The Legacy of Kaito Yamamoto and Son of The Cheese
Kaito Yamamoto is the man you come to see if you want a good time in Tokyo.
Kaito Yamamoto, entrepreneur, party animal, and family man, who owns an Tokyo empire of creative businesses, pictured here at 27 Club, a strip club in Kabukicho.
He’s earned his infamous reputation as a nightlife master who has seen everything and done in Tokyo’s hardcore but secretive underground club community. Having an encyclopedic knowledge of the city's most hidden dives, music spots, and back alleys, Kaito’s self proclaimed mission is giving his companions the wildest night they’ll probably ever experience.
The interior of 27 Club, Kaito’s Kabukicho based strip club and lounge.
27 Club strikes a perfect balance between the Showa era’s theatrical flair with decidedly more modern strip performances and music ranging from hip-hop to electronic.
Aside from that, he’s a creative powerhouse- crossing business boundaries as the founder of urban wear brand Son of the Cheese, sandwich shop Buy Me Stand, soba bar Sober, and his newest venture a strip club/ lounge titled The 27 Club in Tokyo’s redlight district of Kabukicho, which all bear his signature touch- a tasteful mix of Americana that manages to steer clear of kitsch. With so many businesses in a variety of unrelated niches, it’s hard to imagine how Kaito makes it work, but somehow he does- seemingly effortlessly.
A storefront view of Buy Me Stand, Kaito’s popular grilled cheese centric spot with an interior full of tasteful Americana.
Born and bred in Tomigaya, Shibuya, Kaito spent his youth skating and becoming embedded in the city's underground skate scene, constructing makeshift skateparks for himself and his friends alongside the general hooliganism that comes with being a Tokyo street kid.
A snapshot of The Trailer’s DIY “pool” Kaito opened for skaters, mid construction.
After graduating high school, Kaito made a long term move to Seattle. There he worked various jobs from being a sushi chef to Nike reseller, while building up his skate repertoire and absorbing design influences manifested in his creative projects to come. What Kaito accomplished following his return from his tumultuous stint in the States, as a successful business owner, and nightlife icon has become the stuff of legend.
Some of it’s pure rumor, and some of it happily confirmed by Kaito himself, despite the fact that all of it may or may not be entirely legal.
A collage of Son of The Cheese’s 2022 lookbook and archived snap shots of friends.
A snapshot of The Trailer a now shuttered but not forgotten, counter cultural hub, party venue, and skate area.
What sets Kaito apart from others with similar entrepreneurial chops, is he’s a people first kind of guy. His business plans may not be the most orthodox, but they’ve become mega successful partially because he’s not afraid to take risks and knows how to throw one hell of a party. He’s someone who takes his friends along for the ride, happy to include them in his own creative projects, by infusing his inner circle's personalities and sense of style into his own lookbooks, shop staff, and even as designers for his latest collection.
Kaito’s ventures a partially so successful because he has a knack for recruiting local Tokyo underground personalities and including them as models, designers, brand ambassadors, and partners in his businesses. Pictured above is Mason Avina, shot by Mayu Uchida.
Kaito’s first project that put him on the map was The Trailer Park, a semi-legal skate spot slash artist residency in Meguro, which during its golden age was an epicenter for international skaters and creatives to connect while have a sense of freedom not offered at other venues in Tokyo.
Originally just a space for him and his friends to skate, though word of mouth the venue’s popularity spread to other subcultures in Tokyo, and eventually led to it’s well known no holds barred nightlife after hours and a popular spot for photoshoots in the daytime.
After The Trailer was shuttered due to complaints from neighbors about the rowdy antics that went down and the fact that it operated within a legal gray area, his clothing brand Son of the Cheese was born.
Kaito built up the brand's reputation with simplest of business plans, selling his own original T-shirt designs out of his backpack to people from all walks of life, from friends to designers to club kids who frequented The Trailer Park. Kaito, who in addition to having a knack for design, has a way with people and a charisma that makes you want to become a part of whatever he’s creating.
With that lethal combo of skills his brand steadily gained traction and opened a flagship store in Daikanyama, that looks more like a stylish yet sinister dive bar than purely an apparel shop.
