HE SIMPLY wanted a taste of working overseas. But in 1997, four years into his Singapore posting, Japanese engineer Takahashi Kenichi cooked up a different plan and started a restaurant instead.

Today, Mr Kenichi, 52, is the founder and chief executive of Japan Foods, a multimillion-dollar firm that runs restaurants under popular Japanese brand names in Singapore and Malaysia.

The firm has just got on board Catalist, the Singapore Exchange's second board.

Japan Foods' network here now boasts 21 restaurants, including the Ajisen Ramen chain, Aji Tei, Hokkyokusei, Botejyu and Japanese Gourmet Town.

Last year, Japan Foods' profits soared to $2.85million, a hefty growth of 228per cent from 2007 and not a bad return for a business started by a lone Japanese expatriate determined to break out on his own.

'It is not my character to just be a follower,' said the former design engineer, who worked at Japanese electronics giant Pioneer for 18 years.

'I wanted to do something - anything lah - just to be my own boss and start something by myself,' added Mr Kenichi, who resigned from Pioneer in 1997 to start the first Ajisen Ramen outlet in Singapore at Bugis Junction.

The decision to do so was not taken lightly. Although he had been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, the engineer in him kept him grounded.

Originally from Kumamoto, Ajisen Ramen was an established brand with a strong following in Japan since the 1960s. Mr Kenichi wanted to be sure it would also take off in Singapore.

'I did my research and even took a plane to Hong Kong to see for myself how the Ajisen Ramen brand was doing there,' he said. 'An outlet had just opened in Hong Kong at the time and I heard the people liked it very much.'

After seeing the success of the brand's Hong Kong franchise and being satisfied that Singaporeans would take to the Ajisen Ramen menu, Mr Kenichi parted with one million yen (S$16,000) for the franchise rights to set up his first Ajisen Ramen outlet

It did not take long for the harsh reality of running a food business to hit Mr Kenichi - the first was the Asian financial crisis in the very year he decided to start on his entrepreneurial journey.

'The first month of business was okay, but when the crisis started in Thailand, slowly business went down, down, down,' he recalled. 'From the second month onwards, we had no customers and so I had to cut costs on labour and work in the kitchen myself.'

For the next one year, the father of a nine-year-old girl worked in the kitchen from morning till night every day, cooking and serving.

'I did not even have money to buy lunch, so I ate Ramen and fried rice in the restaurant every day,' he quipped.

Slowly but surely, business returned as the crisis worked itself out, and that was when Mr Kenichi decided to bite the bullet and buy franchise rights for the region.

'With business starting to pick up by 2000, I had the confidence to set up my second Ajisen Ramen outlet at the old Scotts shopping centre,' he said.

Japan Foods' growth over the next eight years was nothing short of exceptional, especially for the restaurant business - arguably one of the most challenging industries to be in.

More outlets of Ajisen Ramen and other restaurant brands would follow - some in central locations like Ngee Ann City, but most of them in suburban malls to cater to heartlanders, who Mr Kenichi believed were willing to part with more money for his food.

'Once a customer tries good food, he does not mind paying a little more. I was confident of that, so I went on to open more outlets.'

More than a year ago, Mr Kenichi toyed with the idea of launching an initial public offering (IPO), a plan that materialised on Monday when the firm was listed and traded on Catalist.

Japan Foods' offer of 13.5 million shares at 20 cents each, made up entirely of placement shares, were all snapped up. This means Mr Kenichi's plans to expand Japan Foods' footprint within Singapore will be boosted by about $1.2million, the net proceeds of the funds raised through the IPO.

Despite the economic downturn, market volatility and plummeting equity valuations, he still believes it was the right time to list the firm's shares.

One reason for his gung-ho attitude towards expansion is the opportunity to secure good locations at lower rentals.

'In the restaurant business, it is all about location and, during this downturn, we are actually being offered a wider range of locations by mall owners,' he said.

While it is still early days to forecast the firm's success for the year, Mr Kenichi is hopeful. 'We have not seen any dip in business so far this year,' he said.

In the coming year, expansion is on the cards. Plans are afoot to open a 13,000sqft Japanese food court at Tampines1, a new mall, by April.

Also in the works are two new restaurants at Ion Orchard and Orchard Central - locations, Mr Kenichi said with a laugh, that would not have been attainable had it not been for the crisis.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.