What can you achieve when you harness your passion? ~ The Spice Club's challenge with curry researcher Monko Ichijo

"BUKATSU," a project by Dentsu Inc.'s Marketing Division 2 (hereafter Second MK Bureau), operates under the theme "Turn Passion into Power at Work," initiating activities based on employees' personal interests and passions. This time, we speak with Mika Numata, head of the "Spice Club," a group formed by members interested in curry and spice cuisine.

The Spice Club has now expanded into activities engaging both inside and outside the company. A deeply connected figure working alongside the club is curry researcher Monko Ichijo. Through a conversation between Ms. Numata and Ms. Ichijo, we delve into how pursuing what you love can drive both your work and your life.

Captivated by Curry and Spices

──First, please tell us about your work, Ms. Ichijo.

Ichijo: I work under two titles: "Curry Researcher" and "Spice Cuisine Researcher." I hold cooking classes about 40 times a month, and over 1,000 students have learned from me so far. Additionally, I develop retort curry and restaurant products, create official recipes for food manufacturers, and participate in regional revitalization and events. I also serve as a curry ambassador for Yokosuka and my hometown of Niigata—my days are completely immersed in curry (laughs).

──What led you to become a Spice Cuisine Researcher?

Ichijo: I grew up in the countryside, in an environment that was almost self-sufficient, so I loved cooking from a young age. Among all dishes, curry fascinated me because even with the same recipe, the taste varies completely depending on who makes it. Captivated by its depth, I decided during my student years that I wanted to make curry my career.

Before going independent, I trained at various restaurants—French, Italian, Indian curry shops, major curry chains—accumulating over 10 years of experience. During this time, I also discovered my natural inclination for teaching others, which strongly drew me toward becoming a cooking instructor.

My particular inspiration was Ms. Fumiyo Kawakami, a culinary researcher who teaches diverse genres of cooking, primarily French and Italian. She embodied the ideal I envisioned: possessing a voracious appetite for learning ("If you're teaching cooking, you must know every genre"), a steadfast belief ("Once I decide, I absolutely do it"), and a strong sense of self-confidence. I learned so much working as her cooking assistant, gaining invaluable experience. Then, in 2020, I finally established my own studio, "Spice Life," and formally launched my spice-specialized cooking classes.

Numata: Chef Ichijo's cooking classes are incredibly popular, with about 300 active students currently enrolled. They're booked solid all the way through the end of the year.

Ichijo: The classes are small, so I can work very closely with each student. It's not just about learning to cook; it's also a place to enjoy communication while eating spice-based dishes. This is the work I've envisioned since my apprenticeship days, so being able to express myself freely in this environment is truly enjoyable. Having absorbed so much knowledge over the years, teaching is now my greatest joy.

──Please tell us about your regular work and how you encountered spices.

Numata: As a marketing consultant, my main work involves planning campaigns for major telecom carriers and global companies, primarily in the media sector, and conducting post-campaign effectiveness evaluations.

I have an older sister who is ten years my senior. Her partner was like an older brother to me, looking out for me since I was in elementary school. He was the one who introduced me to the world of spices. He loved ethnic cuisine and often took me to Indian and Thai restaurants. I encountered many exciting spice-based dishes I'd never tasted at home, and I gradually became hooked on the charm of spices.

──Didn't you consider working in a spice-related field, like a restaurant or food manufacturer?

Numata: Back then, I thought "what I liked" and "what I did for work" were separate things. Plus, I was interested in many fields besides spices, so I wanted to broaden my knowledge widely. That's precisely why I chose my current job, I think.

──You're currently the head of the Spice Club at BUKATSU. Could you tell us how the Spice Club was started?

Numata: I belong to Dentsu Inc.'s Second MK Bureau, and our bureau has a "profile sheet" where members write about themselves, their hobbies, and skills. A huge number of people wrote "curry" in the "favorite food" section. A senior colleague saw that and suggested, "Let's all go out for curry lunch together."

When we actually got together and talked, everyone's passion for curry was incredible, and the conversation really took off. What's more, I discovered that everyone wasn't just into curry, but spices in general. If there were this many people with such enthusiasm for spices, I thought, maybe if we worked together, we could discover new ways to enjoy spices and share their appeal with more people. That's why I launched the Spice Club in 2024. We currently have over a dozen members.

From fans to "collaborative partners." Building trust centered around "passion."

──After launching the Spice Club, how did you meet Chef Ichijo?

