Dodai Studio https://dodai-studio.com/en/ We help open, fill and sustain restaurants, bars, cafés, shops and hotels in Japan. From Tokyo, across the whole country, in French, English and Japanese. en Dodai Studio Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT Pop-Up Store in Tokyo: The Complete 2026 Guide https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/pop-up-store-in-japan/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/pop-up-store-in-japan/ From a gallery rented for a weekend to a department store stand: the pop-up formats in Tokyo, the venues and their rates, what you can settle without a Japanese company, and the timeline to plan. Mon, 12 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Practical guide Shingyotai: how Japanese chains test a new concept https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/how-japanese-chains-test-new-concepts/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/how-japanese-chains-test-new-concepts/ Pancho, Mos Burger, FamilyMart: six chains opened a new format in Tokyo in one year. How they test a concept, and what a foreign brand can take from it. Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Analysis Porter, the bag nobody ever advertised https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/porter-yoshida-kaban-bag-without-advertising/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/porter-yoshida-kaban-bag-without-advertising/ Since 1962, Porter has sold its bags with no campaigns and no sales. How a Tokyo family firm turned its founder's instruction into a business model. Thu, 24 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Case study Japan's premium milk bread bubble, and what it cost https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/premium-milk-bread-japan/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/premium-milk-bread-japan/ In 2013 an Osaka bakery sold one loaf of bread. Five years later Japan had hundreds of shops just like it. Then the closures started. Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Case study Tokyo's burger market passes one trillion yen https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/tokyo-burger-market/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/tokyo-burger-market/ A record market, funds bidding for the chains, and burgers sold at steak prices. What a foreign brand needs to know before entering Tokyo. Thu, 03 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Analysis Why music bars are coming back in Tokyo https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/why-music-bars-are-coming-back-in-tokyo/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/why-music-bars-are-coming-back-in-tokyo/ Two openings in seven days, a global wave and seventy years of jazz kissa. Where the format comes from, why it returns now, and what is still open to take. Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Analysis How to open a coffee shop in Japan: the complete 2026 guide https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/open-a-coffee-shop-in-japan/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/open-a-coffee-shop-in-japan/ From takeaway kiosk to roastery café: the formats, the real costs, the licences, the equipment and the traps specific to the Japanese market. Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Practical guide Your head office is abroad: the five ways to open in Japan https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/structures-to-open-in-japan/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/structures-to-open-in-japan/ Subsidiary, branch, representative office, master franchise, joint venture. What each form changes for the lease, the licences and the money. Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Practical guide Blue Bottle in Japan: the rise of a myth, and what it cost https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/blue-bottle-in-japan/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/blue-bottle-in-japan/ 28 cafés, five-hour queues on day one, a loss-making sale eleven years later. What that trajectory really says about the Japanese market. Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Case study Issue 03 · What caught our eye https://dodai-studio.com/en/newsletter/issue-03/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/newsletter/issue-03/ A motsuyaki institution from 1950, a wood-fire kitchen, a matcha room with no takeaway lattes, and two fashion flagships. Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Dodai Studio 土台 Journal Customer experience is not a spectacle https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/experiential-tourism-in-tokyo/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/experiential-tourism-in-tokyo/ 42.7 million visitors and a shift toward experiences, with a misreading in the middle. What brings a customer back, and what does not. Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Analysis Issue 02 · What caught our eye https://dodai-studio.com/en/newsletter/issue-02/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/newsletter/issue-02/ A sumo ring at Tokyo Tower, Google's first own-brand store outside the US, and a miso-only tsukemen in Mita. Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Dodai Studio 土台 Journal Hiring and Keeping Staff in 2026: What Finally Works https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/hiring-and-keeping-staff/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/hiring-and-keeping-staff/ 1.29 million unfilled positions, wages up 10.7%, and the posts still empty. Five approaches that work, and one that no longer does. Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Guillaume Dupérier Practical guide Business Manager Visa 2026: All the New Rules, Plain and Simple https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/japan-business-manager-visa/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/japan-business-manager-visa/ Capital multiplied by six, a mandatory employee, JLPT N2 required. What the October 2025 reform changes for any business project in Japan. Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Practical guide Your Dining Room Is Full, Your Account Is Empty: Three Invisible Leaks https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/three-invisible-leaks/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/three-invisible-leaks/ Average net margin in Japanese food service has fallen to 5.2%. Three losses nobody sees, because nobody measures them. Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Guillaume Dupérier Analysis Why 30% of Tokyo Restaurants Close Within a Year, and How to Avoid It https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/why-tokyo-restaurants-close/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/why-tokyo-restaurants-close/ Bankruptcies in Japanese food service are at record highs. Behind the figure, five causes that turn up in almost every file we audit. Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Analysis Opening a Restaurant in Tokyo in 2026: The Real Budget, Line by Line https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/cost-to-open-a-restaurant-in-tokyo/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/cost-to-open-a-restaurant-in-tokyo/ Space, renovation, equipment, licences, hiring, working capital. The real orders of magnitude behind a Tokyo opening, costed line by line. Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Alexandre Gérard Practical guide Issue 01 · What caught our eye https://dodai-studio.com/en/newsletter/issue-01/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/newsletter/issue-01/ A Kyoto ramen legend, Mos Burger's first cocktail bar, a Hong Kong roaster and two shops that travelled to get here. Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT Dodai Studio 土台 Journal Opening a restaurant in Japan: the complete 2026 guide https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/opening-a-restaurant-in-japan/ https://dodai-studio.com/en/field-notes/opening-a-restaurant-in-japan/ Licences, lease, key money, visa, hiring, suppliers. The real path to opening a Food & Beverage venue in Tokyo, and the mistakes that cost dearly. Thu, 15 Jan 2026 09:00:00 GMT Guillaume Dupérier Practical guide