How Japanese pastry chef Hironobu Tsujiguchi found his missing father after 15 years
- The confectioner, who recently launched his Super Sweets Gallery in City’super, Hong Kong – his first overseas venture – reveals how eating a strawberry shortcake at a Grade 3 classmate’s birthday party changed his life
Describe your childhood. “I was raised as the third generation in a traditional Japanese confectionery business and had only eaten those kinds of desserts growing up. When I was in Grade 3, I went to my classmate’s birthday party and he had a strawberry shortcake. It was my first time eating a Western-style cake and I was touched by the flavour and texture. That’s when I decided to become a Western-pastry chef.
“The main difference between Japanese desserts – called wagashi – and Western cakes is that Japanese ones are more dense, so the airiness from the sponge cake of the shortcake had a profound impact on me.”
What happened to the family business? “When I was young, I had a dream of going to my hometown, in Ishikawa prefecture, to learn how to make traditional Japanese confectionery from my father and open two shops – one traditional Japanese confectionery and one Western. But when I was 18 years old, my father’s confectionery business went bankrupt, so I couldn’t fulfil this dream.
“I started joining competitions and taking lessons to become a pastry chef. At 23, I became the youngest-ever winner of a nationwide patisserie competition. These competitions helped me save enough capital to open my first shop – Mont St Clair, in Tokyo, in 1998.”
How did your family cope with the bankruptcy? “My father ran away. We didn’t know where. My mother had to take care of me and my younger brother and sister. She went through a lot when I was young, so now that I’ve grown up, I want her to be able to do whatever she wants. Whenever she wants to go anywhere, I accompany her.
