Draft:Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant

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Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant Ltd.

Patio of the Kamei Royale restaurant
Native name	亀井ロイヤル・ジャパニーズ・レストラン
Industry	Restaurant
Founded	1972
Founder	Toshiaki Masuda
Parent	Kamei Group

Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant (Japanese: 亀井ロイヤル・ジャパニーズ・レストラン)

Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant is a flagship Japanese restaurant from the Kamei Group (Japanese: 亀井グループ) in British Columbia, Canada. The restaurant serves many dishes from Japanese cuisine, including sushi, teriyaki, and tempura. The restaurant is located at Unit 110 - 1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6E 3X2. The store was opened in 1972 by the owner Toshiaki Masuda and has become the oldest operating Japanese restaurant in British Columbia.

Kamei Group has been operating for over 50 years in Vancouver and has over 150 years of history stemming from the Kamei Sushi Restaurant at Tsukiji, Japan. It stands strong today as the starter of the Japanese food trend in Canada.

Kamei Group has invented hundreds of original sushi rolls, starting with the world's well-known B.C. Roll in 1972 under the direction of Toshiaki Masuda. The objective of Toshiaki was to spread not only Japanese cuisine but its culture and welcome other restaurant businesses to adopt his creations which we see everywhere across Canada.

During its first decade, Kamei Royale was known to have the longest sushi bar in Canada. It offered traditional and authentic Japanese food by bringing in trained chefs and floor staff directly from Japan. The store was known to have the longest lineup, which extended multiple blocks. Today, the restaurant offers many fusion dishes to entertain diverse customer tastes.

During the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships held in 2019, Vancouver, Japan's figure skating representatives Mao Asada, Takahiko Kozuka, Nobunari Oda, and Akiko Suzuki visited Kamei Royale and collaborated in the creation of their unique skater sushi rolls. The company director Shingo Masuda and floor manager, Hitomi Ishikura, were involved in receiving input from the figure skaters and came up with ideas that the chefs used to create their sushi rolls that would match the figure skater's image. The most well-known and popular was the world's first heart-shaped sushi roll, the "Mao Roll." The heart was the image symbol for Asada Mao and has become an instant topic in Japan, bringing many news media, such as Asahi News, to the store for the story.

During the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant continuously created original sushi rolls at the athlete's requests. For its long history in Japan and Vancouver and making sushi rolls to support Japan during the game, many news media broadcasted Kamei Royale multiple times daily. During the Olympics, many businesses used the athlete's name without permission, such as using Asada Mao's name on a hotdog; however, Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant was the only one to receive permission to use the athlete's name.

From day one of opening its door, Kamei Royale focused on spreading Japanese cuisine and culture all around Canada and supported Japan in many ways. During the worst crippling debt experienced in Japan's post-war era by Japan Airlines in 2010, Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant offered a no-exception 50% off on all menu items to all JAL workers to ease any stress and offer a more welcoming environment during their stay in Vancouver. Donation collection for Japan is a norm, and the director Shingo Masuda has collaborated with Unicef during the 2011's Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake and the 2016's Kumamoto Earthquake. To support Fukushima Prefecture after the damage caused by 2011's Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Incident, Kamei Royale collaborated with Jizake Japan, the Japanese Sake Organization leader in British Columbia, and Fukushima's Yamatogawa Sake Brewery and created the original brand sake, the Kamei Sake.

Supporting the locals is also a priority to Kamei Group as Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant was involved in several charities, including auction donations to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Police Department for supporting the young from drug recovery.

During Christmas, director Shingo Masuda collects thousands of toys for charity and donates them to Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau to spread enlightenment to those who need it most.

The restaurant received a Letter of Appreciation for its long-successful business in Vancouver from the City of Vancouver and has received many awards over its multiple decades of running. Kamei Royale was also elected by the businessman of Vancouver's best restaurant and, in 2022, was also chosen by Ritual user's most demanded store to join its platform.

Kamei Royale moved from its long-operating West Georgia Street location to the current 1066 West Hastings Street in 2016 and continues to be loved by the local people of Vancouver. The store has been the largest Japanese restaurant by square foot and seating capacity throughout its three moving and remains to be so today.

References

Vancouver Keizai Shinbun news article for figure skater Mao Asada's original roll invented by Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant on February 13, 2009.

Vancouver Keizai Shinbun news article for figure skater Akiko Suzuki's original roll invented by Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant on February 3, 2010.

Sankei Shimbun News in Japan writing an article of Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant creating the "Nadeshiko Roll" on June 8, 2015.

News article of Kamei Royale moving to West Hastings Street, Vancouver, by Life Vancouver on June 30, 2016.

Mao Roll was reviewed by 4 travel.jp news on March 03, 2019.

Vancouver Keizai Shinbun news article of Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant on July 5, 2016.

Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant Facebook Page.

Asahi Shinbun Digital News Paper article of Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant on February 10, 2010.

Foodology's article regarding Kamei Royale Japanese Restaurant on May 31, 2012.