YUZU GROUP at NIPPON HAKU BANGKOK 2026
Last week, our Founder & CEO, Min — Poramin, was invited to join the BETTER KNOW panel in the Business Zone at NIPPON HAKU BANGKOK 2026, held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.
The session, “With the Love of Japanese Food,” was organised by mediator and asked a deceptively simple question: why has Japanese food found such a lasting place in the hearts of Thai diners — and what sits behind that flavour when the people cooking it are Thai?
It was an honour to share the stage with people we’ve long admired: Chef Tanisorn Wasinopas of Kensaku, and the team behind Shindo Ramen — with the conversation guided by Kantatorn Wannawasu, CEO of mediator. Three brands, three very different paths, one shared starting point.
A few things Min shared on the day:
On why Thai diners love Japanese food.
It isn’t only about taste. Japanese cuisine carries a certain restraint — a plate might hold three ingredients, but each one has been considered many times over. That care is what people feel, even when they can’t name it.
On what Thai hands bring to it.
We think of our work as translation. We hold on to the discipline and the respect for ingredients, and we bring an understanding of what a Thai diner actually wants at the table — how they eat, who they come with, what makes a meal feel worth it. Craft, after all, doesn’t have a nationality.
On selling experience, not just food.
“Experience” sounds romantic, but in practice it’s central kitchens, systems, and training. It’s the unglamorous work behind the scenes that lets the 30th branch deliver what the first one did. We’d rather say this is the standard we hold ourselves to, than claim to be the best at it.
On where the industry goes next.
The Japanese restaurant market in Thailand recorded its first decline last year. We don’t read that as a market weakening — we read it as a market maturing. The era of opening a Japanese restaurant and succeeding simply because it’s Japanese is behind us. What comes next belongs to brands that can answer, clearly, why it should be them.
Thank you to NIPPON HAKU BANGKOK, mediator, and everyone who stayed for the full hour. Conversations like these are how the industry gets better, and we’re grateful to have had a seat at the table.
