle these types of goods as well.

It was shocked. Like, what? You’re not a hand towel vendor? So I asked if you handled the same kinds of materials as we had in our warehouse, and if you could provide us with a quote. After checking the quotation, I decided that I would definitely like to purchase from Komaki, which led to a full-fledged business relationship since then.

As is the case with most Japanese, I tended to associate the word “Indian restaurant” with “spices.” So at first I thought we wouldn’t have much in common since we didn’t deal in spices at our company. But then I discovered many items other than spices in your warehouse. There was flour for making naan, canned tomatoes for making curry, sugar, salt, oil, and many other things.

Of course, spices are essential for Indian curry, but other than that, we basically substitute things we can find in Japan. Even the naan is made using Japanese flour. That’s why we were very grateful to be able to purchase most of those ingredients from Komaki in bulk.

Our pleasure. I’m so glad to have visited you back then. I had assumed that we wouldn’t speak the same language and that you would be using ingredients from your home country, but Tandoor taught me that was not the case. As we continued our relationship, we were also introduced to restaurants run by Shashi’s friends, and as our business partners expanded, we were able to further deepen our understanding.

As for me, I was very happy that you enthusiastically learned so much about Indian restaurants and Indian curry.

What kind of image did you have of us when you first started doing business with us?

As for Tandoor, I got the impression that you weren’t so much different from Japanese people, in a good way. So I really had no worries about doing business with you. I’m sure this is partly due to the influence of your brother and his wife, don’t you think?

I think that was really significant. My brother and I originally started the restaurant called Tandoor together, and his wife is Japanese. She interpreted for us when we didn’t understand the language, taught us about Japanese rules and business precautions, and supported us in many other ways, which I think is why we were able to adjust to Japan so quickly. So my interactions with Komaki went smoothly and without any barriers.

Yes, right. As for me, I’ve never felt any difference between our countries at all. For example, I’ve never experienced any problems with payment.

No problems. I believed that money was the most important part of building a relationship of trust, so I was very careful about that. I was also comfortable with the measured manner of Japanese culture, so I had no resistance to it.

Thank you so much, Shashi. It is our hope that we can continue to support you, your ideas, and your enthusiasm, in every way we can. Which reminds me, I even printed menus for you at one time way back when.

Yes indeed you did! You took photos of the food using your own digital camera, right?

Oh yes. Sometime after digital cameras first became popular, I bought a 1.2 megapixel camera. Right around that time, menus with photos were starting to become mainstream in family restaurants, and I thought they’d make it easier for Tandoor’s patrons to understand as well. So I took dozens of pictures of Tandoor’s curries with my camera. I still have fond memories of putting those photos on the menu so people would know what kind of curries they were, instead of just listing the names.

Thank you very much for all that! I was overjoyed to see such attention to detail. It left a deep impression on me. I even remember you saying “feel free to eat all the curry we’ve finished shooting if you like.” (laughs)

Yes, that did happen. Not that anybody could actually eat all that curry. (laughs) And then we drank beer together till morning. I really don’t know exactly where the work ended and the fun began, but I remember it all being a lot of fun.

Of course, our business relationship is at the foundation of it all, but I’ve always respected Komaki-san for being so casual and caring. It would be understandable for the President of a company to be arrogant, but that’s never the case with you. You’re always very open-minded, and I can consult with you about anything.

As I mentioned earlier, Komaki-san, you’re always willing to teach me anything I don’t understand. You would call me and say, “If you have any questions about the recent situation, please feel free to ask me anytime.” I really appreciate it, and feel reassured because there are some things that are difficult for us to understand.

From my perspective, I’m not doing anything special. If someone has a problem, I try to help them. It’s that simple. I believe it’s a natural thing to do, and I hope my son, who will be entrusted with the future, will remember that.

It is because of you, Komaki-san, that we’ve been able to build a deep relationship of trust. Thank you so much for everything. And I would be happy if you could continue building this relationship with my sons going forward.

Yes, no doubt. I still have the title of President, but I’m leaving most of the substantive management to my son. As for Tandoor, your son is there as well, so I guess it will be up to him how he manages the restaurant in the future.

You’re right. It’s their time now, and I would like them to improve the shop by incorporating what we haven’t been able to do. For example, I can speak Japanese without any problems, but I’m not good at reading and writing. Because of this, I’ve fallen behind in the Internet world, where information is largely obtained through the written word. But, unlike me, my son can read and write Japanese. That’s why I would be happy if he could leverage the power of the Internet to help our restaurant grow.

I agree. Now it’s just a matter of getting our sons to work well with each other. Since we’ve been able to continue our relationship for 35 years, I expect we can continue for at least another 35 years.

That’s my wish, too. As for the Tandoor restaurant, even if it is small, I hope we can leave our mark. And I hope that the strong bond that we’ve built together will continue to grow. If we can continue working together for a long time into the future, say 50 or 100 years, nothing would be more wonderful.