Decked out in a burgundy and turquoise color scheme, accents of velvet and wood, with nods to Americana such as a authentic vintage jukebox, Son of The Cheese flagship store soon became another unofficial hotspot for late night antics, as an invite only bar - with everyone from actors, local legends, models, and of course Kaito’s friends from all over the world stopping by and making it their second home. The bar ended up getting shut down in 2010 after it’s liquor license was revoked due to the spots frequently over the top antics and chronic noise complaints by neighbors.
The interior of Son of The Cheese, and it’s bar space Son of The Bar.
The interior of Buy Me Stand in all it’s retro glory.
Never one to give up, or shut down a party early, Kaito decided that he’d simply move the celebrations elsewhere- finally culminating in his most recent project The 27 Club, a strip club evolving from his desire to share all the glitz and grime of Tokyo’s Kabukicho district with others.
A typical day at 27 Club, dancers, drinks, all around a good vibe.
The 27 Club is Kaito’s grand contribution to his beloved Kabukicho, and in many ways it’s a different feeling than any other strip club in Japan.
With an interior reminiscent of a smaller scale Playboy Mansion, it’s a place that’s surprisingly cozy and feels like a second home that lures you in for a wild night fueled by a frequently rotating cast of characters-a place where you’re always bound to run into someone you know, can indulge in a few drinks, and become part of Kaito’s party that seemingly never ends.
sabukaru got the chance to speak with Kaito Yamamoto at Son of The Cheese’s Daikanyama headquarters, covering everything from the skate scene in Tokyo, his brief time as a Kabukicho host, and how he manages to maintain a sense of beautiful chaos while managing successful businesses from a streetwear label to a strip club.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. And for those that may not know you. Can you introduce yourself to the sabukaru Network?
I'm Kaito, I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. And I moved to the States, when I was 18 and stayed until I was 23. I was a sushi chef for a while there, but I came back here, and worked for a management company. Which is LDH, which isn’t that cool. I worked for a costume design firm. So that was my career.
That’s the past, but who are you now?
Who am I now? Well, I think I'm a grandpa now. Two years ago, I took half of my brain out [because of surgery] and now I’m in chill mode. But before I was hyper, super hyper.
Kaito at his home side by side with his fishing equipment.
You’re being a bit humble, you’ve got a lot going on! You're the founder of Son of The Cheese, Buy Me Stand, Sober, and also like a bunch of other establishments, most recently the 27 Club, a bar/strip club in Kabukicho. Are we missing any businesses?
I mean those are some of my businesses. But I don't want to introduce other people to some of my other places, because the others are a bit sketchy. [laughs] They are tied to the underground, they’ll steal your money. But 27 Club isn’t like that, we’ll never steal your money. It's 5000 yen for all you can drink per one hour.
27 Club’s iconic logo.
You were born and bred in Shibuya, and skateboarding was a pretty heavy influence in your life. What was the skate scene like when you were a teenager?
Well, it was the early nineties. And the movie Kids [by Harmony Korine] came out when I was 14. So I got into like this kind of dark culture, we wanted to do what they did. The movie was a bit aspirational. New York seemed so way away to a 14 year old kid like me, but it made me want to go there.
What were skate crews in Tokyo back then like? how was the scene different from the way it is now?
It was more like individuals doing a hobby. Now the scene is a bit different I guess. But it was sorta like skaters not really hanging out with skaters. I guess in the States there’s like a skateboard shop with a skateboard team, it’s kind of the same with like graffiti artists. But yeah, we didn’t really hang out much. Different parks, different neighborhoods. Now, there’s more of a community going on, which is nice.
We made homemade skateparks, just for our friends. Hidden spots, like under a bridge. And we were making the concrete ourselves at like 14, around like Takaido where there’s nothing going on. It’s on the Inokashira line, and there’s a highway and under the bridge is where we made a park. We would mix the rain with our own concrete and just make a skatepark.
In addition to skating, you were exposed to street culture in other ways. And your father was a part of Pink Dragon, a pretty notorious Japanese ROCKABILLY brand. Did any of these childhood experiences influence how you would start a business later in life?
