Utilizing the 12 Municipalities Entrepreneurship Support Grant in Tamura City, Fukushima: A housewife who moved alone has launched her dream stone-oven pizza food truck, 'chako kitchen'!

On February 14, 2026, Ms. Hitomi Kawasaki, a native of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, opened her stone-oven pizza food truck, "chako kitchen," in Tamura City, Fukushima Prefecture!

Ms. Kawasaki participated in a "Food Truck Business Seminar" held in Sendai by Legare Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: 1995 Shimo-Okamoto-cho, Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture; Representative Director: Shingo Usui; hereinafter "Legare") in March 2025, and has since been preparing for her launch with the company's support.

Furthermore, she utilized the "Fukushima 12 Municipalities Entrepreneurship Support Grant" system, moving to Tamura City, Fukushima Prefecture, on her own to start the business. It has been a new challenge in a new land.

[The Motivation for Opening a Food Truck - A Challenge for a Housewife Who Loves Cooking]

Ms. Kawasaki previously worked part-time as a registered pharmacy clerk. She has always loved cooking and found joy in hearing people say her food was "delicious," leading her to think that one day she wanted a job involving cooking.

With her child-rearing responsibilities settling down, she felt it was time to fulfill her personal ambitions. The initial spark came when she served her specialty curry at her sister's house, and her sister remarked, "This is so delicious, why don't you start a curry food truck?" As someone active who enjoys traveling to various places, Ms. Kawasaki felt that a food truck was a perfect fit for her and immediately began gathering information.

During this process, she found and attended Legare's food truck business seminar. At the time, she was planning to start a curry food truck, but through the pizza-baking experience and tastings at the seminar, her feelings shifted toward wanting to run a pizza food truck! From there, she proceeded with securing funding and undergoing technical training for pizza preparation.

Legare provided consistent support for her launch, from vehicle production to providing pizza cooking techniques and on-site training. Throughout this period, we were constantly learning from Ms. Kawasaki's personality, positive attitude, and agility.

[Moving Alone to Fukushima to Utilize the Grant System!]

The biggest challenge in opening the business was, as expected, the funding. Therefore, Ms. Kawasaki decided to utilize the "Fukushima 12 Municipalities Entrepreneurship Support Grant," a system available to those who move to and open a business in designated municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture.

Her destination was Tamura City, Fukushima. When asked if she felt any hurdles or anxiety about taking on a new challenge alone in an unfamiliar land, she replied, "Almost none!" She shared that she was "truly happy just to be able to run a food truck."

She is now fully enjoying her new life in Tamura City and says, "I'm so glad I moved here!"

With child-rearing behind her, she is taking on the challenge of a second career. Her children have also been supportive and excited for her. They sometimes come to help at her locations and even stand in the food truck with her!

[The Grand Opening Was a Huge Success!]

The grand opening was on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2026! Ms. Kawasaki, who works another job in parallel with her food truck business, spent her days sacrificing sleep to handle prep work.

Finally, the grand opening took place at "Funehiki Park" in Tamura City, Fukushima! On the day of the opening, local residents chatted with her in a friendly manner, and customers who were not even acquaintances of Ms. Kawasaki kept coming to the truck!

Attention was drawn to her authentic style of stretching the dough, adding toppings, and baking in a stone oven right after receiving an order, making it a very successful day!

On that day, her Instagram followers increased rapidly, and she received messages from those who purchased her pizza, proving she had already gained fans.

[Spreading a Circle of Delicious Smiles with Pizza from Tamura City, Fukushima]

When asked about her future prospects, she said, "I want to continue operating the food truck while valuing communication with my customers."

After the grand opening, she obtained business permits for four prefectures—Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Miyagi—and is fully prepared to expand her range of activities! She plans to start by operating in her home base of Tamura City, Fukushima, and Sendai, Miyagi, while gradually expanding her sales area into the Kanto region.

Ms. Kawasaki has achieved her first goal of "opening a food truck." With her inherent drive, there is no doubt she will continue to make her dreams come true.

Be sure to visit and meet Ms. Kawasaki of "chako kitchen," who has started her challenge in a new land!

There is no doubt that her personality and the deliciousness of her pizza will make you smile.

[Opening Day Footage Now Available on YouTube!]

We have released footage of the opening day of "chako kitchen" on the official Legare YouTube channel!

We also interviewed Ms. Kawasaki about her feelings, so please take a look!