Numata: Actually, my encounter with Professor Ichijo happened long before the Spice Club. In 2020, I saw a post on social media announcing that he was starting a curry cooking class. I really wanted to attend, but registration had already closed. Still, I couldn't give up, so I sent him a direct message. Luckily, a cancellation had just opened up, and he contacted me. That was our first connection.

──So that was a personal participation, not work-related.

Numata: Exactly. The Spice Club didn't exist yet, so I went to the lesson as just a fan.

Ichijo: (Numata) Mika-chan came about two months after I started the cooking class, I think. When I first launched it, thankfully, I got hundreds of applications and had to close registration quickly. Even so, I was really happy she took the trouble to contact me. I remember thinking I absolutely wanted her to come if a spot opened up.

──Now you work together, right? How did that professional relationship develop?

Numata: I started attending lessons frequently, and eventually began helping out at the teacher's events. As our relationship gradually deepened, when I mentioned starting the Spice Club in 2024, she said, "If there's anything I can do to help, I'm here."

Ichijo: I'm usually the type to handle everything alone. For events, I'd typically manage everything from prep to running the day myself. But with Rika-chan, it just clicked—she felt like someone I could naturally rely on. The first time she helped was at the Kichijoji Curry Festival. I asked her to be my assistant, and she worked harder than I could have imagined.

──Did you feel a positive response when you asked for help?

Ichijo: Absolutely. In fact, it became a turning point for me. I used to be bad at asking others for help, but trying it made me realize how enjoyable it could be. I might even see traces of that "sparkling version of myself" from when I was learning as Ms. Fumiyo Kawakami's assistant reflected in her now. She's like a daughter, like a younger sister.

──Ms. Numata, you were helping out privately, not as an employee of Dentsu Inc., right?

Numata: That's right. I also think of Ms. Ichijo like an older sister, so I helped out driven by the feeling of "If my big sister is in trouble, I want to help her," and also because I wanted to help boost the curry industry together. For several years, I continued attending lessons while helping out with curry events. It was during this time that the Spice Club was founded.

When the Spice Club launched, we decided to hold an online event within the company, and that's when we first asked the teacher for her cooperation. We connected the office and the cooking studio online and held an in-house cooking class where she taught us how to make butter chicken curry and cheese naan.

Solving Social Issues with Spices!? The Expanding Activities of the Spice Club

──What kind of initiatives is the Spice Club currently pursuing with the teacher?

Numata: Many projects are still in the seed-planting stage, but the largest among them is preparing to launch the "Japan Seafood Curry Association."

──The Japan Seafood Curry Association...?

Numata: Yes. It started when Yuhi Komiyama from Hofdiran, an artist famous for his love of curry, suggested, "Couldn't we solve food-related social issues with curry?" You see, over the last 20 years or so, Japan's seafood consumption has drastically declined. As a result, more fish are being caught but not consumed, leading to increased waste. We feel this is a major issue from a food loss perspective too.

So, by combining everyone's favorite curry with seafood to create "Seafood Curry," we thought we could bring renewed attention to it and potentially boost fish consumption. We're trying to create that momentum through information sharing and events.

Ichijo: Komiyama-san and I have been long-time colleagues in the curry industry. In our conversations, we realized that while seafood curry often plays a supporting role, it actually holds tremendous potential. We wanted to spread awareness of its value, not just among us in the curry industry, but to formalize it and communicate it as an association. We thought, "The only person who can really expand this movement is Kako-chan," and asked her to be the Secretary General.

──What specific activities are you undertaking?

Ichijo: For example, just the other day we made a seafood curry using a whole giant turban shell and shared it on YouTube.

Click the image to watch the video

Ichijo: While it has strong entertainment elements, we hope it serves as a catalyst for people to realize, "Oh, you can make curry with ingredients like this too." Moving forward, we aim to collaborate with local governments and regional ingredients to propose new forms of seafood curry.

──As the Spice Club, do you have other projects with companies?

Numata: We have ongoing projects, but most haven't been released yet. For example, we sometimes get inquiries from food manufacturers asking, "Given that the retort curry market has surpassed the roux market in recent years, how should we address the challenge of declining home curry making, especially among younger generations?" We propose solutions by considering "What values and expressions resonate with today's youth?"

Beyond that, other internal teams and sales representatives also consult us, saying, "We'd like to borrow the Spice Department's expertise." By leveraging these cross-functional collaborations, we're gradually expanding the scope of the Spice Department's activities.

Because you love it, it transforms from "I'm tired" to "I did it!"

──Regarding the concept of "turning passion into power at work," which is also this session's theme, how do you feel about it?

