A Taste To Start

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Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd.
Without innovation, it is a corpse.

Winston Churchill

Letter From The Tastemaker: Lessons From Shinese, 1000-Year Legacies
Lifestyle & Experiential Assets: Chef Phoebe Ogawa's Intricate Wagashi

Letter From The Tastemaker

Our world is obsessed with the concept of “new.” The chase keeps us hungry for more but rarely satisfied. So much, that we celebrate disruption more than durability.

The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai…
The world’s first underwater restaurant or villa in the Maldives…
The world’s first futuristic sustainable city in Saudi Arabia…

Innovation feels like it’s moving faster than the speed of light, and with the rise of AI, the cycles of change have compressed even further…

The rhythm of business has accelerated across every sector: retail, hospitality, luxury, technology, all compressing what used to be decades of evolution into rapid, relentless cycles. Everyone is building higher, scaling faster, unveiling sooner.

There’s a competitive spirit in the air: to be the biggest, the boldest, the newest, the most-talked about. But in the rush to claim the superlative, we rarely ask the most important questions: who will still be standing in the next 50 years? 100 or more?

That poses an even deeper set of questions related to longevity…
What about the oldest enterprise? The self-sustaining? The enterprises that have endured for centuries, with some nearing a thousand years? Isn’t that something to pause for? To study? To be moved by?

Remember that Extra Caviar, is not about quick fixes or bigger, or grander anything. We are about timeless innovation. We value what endures. Slow growth from long-term gains. We value what builds you (delayed gratification) over what breaks you (instant gratification).

One is driven by intention, while the other by impulse.

So for a moment, I want you to imagine that what you’re building today could touch the lives of not just your children, but your grand children, and great grand children, and so on…

In Japan, this dream is a reality for over 33,000 businesses because legacy is their living, evolving commitment.

The following statistic is thanks to a study released by The Bank of Korea & Teikoku Data Bank:

5,586 companies over 200 years old (2008)
across 41 countries
56% in Japan
33,000+ Japanese businesses over 100 years old (2019)

Shinese prioritize long-term stability, reputation and craft over rapid growth or profit.

Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, holds the densest concentration of these enduring firms. They are not technology giants or industrial conglomerates, but sake brewers, confectioners, and master artisans whose trades have been protected for centuries. Gekkeikan, for instance, has operated for nearly 400 years under 14 consecutive generations of the Okura family. Sasaya Iori is now in its 303rd year of crafting and selling traditional sweets. Longevity here is not an anomaly, it is tradition.

So, what do these enduring firms have in common?

Balance Quality Over Scale:
^{Shinise favor craftsmanship over rapid expansion, choosing precision and integrity instead of aggressive growth. Staying true to their vision to perfect the existing over time.}
^{Example →}^{Sasaya Iori}^{continues to make traditional wagashi using time-honored methods, limiting output to preserve craft integrity.}
Long-Term Vision:
^{They build for generations, not quarters, prioritizing durability over speed, always asking the question, “how can we stay around for the next 200 years?”}
^{Example →}^{Hōshi Ryokan}^{, founded in 718, has operated for over 1,300 years under the same family line, preserving the ryokan model across centuries.}
Community & Tradition:
^{Deeply rooted in local communities, they preserve tradition while cultivating trust and resilience.}
^{Example →}^{Many Kyoto shinise align production with local festivals, tea ceremonies, and seasonal customs.}
Family Commitment:
^{Continuity is personal. Stewardship passes through generations, protecting both values and vision.}
^{Example →}^{Hōshi Ryokan}^{has passed leadership through more than 40 generations.}
Nature-Aligned Approach:
^{Their expansion is measured and sustainable, aligned with environmental responsibility rather than extraction.}
^{Example →}^{Tea companies like}^{Ippodo Tea}^{rely on seasonal harvest cycles rather than artificial acceleration.}
Economic Degrowth for Sustainability:
^{In contrast to hyper-growth culture, shinise reflect a restrained model, one that values balance, longevity, and resource preservation.}
^{Example →}^{They reinvest conservatively, protecting balance sheets and reputation over aggressive market capture.}
Resilience in Downturns:
^{Their focused offerings and strong local ties create loyalty, insulating them during economic volatility.}
^{Example →}^{Long-standing trust allows them to weather volatility better than trend-driven brands dependent on rapid growth cycles.}

What’s powerful here is this → none of these examples are sentimental nostalgia. They are operational strategies repeated over centuries that prioritize endurance over expansion.

Centennials like the Shinese are a pot of gold for leading brands, family enterprises and legacy-driven families alike.

The deep familial tradition of omotenashi, a heart-centered, selfless hospitality is part of the cultural identity and reputation passed down across 52 generations of The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan’s (the world’s oldest inn) legacy.

For 1300 years, it has drawn visitors from emperors and samurai to modern travelers with a consistent quality that flows across touch-points, with the most tremendous and natural being their on-site uninterrupted hot springs.

What’s truly impactful, is the way in which they choose to innovate: an evolution without losing soul →

from a simple bath destination into a refined ryokan with private rooms and modern comforts
upgrades introduced private open-air baths and subtle contemporary amenities

Yet the core remains untouched →
Tatami rooms
Minimalist design
Natural hot springs
The ethos of traditional hospitality…

Keiunkan modernizes only where it enhances the guest experience but never where it compromises identity. Its longevity is not resistance to change, but disciplined adaptation anchored in place and principle.

Lessons from the Shinese Family Enterprises
Next time you feel like you’re moving too slowly, consider that you may be laying a foundation with intention, brick by brick. With the right systems and processes in place, what you build can be replicated, sustained, and strengthened by employees, partners, and future generations. That is how something outlives you, and definitely not through speed, but through structure designed to flourish centuries ahead.

This isn’t a model reserved for inns in the mountains of Japan. It’s a philosophy any industry can adopt, if it chooses endurance over ego.

After all, what endures is never accidental; it is designed with intention.

(Next Week: The Five-Course Tasting Deep Dive)

Lifestyle + Experiential Assets

Photo: Bon Appetit’

There is an art to perfecting centuries old techniques…

…and that leads us back to time. It takes time to learn, perfect and then replicate these skills. The intricate art of Wagashi dates back over 2,000 years. Its earliest forms were known as mochi, which are a traditional Japanese confectionary (rice cakes with filling). To us, mochi is ice cream you bite into, with the softness of a pastry and the chill of dessert. But to the Japanese, an art form to be savored. Chef Phoebe Ogawa handmakes nearly 100 wagashi per week in her Long Island City studio. Her seasonal hand-crafted delights honor traditional Japanese techniques while taking inspiration from poetry and nature, bringing beauty to your tastebuds.

More on these miniature traditional delights:
⚫ Humble materials such as rice flour, sweet beans, sugar, and water are transformed through discipline into edible art (once only reserved for the imperial court)
⚫ Texture, color, symbolism, aroma, taste; each sweet is meant to be experienced, not consumed.
⚫ Each piece is bite-sized yet architecturally complex, proving grandeur does not require magnitude.
⚫ Ombré sunsets, dragonflies at the equinox, pampas grass under a harvest moon, hydrangeas after rain, all fleeting seasonal moments captured in miniature.

What makes Ogawa compelling is this: she is not merely reproducing tradition. She is stewarding it forward, translating centuries-old ritual into contemporary aesthetic language without severing its roots…