When I was seventeen, our mother inherited a tiny, run-down storefront from a distant cousin. It had been a failed okonomiyaki shop. The walls were stained with decades of oil smoke. The neighborhood was old, a little rough, and mostly forgotten by the shiny new Tokyo sprawl. We had no money to renovate. We had no business plan. What we had was a mother who could cook, a sister who could calculate, and me—someone who could draw.

And as I look to the future, I know that my mother, my sister, and I will continue to navigate this journey together, as a team, as a family. With love, with support, and with the lessons of Oppaicafe guiding us, I am ready to face whatever comes next, with courage, with resilience, and with hope.