"Turning Work into a Life Experience": Yakiniku Kojima Strengthens Human Resource Education with a Company-Wide Training for 150 Participants
To combat the labor shortage in the restaurant industry, Yakiniku Kojima aims to create an "organization where people don't quit" by conducting a large-scale training for 150 employees. With its unique "Character x Hospitality" education, the company plans to improve its retention rate by 20% and accelerate its expansion from 21 to 60 stores.
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- 📰 Published: April 1, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 1, 2026 at 16:47
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 22, 2026 at 03:41 (490h 54m after Collected)
With 47 years since its founding, the Yakiniku Kojima Group (Kojima Co., Ltd., Headquarters: Fujiidera, Osaka; CEO: Yuta Kojima), which has garnered overwhelming support as "the yakiniku restaurant that butchers go to" and currently operates 21 stores, conducted a large-scale "General Customer Service Training" on March 25, 2026, for 150 staff members from all stores, including franchise locations. This initiative is a strategic educational investment to realize an "organization where people don't quit" in the restaurant industry, which faces a serious labor shortage and high turnover rate. By placing "education" at the core of its management, our company has achieved results of over 100% year-over-year sales growth in all stores (with multiple stores exceeding 200%), and with this enhancement of our training system, we expect a 20% improvement in the turnover rate. With a unique educational system that forges not just skills but "Character x Hospitality," we will accelerate our rapid growth from 21 to 60 stores.
## 【Background: Why invest in "education" now?】
The current restaurant industry is facing a structural crisis. The labor shortage rate for non-regular employees has reached 61.8%, and the turnover rate for new university graduates within three years is 49.7%, one of the worst across all industries (*). The negative image of "long hours and tough" or "demanding" precedes it, and a chronic talent shortage continues. Yakiniku Kojima's answer to this challenge is a "serious investment in education." Product strength (delicious yakiniku) alone cannot achieve expansion from 21 to 60 stores. To overcome the wall of multi-store expansion and build a strong brand, it is essential to move away from person-dependent OJT and establish a "reproducible system where people grow and don't quit," in other words, 'organizational strength.' That is why we have embarked on a fundamental educational reform that approaches from human potential, going beyond just on-site operational guidance.
(*From the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Separation Status of Graduates of March 2022" and Teikoku Databank survey)
## 【Initiative Details: 150 Participants in "Character x Hospitality" General Training】
On March 25, 2026, 150 staff members from all stores, including franchise locations, gathered for a large-scale general customer service training.
The core of this training is Yakiniku Kojima's unique educational framework, "Character x Hospitality."
By combining "Hospitality" such as service and reproducibility on the foundation of "Character" which includes dignity and influence, we can for the first time create an "organization where people don't quit" and achieve "reproducible high quality."
## 【Background: Why invest in "education" now?】
The current restaurant industry is facing a structural crisis. The labor shortage rate for non-regular employees has reached 61.8%, and the turnover rate for new university graduates within three years is 49.7%, one of the worst across all industries (*). The negative image of "long hours and tough" or "demanding" precedes it, and a chronic talent shortage continues. Yakiniku Kojima's answer to this challenge is a "serious investment in education." Product strength (delicious yakiniku) alone cannot achieve expansion from 21 to 60 stores. To overcome the wall of multi-store expansion and build a strong brand, it is essential to move away from person-dependent OJT and establish a "reproducible system where people grow and don't quit," in other words, 'organizational strength.' That is why we have embarked on a fundamental educational reform that approaches from human potential, going beyond just on-site operational guidance.
(*From the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Separation Status of Graduates of March 2022" and Teikoku Databank survey)
## 【Initiative Details: 150 Participants in "Character x Hospitality" General Training】
On March 25, 2026, 150 staff members from all stores, including franchise locations, gathered for a large-scale general customer service training.
The core of this training is Yakiniku Kojima's unique educational framework, "Character x Hospitality."
By combining "Hospitality" such as service and reproducibility on the foundation of "Character" which includes dignity and influence, we can for the first time create an "organization where people don't quit" and achieve "reproducible high quality."