From stand-and-slurp ramen shops to authentic French cuisine, Tokyo is a diner's paradise. Certainly, finding places that appeal to your palate isn't a problem; hoping they'll be there the next time around is. Tokyo restaurants go out of business faster than Shibuya girls change their nail colors.
Yet, even in today's rough economic weather, a few brave (or crazy) individuals continue to laugh at the odds and ride Tokyo's trend waves. Kozo Hasegawa, CEO of Global Dining, Inc., is one of those with the right surfboard.
With his movie-star good looks and athletic build, it's difficult to imagine Hasegawa as a college dropout, hitchhiking and dishwashing his way across Europe. That is precisely the bohemian adventure that led him to successfully establish 26 unconventional "theme" restaurants, with six more slated to open by the end of July, earning him the nickname, "The Restaurant King of Tokyo."