We recently connected with Naomi Kurashige and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Naomi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

“You should price your products higher than they are right now”. This is a conversation that occurs often at the events we sell at. Often being the only vendor selling food at each event, I could easily raise the prices and still have customers, considering how some events would be in a spot where there is nothing else around the neighborhood. But I don’t.

Growing up, I had parents who starved me- be it alcoholism that blurred what the needs of a child was, or punishment in form of withholding food, I was taught early on that food was a luxury that needed to be earned. Roots of a tree span decades, and I was a meth addict who was homeless and starving once again. I pushed life, and life pushed me to where I had a resurrection in this life and I have been clean for almost 9 years now.

Holding stability for the first time in my life, I learnt that I had hoarding tendencies in regards to food- I worry consistently about starving, and the inability to purchase food. I accidentally starve myself regularly without knowing, because I mistake slight hunger with starvation. I only burped for the very first time in my life at 25- I never knew I was never full enough to ever emit a burp. I just thought it was something some people do not experience.

A little less than 1 year ago, I was coordinating an event organized by someone else, and was informed repeatedly by the vendors that they were starving, because there were heavy carnivore options, but zero vegan or vegetarian options. After a few months of pressing the matter to the organizer, I understood that no change was going to happen, so I began preparing meals and treats for the vegan and vegetarian vendors. More than a dozen people told me that I should consider starting a food business, and a little over a month, Perhaps Japanese was born.

Inclusivity was and is NUMBER ONE priority for the business. We have one of the most options around for a small pop-up store. Allergen free, gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and even for the meat lovers- we gotchu. Nothing is priced more than what you would get at a store, with everything made fresh, organic, and the same price whether you have a special request or not. The menu receives changes often, to keep things fresh. I ask for feedback and suggestions from regular customers, and make dishes and desserts dedicated to them. Involving those that support Perhaps Japanese has been one of the main factors that allow us to grow and share more of our mission to others.

We have never turned away anyone without funds- we will feed you. We have a pool for people to donate to, and we take out a portion of our earnings to fund meals for those who can’t afford it :)

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Being restricted from eating since young- be it to be desirable to others or as a form of punishment- built a longing to enjoy foods on a higher level than others around me. I love food. I love discovering new cuisine, experiencing different tastes, fondling textures of tomatoes from different strains, I love it all. Pairing one with another became a skill I now recognize I hold, and I pride myself in being able to fill in the gaps of what a full palette should soak in, and being able to hold back on what can be deemed as too sweet, or too spicy.

Perhaps Japanese is my unhinged project. If I can imagine it, I am giving it a go. I will try it once. I will make the most ridiculous item on the menu that no one orders, just because I can. I love adventures. Stability in my daily life has now allowed me to fully indulge and explore what food can do to one’s mind. Be it dance on your tastebuds for days, or bringing you to a memory that didn’t surface for years, I want emotion in your meals and I want you to be loved.

Being at home, with someone who cares about you, is what I hope my food will bring about for you. I hope someone buys my food, for you, so that you can feel double of that love. I want my food to show you that simplicity and complexity can co-exist in a singular space, where impressing someone can come from a skill and process that can’t usually be photographed or understood visually, simultaneously.

Let us feed you and you will experience love.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

What started as a collaborative project in assisting a friend set up a monthly 420-friendly event, evolved into me selling vegan and vegetarian food at the event, while I was working as a Resume Writer for one of the most reputable firms in the world. With the difficulties in the world right now, the truth is, many people are not looking for jobs, and the demand for us Resume Writers around the world, decreased drastically in 2023. What was a full-time remote job became one that was not sustainable anymore, and the time to ascend within my career arrived when my curiosity hit.

I noticed that a vendor who usually chose the 420-friendly event every month, choose another event that happened on the same Saturday. Out of curiosity (a trait I will never regret), I signed up for Manic Pixie Dream Market as Perhaps Japanese, where I sold out completely in a span of 3 hours, and met the most wonderful people who are my friends today. These are people who I support wholeheartedly and wish them tremendous success.

After that Saturday, I quit coordinating the 420-friendly event, and dedicated my life to growing Perhaps Japanese. It has been 11 months till date, and in this span of less than a year, I have served food at a 4-day festival, completed 75 markets in 2023, and have customers who reported dreaming of our foods (hehe).

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

A lot of people wait. Not because they enjoy waiting for the wave to hit before doing something. I don’t know if it is the lack of foresight, courage or urgency that hones this patience, but I do not have it. I see change as a constant definite- once you start comfortable, a new challenge WILL come by and I WILL take it on. Maybe being an addict once plays a role here, I feel like I’ve wasted so much time getting high that I have so much to compensate for. I need to achieve more to feel like I’m on the same playing field.

There were months that business was terrible- being reliant on events that called for vendors started feeling a little claustrophobic, and I realized the circles Perhaps Japanese was in, was not large enough to tide the business across these months. Pivoting and building upon nothing are two strengths I have built solely from being disadvantaged and having nothing once before. I cold-called businesses, event venues and went to B&M stores to pitch proposals, collaborations and events. Our customer base expanded into HNWIs, NPOs, corporate brands and communities seeking for affordable, healthy meals that tasted like you didn’t have to sacrifice something for health.

I think holding on comes across as resilience most times, but I believe that resilience really blooms when you can pinpoint the moment you should let go of something that isn’t working, and then change the approach before the original outcome strikes. Most things in life allow second chances, and how you negotiate your way into the desired outcome is part of resilience.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/perhaps.japanese