About us
The beginning of FOOD FOR THOUGHT
The photo is the kitchen atelier and cooking class of Yuko Watanabe, director of FOOD FOR THOUGHT. The store started with selling original products such as aprons to students on a small shelf in this place.
About FOOD FOR THOUGHT
FOOD FOR THOUGHT is a place where you can find "tips and insights for a better life."
FOOD FOR THOUGHT is a gallery that handles products related to the table. Our products mainly consist of artist works selected by our director, chef Yuko Watanabe, based on her unique perspective and criterion of "what I want to use in my kitchen and at my table," as well as original products that she herself has produced.
At the Sendagaya LAB, leveraging director Yuko Watanabe's culinary background, we invite professionals who enrich the table, such as those specializing in cuisine, tea, sweets, and flowers, as well as leading creators, to host events for our customers to enjoy.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT's goal is to "enrich our customers' dining tables and their lives through our services." We aim to be a store where visitors can find tips and insights for a better life each time they visit.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT has two stores in Tokyo: Yoyogi-Uehara and Sendagaya. The Uehara store opened in 2017, and the Sendagaya LAB opened in 2021. (For the time being, our physical stores are only open during solo exhibitions and events.)
We hold solo exhibitions by artists every month. We also regularly host special exhibitions featuring multiple artists. For these special exhibitions, we plan with the ideal of "sanpo-yoshi" (benefitting all three parties)—customers, creators, and staff—ensuring everyone has a good time.
We are often asked, "What does 'FOOD FOR THOUGHT' mean?" Although it's a phrase that is difficult to translate directly into Japanese, we imbue it with the meaning of "tips and insights for a better life."
We hope that through this place, you will find tips for enriching and enjoying your life more.
我们是谁：
Takahiro Igarashi
Representative, FOOD FOR THOUGHT / Photographer
Born in Tokyo in 1980.
Spent most of his twenties in the United States. He has been fascinated by pottery ever since he studied it in Tucson, Arizona, which he calls his second home.
After graduating from university in California, he studied photography and business in New York, then returned to Japan after interning at the Richard Avedon Foundation. After working as an assistant, he established Gonyzero Co., Ltd. in 2012. He opened FOOD FOR THOUGHT in 2017.
In his photography work, he specializes in technical commercial shoots for beauty, fashion, and jewelry.
Photography is about "finding the good in people and objects and shining a light on them." He wants to use that eye at FOOD FOR THOUGHT to convey the charm of artworks and artists to customers, sometimes even when the artist themselves doesn't realize it.
Having lived as a minority in the US, his motto is "fairness and equality." In addition to a well-stocked physical store, he also wants to develop a robust e-commerce platform that can deliver works universally to those who cannot physically visit the store.
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Yuko Watanabe
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Shop Director / Culinary Expert
Born in Tokyo.
After graduating from university, she worked as a culinary assistant and then at an editorial production company before becoming an independent culinary expert at the age of 26.
Since then, she has been active in a wide range of fields, including numerous magazines, advertisements, books, TV commercials, television programs, and events. She has authored dozens of books covering cooking, lifestyle, and fashion.
Not only for her cooking, but her meticulous and simple lifestyle and fashion are also featured in magazines and on the web. In recent years, she has gained a large following on social media and receives acclaim from various quarters.
Although she often appears to be an indoor person, she was a captain of the basketball team and a swimming coach in her student days, making her a sports enthusiast whose special skill is long-distance swimming.
Leveraging her experience to the fullest, the products and projects meticulously selected from a culinary perspective have gained the support of FFT's customers.
"Okudo-san" of about 6 tsubo
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Uehara
Our representative, Igarashi, modernized the Uehara store with the image of being in the middle of an "Okudo-san." The gallery space, which tends to be a white box, is intentionally unified in ink. The lighting on the shelves on the right side of the store incorporates plenty of backlight, giving the impression that the vessels are floating in the space.
A wide L-shaped counter is indispensable for communication with customers.
I think that you can discover new charms of the work while enjoying the extraordinary.
A space for learning new things from the past for "food events"
思想实验室的食物
In front of you is Shinjuku Gyoen. It is a quiet house-like space in the green. It is a place where various food-related events are held.
The doors, counter boards, shelves, and sofas are made from memento materials used since the Meiji period at the hospital run by the grandfather of Igarashi, the representative of the company, in Aizuwakamatsu.
Other fixtures were also unified with old materials.
There is a kitchen behind the event space.
Store Locations:
FOOD FOR THOUGHT LAB
Lions Mansion Sendagaya 103, 5-3-16 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0051
OPEN 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Uehara Store
1B, 2-33-4 Uehara, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0064
OPEN 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
*Currently, it is only open during solo exhibitions and events. For the latest information, please check Instagram: @foodforthought_shop
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Contact Us: mail@520fft.com
*For interview requests, wholesale inquiries, and other consultations, please contact us by email at the address above.
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Operating Company:
Five Two Zero Inc., FOOD FOR THOUGHT Division
Representative Director: Takahiro Igarashi
Location: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
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Career:
*As of 1/20/24, we are recruiting full-time employees: Click here for details
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Licenses and Permits:
Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission Antique Dealer License No. 303331806385
Shibuya Ward Health Center Restaurant Business License Acquired (FOOD FOR THOUGHT LAB)
Shibuya Ward Health Center Confectionery Manufacturing License Acquired
Shibuya Ward Health Center Prepared Food Manufacturing License Acquired