Rockabilly inspired brand Cream Soda’s crew and dedicated followers of the label lined up in Harajuku.
I didn't have, like, a really good relationship with him. I got a baby like 8 years ago, but before then I didn’t even talk with him. He has similar vibes to me though, he always said “make your own money”.
An album cover Pink Dragon affiliated musical group The Black Cats decked out in Cream Soda apparel.
Pink Dragon was pretty famous back in the day, but a lot of people don’t have the brand on their radar, can you tell us a bit more about it?
They were inspired by the 50s. Back in the day the only people who wore Pink Dragon, all the Yakuza bosses now when they were younger were dreaming about buying Pink Dragon stuff.
They sell like 200,000 a day worth of product. They had to like have shopping carts to put all their cash. They were crazy, especially in the early 70s. My dad owned a bar associated with Pink Dragon, I guess I’m doing what he did. I don’t know why but we are doing the same life. We like to hang out and kick back and own a bar.
Ah, so Pink Dragon wasn’t just a clothing brand but also owned a bar?
Yeah they had a store and a bar, and they even owned a night club.They also had a rooftop with a pool and downstairs a live show with a Thai restaurant. On the second floor they had a gallery.
It goes by the name Cream Soda now, they changed the name. But yeah they’ve been selling like the same stuff since forever. It’s a legendary brand, when I started a business in Kabukicho [a neighborhood associated with the red light district, bars, and the yakuza], everyone was of course scared of the Yakuza, and the Yakuza loved Cream Soda.
Yeah I wanted to have that too, my own bar, my own record label, my own club which I’m trying to do with the 27 Club.
You talked about this a bit earlier, but you lived in America and you worked as a sushi chef. But when you came back, well, first of all, why did you decide to leave? And second of all, it seems like you were a bit disillusioned when you came back too.
I left because I got kicked out of the United States. It was after 9/11, and I didn’t even have a real visa. I could just buy a visa. But after 9/11 I had to go to school or something to keep my visa. It was strict about foreigners during that time. I was staying there without a visa for like two years. I heard that people can get many if they snitch on you for not having a visa. And at the point I felt paralyzed, I didn’t want to stay. So, I told my friend to snitch on me so he could get some money. So then I got kicked out and my friend got money. But my friend gave me some of that money to buy a plane ticket back.
Tell me more about the States, what was it like living there?
Well it was really hard to make money. I only got paid 4 dollars an hour, under the table, all paid in cash. I had to find some other way to make money to live off of. So, I rented out a house to Japanese exchange students.
Yeah, at the time there were also no [Nike] Dunk Skate shoes back in Japan, so I bought them and sold them there. iPhones too, it was an easy way to make money.
one of the first creative projects that you worked on was The Trailer in Meguro. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
So, the project was built on land that was awaiting development, land that someone was living on but they didn’t want to give up. They can't use it yet because they're holding on to it so they can develop the property. So it's kind of like a weird property, a weird shape. So, I put my trailer on it. I only paid 15000 yen per month [about 120$ a month]
The Trailer Park’s pool/skate pit originally was called “Son Of The Cheese” it then carried over to be the name of Kaito’s apparel brand by the same name.
Is that illegal?
It's like a gray area [laughs]. Because I didn’t want to pay the rent.
The Trailer Park’s early days under construction.
From what I’ve heard, The Trailer was a place where everyone collided in Tokyo. HOW DID THE TRAILER EMERGE AS A CULTURAL HOTSPOT?
A snapshot of one of Kaito’s infamous parties.
I started it with 5 of my skater friends, but sometimes I was tired of skaters coming into my house. They’re crazy when they get drunk at the house everyday. I couldn’t take it, so I put water in the pool so they wouldn’t come in to use the [unfilled pool as a place to skate]. So different people started to show up, and they asked to do a barbeque. There was a hotel nearby. Some people were throwing a wedding there, like some fashion people were over there or something. They saw the pool, and they asked me what was going on. I’m kinda open minded so I said, “sure you can come!” Then they started bringing me all these fashion shoots to do there and that’s when things started to take off.
