Shota Sekiguchi’s family operated a small sushi shop (巴寿司) in the small city of Otaru, Hokkaido. The business was badly affected by the encroachment of Sasa Zushi (笹寿司), a sushi-chain conglomerate which sought to dominate the market by offering cheaper mass-produced sushi, glitzier facades and suppressing prices of ingredients through bulk purchases. To make matters worse, Shota’s mother suffered from incurable illness which drained the family of their savings and disrupted his father’s earnings.