The Secrets of the Birth of Go! Go! Curry!
Hello friends,
My last blog post was about the anatomy of our curry dish, but I bet many of you may have noticed and wondered why Go! Go! Curry! has a strong connection with the number 55. I’d like to explain that in this issue, and it’s actually also going to be about the story of the birth of Go! Go! Curry!
Go! Go! Curry! was founded by Kanazawa native, Hirokazu Miyamori, in 2003. So, it’s a natural choice that we adapted the curry style of Kanazawa. However, the first location was not located in Kanazawa, but in Tokyo. Why? At the time, Mr. Miyamori was a huge fan of the legendary baseball player, Hideki “Godzilla” Matsui, who was originally from the greater Kanazawa area. He sprung out of a small town straight to Tokyo, and then to New York.
Mr. Miyamori also wanted to step out to the world and be successful, just like his fellow Kanazawan, Matsui-senshu (senshu is a title used for athletes in Japanese). So, he set the location for the first Go! Go! Curry! in Tokyo. Also, Matsui-senshu’s uniform number was 55, and the number “55” happens to be pronounced “Go Go” in Japanese. Accordingly, this cheering pun became our name!
We opened the first US location in New York City in 2007 while Matsui-senshu was still playing for New York Yankees. Our business grew as his baseball career matured. As of now, Matsui-senshu has retired from baseball, but we are still staying true to his genki power and spirit moving forward. We try to spread that mindset and energy to the world through the power of our food.
In the next issue, I’d like to talk about how Go! Go! Curry! has grown in the US. Until then, eat well and stay genki!
About The Author:
Tomoko Omori was born and raised in Japan. She came to the USA alone to become an actress, where she received an AA degree from college majoring in Drama. She received a scholarship to study music at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC.
After working for TV broadcasting and a publishing company, today, Tomoko is the CEO of Go! Go! Curry! America, a grab-and-go Japanese comfort food restaurant franchise. There are over 75 locations in Japan, and 11 in the USA. She says, “Our mission is to serve our tasty curry nationwide in the USA and Canada to enrich the lives of our customers, employees, franchise owners and the communities we serve. Our vision is to create millions of satisfied customers, contented tummies and miles and miles of smiles for everyone!” Tomoko received the Nikkei BP Woman of the year award in 2015.