Skaters only gave me like 2000 yen [around 17 USD] or a can of beer. I couldn’t make money when I started The Trailer Park, so I still had a second job. For my main job I worked for Duskin, it’s like a cleaning company. So I was working there at the same time that I had The Trailer. And then when fashion people came in and wanted to throw parties, I became like a barbeque master.
I started a barbecue and all you can eat and drink for like 3000 yen, it made so much money. The place then became bigger and bigger, and then some actors or those kinds of people came to have blind dates there. They wanted privacy. So many crazy things happened in that trailer with famous people. Some of the things I saw there were so crazy, it was like a movie.
In the Trailer like 8 people could sleep in the bedroom. It was like giving a hippy feeling.
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO SHUT DOWN THE TRAILER, AFTER IT WAS SUCH A SUCCESSFUL HUB FOR FOREIGNERS AND THE TOKYO COMMUNITY?
Now I’m on my second marriage, but yeah so after my 1st marriage, it wasn’t great to have that kinda of place when you have a newborn baby and wife. You shouldn't have that kind of place. They might run into some bad people. You can’t be like a hippy when you have a wife, so I couldn't keep renting the place out.
Inside of the trailer part of “The Trailer’s” name sake, where celebrities, skaters, and artists looking for a place to stay would crash.
My first son was born in The Trailer. I mean he was born in a hospital but he lived in The Trailer for 3 months. It was nasty there. There was some cats that would come in from the window, and the doors were always open. I didn’t want to raise a child in an environment like that.
How did you transition to owning The Trailer, to starting Son of The Cheese?
My skills are making clothing or making sushi. So, I chose clothes because it’s easier to make money that way. [laughs] It all started with a T-shirt, I put T-shirts in my backpack and started to go door to door to stores. When I saw people then I’d sell it to them.
Regulars of The Trailer Park modeling Son of The Cheese apparel.
I became famous from The Trailer Park and then it moved to apparel. I spent every summer for 3 years just making barbeque at The Trailer, but then they started to have fashion shoots there and I’d just open the door and they’d pay me like 200 bucks an hour. But yeah, I started to give models and influencers at The Trailer some of my clothing for free, and it expanded from there.
Son of The Cheese’s above chock full of makers and shakers in the nightlife scene.
Oh, so Son of The Cheese took off because you started to give apparel to the customers of The Trailer?
Exactly, it was like one stone two birds [Kaito’s own interpretation of the English phrase “to kill two birds with one stone”]. That’s my business base, still here today we do a similar thing. We opened up a bar because we know people like invite only things. I love invite only things, they make me like the chosen one.
What were some of the first designs from Son of The Cheese that caught peoples attention?
I think one design that sells very well is the T-shirt that says “Hello, My Name Is”. And then you just sew your name on it. Someone then got a copyright for the design, so I can’t sell it anymore.
Within all your businesses, although they are diverse, there's a sense of “Kaitoness”, your own design aesthetic that can be found throughout all of them. How would you describe that?
All three have something in common, especially with the logo. It’s always a girl and booze. Sober, my business in Shinjuku, and BBC, they don’t have logo for them . I have been doing this [Son of The Cheese] for about 10 years, and I wanted to expand to the States. Now I’ve brought my American scene here. I have to become more Japonized, that’s why I opened up Sober.
But yeah also old Playboy, casinos, and also the movie Casino. For interior design, you can use all the budget. But clothing you can make for like $30. But the interior design costs like 100 times more. I like using the budget to create interior design as well. Yeah, so clothing is just a small part of it.
Oh wow, so you must be obsessed with Tiffany’s as a brand?
No [laughs]. I just like to make fun…. You know the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s? It became a manga, [called Itsuka Tiffany de Choushoku wo] sorta inspired by the film but with separate plotline. It’s about an office lady who goes to a different breakfast place every chapter, one of spots she does to Buy Me Stand, it’s featured in the manga.
The cover of Itsuka Tiffany de Choushoku wo a mana featuring Buy Me Stand.
What are some of your other design influences?
My stuff is based on true Americana. Everything is based on the truth. I made Son of The Cheese, because I liked making grilled cheese for my son.
One of Buy Me Stand’s signature grilled cheeses with a gourmet touch, based off of Kaito’s son’s love of grilled cheese.