Numata: I've always found fulfillment in discovering new worlds through my work. At Dentsu Inc., I often get involved in projects across diverse genres, which offers the excitement of learning about fields I previously had no connection to.

On the other hand, since I started focusing on my passion for "spices," I've noticed I'm using my energy differently than before. I find I can take on even the toughest challenges, and I've truly realized how much of a driving force it is to turn what you love into your work.

I also learned that knowledge I took for granted could feel fresh to others. For example, when I talked about cardamom, people asked, "How do you use it?" or "What are its benefits?" That made me realize my knowledge could be useful to others. Discovering that my "passion" could hold value was a significant insight.

──Seeing the efforts of other Spice Club members, do you ever feel the appeal of turning your passion into a strength at work?

Numata: Some Spice Club members have worked in India, while others incorporate spice benefits into dieting. Everyone's approach is different, which is fascinating. The group is diverse in age and gender, and opinions fly freely regardless of position—from new hires to department heads. Since everyone brings their own expertise and perspective, brainstorming sessions on topics like "young people turning away from curry" generate ideas from multiple angles, which is incredibly stimulating.

Moreover, while regular meetings focus on discussing sales targets and KPIs, our Spice Club meetings have a different goal: "How can we make this meeting enjoyable?" That's precisely why we can speak more freely and openly. It's a space where we can purely focus on the question: "How can we make people love spices?"

──How do you view the significance of turning passion into professional strength?

Ichijo: I decided long ago that I would "make a living with curry." But initially, I faced tremendous opposition. "You can't possibly make a living as a curry-specialized culinary researcher," no one agreed with me. But I thought, if there's no precedent, I'll just have to create it myself. So I dedicated myself to training, studied various genres to be able to answer any culinary question, and built my foundation step by step. It felt like I steeled myself and moved forward with determination to turn my passion into my work.

Thankfully, there were times I worked almost non-stop for about four years, but I never once found it hard. Prep work, washing dishes—it's all enjoyable. I never feel like, "Ugh, work today." I think this is only possible because it all started from something I love.

Numata: I get it. Even things that would normally make you think, "I'm tired," turn into, "I did my best."

Ichijo: Exactly. Physically, I might be tired, but mentally, I'm not at all. Instead, there's this refreshing feeling of accomplishment. Passion is power. Because it's something I'm doing by my own will, not because I'm being made to do it, everything works in my favor. It's not just liking it anymore—it's love (laughs).

Making spice cuisine more accessible. And bringing happiness to the world with spices ♡

──As you continue your activities with the Spice Club, how has the response been from both inside and outside the company?

Numata: Lately, people often say, "The Spice Club looks like fun!" Since we're one of the most active clubs within BUKATU and have the largest membership, I feel we're getting more attention. That's precisely why I'd love for us to expand our circle both inside and outside the company, becoming a symbol of "turning passion into power at work."

──Please tell us about your future challenges.

Ichijo: Having secured my own "castle" (a permanent cooking studio) feels like achieving a major goal... But recently, when we collaborated with an electronics retailer to sell retort curry, the response exceeded our expectations. Curry actually holds tremendous potential for cross-industry collaborations.

For example, I've collaborated with music events, supervised curry as live event merchandise, and even developed curry for professional wrestlers. I'm good at supervising behind the scenes, so even if my name isn't credited, I want to be like the "shadow warrior crafting delicious curry" and make all the curry in the world taste great (laughs).

Numata: What I'm looking forward to is spice-based cuisine becoming even more commonplace. Lately, I've been surprised by moments like seeing biryani sold at convenience stores or specialized recipe books popping up one after another, thinking, "Wow, it's become this accessible!" Just the other day, I helped out at an event where a famous restaurant's biryani had a five-hour wait—it really hit home that it's gradually becoming a mainstream dish.

Ichijo: Actually, about ten years ago, I worked at a biryani specialty shop. Back then, it wasn't popular at all, and sadly, the shop closed after just a year and a half. But now that you can find it in convenience stores, it feels like the times have finally caught up.

With more time spent at home during the pandemic, interest in spices surged significantly for a while, right? Currently, the spice market is somewhat stagnant as more people spend their time on things other than cooking. However, after the pandemic, the aversion to spices has steadily decreased, and they've become a more everyday presence. So, I think we'll see more examples like the biryani boom, where spice-based dishes gain mainstream acceptance.

Numata: That's exciting. As the Spice Club, we want to capture these signs of change and, with Professor Ichijo's support, spread the appeal of spices further throughout society.