COMPANY
Shaping culture to bring Haré
to the everyday.
Haré is the Japanese word for the extraordinary.
Born in Kobe, our creative company transforms ordinary days into moments of joy and celebration through food and spatial design.
OUR VALUES
Enjoy, Creative,
Variety and Smile.
Enjoy
Finding genuine joy in delighting others.
The core of our creativity lies in enjoying what we do more than anyone else. Our earnest pursuit of bringing playful ideas to life is the magic that delivers true delight to our guests.
Creative
Moving forward through imagination, dreams, and creativity.
Driven by imagination and dreams, we constantly seek expressions that are ahead of their time. This uncompromising attention to detail is our enduring aesthetic—one that colors the everyday with vivid Haré.
Variety
Contributing to the world through diverse, high-quality ideas.
We contribute to society by weaving together exceptional ideas, products, and services. Our ability to curate and blend different values is the foundation for spreading a new kind of comfort that the world has yet to experience.
and Smile!
Empowering partners to grow and share in our success.
When these three forces converge, the signature POTOMAK smile is born. It represents not only our guests' satisfaction, but also the proof that our partners are growing through their unique individuality and sharing in our collective success.
COMPANY INFORMATION
- Company name
- POTOMAK Co., Ltd.
- Head Office
- 2-8, Hatobacho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0042
- Tokyo Office
- 1-29-6, Shoto, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0046
- Representatives
- Koji Kanasashi, Chairman and CEO
Kazuhiro Hamasaki, President and COO - Founded
- March 22, 1991
- Capital
- 106 million yen
- Business
- Cafes and restaurants / Confectionery / Produce and direction / Operations / Entertainment / Design and construction / Licensing
- Employees
- 486 full-time, 1,799 part-time (as of April 2026)
OUR HISTORY
-
2026
- PUPA, an all-day Italian restaurant in Shinjuku giving "itameshi" a modern Tokyo character, opens.
-
2025
- GARDEN WHITE, a rooftop Californian Italian restaurant of light and greenery in Ebisu, opens.
- Bistro Shiro, a French bistro specialising in fish, opens in Marunouchi.
- Shima Oden MIKE Marunouchi, the first Tokyo shop for the island oden of Awaji, Hyogo, opens.
- TOOTH TOOTH BISTRO&CAFE, the first Tokyo cafe bistro from TOOTH TOOTH, opens at NEWoMan Takanawa.
- onomatope, a French restaurant carrying the DNA of a Michelin kitchen, opens in the former foreign settlement of Kobe.
- Kurojyu, serving kamameshi and grilled dishes, opens at Yokohama Mores and LUMINE EST Shinjuku.
- MONIQUE, a street-minded wine bar and bistro, opens in Umeda Nakazakicho.
- Hare Tokidoki Takhanmari Shokudo Umeda, an all-you-can-eat Korean dak-hanmari restaurant, opens.
-
2024
-
Total creation of the new Lagoon area at Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pier Kobe.
LAGOON TOOTH TOOTH, a patisserie, bakery and restaurant, opens. - LAGOON BBQ CLUB, an urban resort barbecue park by TOOTH TOOTH, opens.
- Kissa Taiyo Compass, a retro-modern Kobe coffee house, opens.
- Salon 15 TOOTH TOOTH, offering a new experience of tea and pastry inside a nationally designated Important Cultural Property, opens in Kobe.
- Hare Tokidoki Takhanmari Shokudo Kobe, an all-you-can-eat Korean dak-hanmari restaurant, opens.
-
Total creation of the new Lagoon area at Mitsui Outlet Park Marine Pier Kobe.
-
2023
- CREPE & GALETTE TOOTH TOOTH, specialising in crepes and galettes, opens.
- YURT CAFE&BBQ PARK, a cafe and barbecue ground looking out over Suma beach in Kobe, opens.
-
2022
- PEANUTS Cafe, themed around Snoopy, opens its first Osaka location at LaLaport EXPOCITY.
-
2021
- TOOTH TOOTH MART FOOD HALL & NIGHT FES, one of the largest food halls in Kobe and a new landmark on the waterfront, opens.
- TOOTH TOOTH MART STORE, an online shop proposing an everyday with a little occasion in it, opens.
- PEANUTS Cafe SUNNY SIDE KITCHEN, a cafe in Harajuku built around wholesome food, opens.
- TOOTH TOOTH ON THE CORNER, a new concept store in Kobe, opens.
-
2020
- PEANUTS Cafe opens its first Nagoya location at RAYARD Hisaya-odori Park.
- First location in Hokkaido.
