Kento Sekine: The Fried Chicken Shop Owner in Africa

I love "increasing deliciousness." My heart is filled when I share a taste that moved me and see someone's culinary horizons expand as they say, "Wow, this is delicious!" Since graduating from Keio University, I have been working to "increase deliciousness" by training as a chef and founding an insect-based food company.

Currently, I run a small fried chicken stall in Ghana, Africa. Here, there are still very few options for "delicious" food. That is why I want to increase the amount of "deliciousness" here.

Since starting the stall, I have faced constant, stimulating challenges that increase my adrenaline day by day—my first staff member disappeared on their second day of work, land I thought I had leased was occupied by others, and money was stolen by a child I had befriended. Even so, because "passion" is at the root of what I do, I am able to keep struggling forward even in a foreign land.

Looking back, my ten years at Keio University starting from Chutobu Junior High School taught me the attitude of pursuing what I "love" to the fullest. Keio University Shiki High School is symbolic of this. As its predecessor was an agricultural high school, it is filled with a relaxed and easygoing atmosphere, for better or worse.

In the Shiki forest, which spans a vast site, the teachers' classes were incredibly free. One year was spent just learning the history of Okinawa. Another was just reading Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." Another was just delving deep into "5 Centimeters per Second." By interacting daily with teachers who enjoyed talking freely about specialized themes, students accumulated many examples of people living by doing only what they love. Because the teachers themselves best embodied the attitude of pursuing their passions to an extraordinary degree, the school as a whole had a foundation that allowed for individuality without comparing oneself to others. Having grown up eating the persimmons growing on the Shiki High School grounds, I may have unknowingly become dyed in those Shiki colors.

Ten years have passed since then. The high school student who was eating persimmons at Shiki High School is now struggling to open a fried chicken restaurant and build a poultry farm in Africa.

From a "small stall" to a "delicious company representing Africa." Hardships will likely continue to rain down in this foreign land. Even so, I want to cherish what I "love" and carve out the future I envision with a spirit of independence and self-respect.