I like mahjong, so that’s why I made Sober, so you can eat Soba and play mahjong at the same time. Now, I’m into fishing so I want to open up a fishing spot. Anything I like, I make it. That’s why there’s 27 Club, because I was tired of going into other people's bars and spending money.
Inside Buy Me Stand.
The more places I open, the more I spend. If you own it, you don’t have to pay for stuff. If you work for someone else you have to pay all the time.
How did you become involved in Kabukicho’s scene, it can be pretty secretive, how did you get your start?
Kabukicho’s LED laden gateway, to its alleys full of host clubs, girls bars, and pretty much any other nightlife speciality you can imagine.
When I was 18, there was a host club. They were offering a “two week” job, an internship. They gave me 200 bucks a night. And so, I got a part-time job in Kabukicho, as a host. I looked like a host too. [Laughs]
The typical look of a Kabukicho host, featuring spiky dyed gelled hair, pale skin, leather, and skin tight tailored suits.
Oh, really? So, you had the hair and everything?
Yeah I had long hair, and the whole look. Wearing a Burberry suit set-up. I wish I had a photo, but at that time cell-phones didn't have photos.
Roland, one of Kabukicho and Japan’s most famous hosts. His dyed hair, flamboyant outfits, and cosmetic surgery are common amongst hosts.
How did you like being a host?
No, I didn’t like it at all. I had to sleep with some obaasan [old lady] like after she got drunk.
A snapshot of a Kabukicho host.
Wait what, I thought hosts didn’t have to do that?
Yeah but to make more money…I was there for like two weeks. But the 27 Club arose from that connection. I didn’t go to Kabukicho for a while after that, since I was 18, but then when I got back from the States and to Tokyo, I thought things were getting boring. So I started to go to Shinjuku again,because there I felt more free. When you hang out with people there they don’t ask what you do, they just want to have a good time. I started by making my bar in Shinjuku, the budget was like 40,000 dollars to make a store. So we made BBC Club, which stands for Back Street Boys Club. It’s a girls bar. Why is it called that? Because the street is dirty, it’s like a back street where all the people get busted or beaten up. Yeah, so that's the street's name.
Yeah, it’s still very impressive that you were able to make a business in Kabukicho, because you have to know the right people to be allowed in there!
Well people from Shibuya and Harajuku, they never really go to Kabukicho. They want to feel like a boss, they want to be around famous people. Every night with the same people, it’s boring. It’s like you go to different places, but there’s the same people. Maybe every 3 years, you get new people.
Everyone has a mission when they go out, which is to meet people to network. But in Kabukicho it’s different, I don’t even know people's real names. It’s like with skater kids too, you're skating with them and you don’t know what they even do or their name, I never cared about it.
Kaito Yamamoto with Hayao Matsumura the owner of Nude Trump and Trump Lounge, both Tokyo nightlife legends.
You own quite a few businesses, What would you say makes one successful?
I think that selling clothing is a really easy way to make money. But I also l use 27 Club for promotion. Like rappers come into the club, and I give them free clothing. My favorite saying is “one stone two birds”. I even made a puffer jacket with that saying on it.
When you are underground, sure there are people around you… but, when you are a successful everybody likes you. I want all my friends to succeed, to make money. I’m kind of a communist, I believe in universal basic income.
I’ve helped some friends out, and it didn’t work. But then again all my problems come from helping out friends.
What do you want your legacy to be?
I didn’t really care about leaving a “legacy”. But now my doctor said I’d be dead in three months. I mean, I don’t think I’m going to die. I’m taking so many healthy things, I think I’m going to OD from all this healthy stuff.
But as my for legacy, I want to keep my store so my kid can see it. You know, my dad did that with Pink Dragon. So I want to do the same thing, the store will still exist and people will still remember me.
“Stop smoking weed until you become a success. After you become a success, you can start smoking.”
Do you have any advice for people who want to start a business or be creative?
I’m only going to say one thing, stop smoking weed until you're a success. After you become a success you can start smoking, because weed makes you too lazy.
Also, when I get a call to do something, I’m there in 5 minutes. No matter how tired I am, I go there. I’m there in 5-10 minutes, for sure.