-
2019
- Shima Pasta MIKE, specialising in the island pasta of Awaji, opens.
- TOOTH TOOTH Dekoboko Sabo, a Japanese tea salon by TOOTH TOOTH, opens at Kobe City Museum.
- Kurojyu, the yam and tororo specialist, opens its first Tokyo location.
- First location in Fukuoka.
- Shima Oden MIKE, specialising in the island oden of Awaji, opens as the first shop of the MIKE brand.
-
2018
- PEANUTS HOTEL, the first design hotel in Japan themed around Snoopy, opens in Kitano, Kobe.
-
2017
- THE ALLEY, the global tea store, opens its first location in Japan.
- TOOTH TOOTH FISH IN THE FOREST, a new landmark at Meriken Park in Kobe, opens.
-
2016
- First location in Nagoya. SANAGI Shinjuku, where food, art and culture meet, opens.
-
2015
- spontaneous, a French restaurant later awarded one Michelin star, opens in Kitano, Kobe.
- PEANUTS Cafe Nakameguro, themed around Snoopy, opens as the first shop of the PEANUTS brand.
-
2014
- The Tokyo office moves to Shoto, Shibuya.
- RIBLAB KITCHEN, specialising in spare ribs, opens as the first shop of the brand.
-
2013
- UMEKITA FLOOR opens at Grand Front Osaka in Umeda. Our first total production of an entire dining floor within a commercial facility.
- First location in Kyoto.
- MARFA CAFE, a modern Tex-Mex cafe, opens as the first shop of the brand.
-
2012
- TOOTH TOOTH maison 15th opens in the former foreign settlement of Kobe, reborn from a nationally designated Important Cultural Property. From our blog (Japanese)
- First overseas partnership: TRATTORIA AL POMPIERE opens in Verona, Italy.
-
2011
- Coconoha, a cafe, opens as the first shop of the brand.
-
2010
- YURT, a West Coast style cafe, opens as the first shop of the brand. From our blog (Japanese)
-
2009
- Bar & Bistro 64 opens in the former foreign settlement of Kobe. From our blog (Japanese)
-
2008
- The Tokyo office moves to Ebisu.
- Bistro Shiro., a French bistro specialising in fish, opens.
-
2005
- konana, Japanese pasta, opens as the first shop of the brand.
- BARBARA market place, a market restaurant, opens as the first shop of the brand. From our blog (Japanese)
- First location in Saitama.
- The music label business begins as fish for music, now FISH FOR.
-
2004
- Kurojyu, serving Japanese cuisine, opens in Sannomiya, Kobe.
- First location in Yokohama.
-
2003
- First location in Tokyo. The Tokyo office is established in Meguro.
- TOOTH TOOTH TOKYO opens in Ebisu, Tokyo. From our blog (Japanese)
- BARBARA opens in Shinjuku, Tokyo, as the first shop of the brand.
-
2001
- The head office moves to Meriken Park in Kobe.
- First location in Osaka. colors, a cafe, opens in Umeda.
- ROUGHRARE, now New La Fleur, opens in the former foreign settlement of Kobe, occupying an entire building.
-
1999
- The company is reorganised and renamed from So What Ltd. to Potomak Co., Ltd.
- The head office moves to the Kobe Asahi Building.
- TOOTH TOOTH DINING GARDEN, now GARDEN RESTAURANT, opens on the 11th floor of Kobe International House in Sannomiya.
-
1997
- PATISSERIE TOOTH TOOTH, a Kobe pastry shop, opens. From our blog (Japanese)
-
1995
- The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Every shop but TOOTH TOOTH is destroyed and closed.
- We begin again as BRASSERIE TOOTH TOOTH, serving French regional cooking. From our blog (Japanese)
-
1992
- Salon: Winter Garden opens.
-
1991
- So What Ltd. is founded. From our blog (Japanese)
- Bop Bar Goa! opens. From our blog (Japanese)
-
1986
- Founding. Restaurant Bar TOOTH TOOTH, the legendary first shop, opens in Tor West, Kobe. From our blog (Japanese)
LOGO DESIGN
The ever-expanding universe of POTOMAK,
envisioned as a single whale.
The name "Potomak" originates from an imaginary creature in Le Potomak, the debut novel by 20th-century French artist Jean Cocteau. Our logo envisions this creature as a single whale swimming gracefully through the cosmos. The stars scattered across its body, and the trajectories connecting them, represent the shops, brands, and human connections born from POTOMAK.
Our corporate color is Ruri, a vivid blue with a deep cast of violet. Its translucent tone evokes the quiet, ethereal depths of the sea, resonating with our cosmic worldview.