Hello everyone. I'm Yu Ichinose, and people say I resemble a capybara. 

Let me share a little bit of my story. 

I originally aspired to be a chef and attended the only high school in Nagano Prefecture where you could obtain a chef's license upon graduation. My family is a family of chefs, and as a child, I wanted to follow in their footsteps and become a chef myself. After graduating from high school, I started working at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Kiso. I had heard that being a chef was hard work, but I found it to be several times harder than I had imagined. The head chef patiently and strictly taught me despite my inexperience, but I couldn't bear it and ran away. While I was struggling with my decision, a teacher who had helped me during my training suggested that the atmosphere at Sakaeya might suit me, and that's how I ended up joining Sakaeya. I was very nervous about going to Sakaeya, but everyone welcomed me very warmly. Sakaeya has a very kind atmosphere and is easy to work in, and I was able to learn to cook happily every day.

However, something unexpected happened to me shortly after...

My hands started getting rough from touching fish.

When I went to the hospital, I was diagnosed with a fish allergy and advised to quit my job that involved handling fish.

The thought of not being able to cook filled me with sadness. But I couldn't give up, so I tried cooking with gloves on and applying medicine every day. However, no matter what I did, my chapped hands wouldn't heal. Seeing my hands get worse and worse, my friends around me became worried. I had once run away from the world of cooking, and I had worked so hard to get this far, and now I felt like I had no idea what to do.

When I consulted with the president, he asked, "How's the customer service?" 

I'm shy and wondered if I could do it, but I decided to give it a try because I wouldn't know unless I did. At first, I was so nervous when talking to customers that my voice would tremble, and I could only follow the manual exactly; I couldn't do things the way I wanted.

However, when I served various customers, some would write compliments on the feedback forms saying, "I liked your smile," which made me very happy. It made me realize that even someone like me could make people smile. 

From that point on, I started thinking about what I could do for this customer, and my initial worries quickly vanished. I came to understand the joy of customer service. I worked in customer service for about five years, and now I even have repeat customers who come specifically to see me. Coming to Sakaeya helped me realize my strengths: I love talking to people and I have a great smile. I believe this is all thanks to the daily interactions with everyone at Sakaeya. Everyone would tell me things like, "Ichinose-san, the customer was very happy!" and "They wrote about you in the customer survey," and they always supported me.

There was a time when I lost sight of my goals and didn't know what I was living for, but I'm so glad I joined Sakaeya. Now, before I knew it, I'm in a position to manage subordinates, and from now on, I want to be there for the staff who are facing various challenges, just as they were there for me. 

Supporting others is an infinite source of power!

Yu Ichinose

【profile】
Born in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture
Joined the company in 2018
Personal motto: Failure can be read as growth.
Special skill: Good at getting close to people.