An emotional reopening is ahead for a Vancouver restaurant, just days after one of its employees was brutally murdered, leaving the hospitality sector and community shaken.
According to owner Justin Ault, Hapa Izakaya in Yaletown had been closed out of respect for its staff, but after a conversation with those who knew Chef Wataru Kakiuchi best, they’ve made the difficult choice to reopen its doors to customers Friday night.
“He was like family, even more so, [to the kitchen guys], and they said, you know, ‘could we take off Thursday night too?’ I’m like, yeah, of course, absolutely. But they said, ‘We have, we’ve got to, you know, we need to get back to some kind of routine as soon as possible,’”Ault explained, adding that there were many ways that it impacted everyone.
Daily Hive
“I almost hate to say this, but at the same time, you know this is two days of staff that haven’t worked and you know, their wages, their tips. I can stand a couple of days of not working and the restaurant being closed, but it’s hard,” he explained.
Wataru Kakiuchi, 32, had gone for drinks with friends in Gastown and had been walking home with another former restaurant cook on June 5. The pair separated, and police confirmed Kakiuchi was found injured from stab wounds on Union and Main Street just before 3:30 am. He died on scene.
“They said their goodbyes, and he was trying to catch a cab back to his apartment in Burnaby. He was just standing on the street waiting for a cab,” Ault said.
@hapaizakaya/Instagram
Kakiuchi hadn’t worked at the restaurant recently, as the Japanese national was awaiting work permits. However, he was very much a part of the family, especially the kitchen staff, and his murder has left the whole restaurant heartbroken.
“He’s one of those people that is impossible not to like, you know? Just always positive, never had a bad day, was always fun, energetic, your stereotypical ray of sunshine. You know, he’s just, just a really good person,” Ault said.
Ault spoke with Daily Hive Friday about the tragedy and how it’s impacted his team, and said many gathered yesterday where Kakiuchi was killed to pay their respects.
@hapaizakaya/Instagram
The murder comes amid ongoing safety concerns, which have always been top of mind for Ault, knowing his employees work late hours.
Daily Hive asked if he was more worried now about his team working in the city.
“If it’s possible to be more concerned, yes. But it’s always something that is always in the back of all our minds, as their employer, and, you know, someone who’s supposed to look out for them. Without a doubt,” Ault said. Adding that there are lots of worries that employers have for late-night staff.
“It’s not a new thing, you know, you’re making sure no one’s left in the restaurant by themselves at the end of the night… cashing out, or, you know, whether it’s robbery or assault, you name it, you just don’t want anyone to be in that position. I’ve quite often personally driven staff home myself at 3 am on a Saturday night or Friday night,” he said.
But in this case, Kakiuchi wasn’t leaving work.
hapaizakaya/Instagram
“For anyone thinking, ‘Well, he shouldn’t have been out at that time of night’ …that’s just not acceptable. Anybody should be able to be out in any walk of life at any time of the day without risk of losing their life. I mean that. Full stop.”
“I’m speaking because I want people to know this, not that it’s a worse tragedy than anyone else who’s lost somebody. But this was a quote, unquote, normal guy,” he said.
“This is a reality for people in our industry. This is how our body clocks work. You know, we go to bed late, we get up a little late in the day to serve the public.”
The City responds
Mayor Ken Sim is among those sharing their condolences over the death, but for the longtime business owner in the city, addressing violent acts with words alone doesn’t go far enough.
“It takes the public to be outraged by this. It can’t just be the families of people affected by either the result of a murder like this or with their family in the throes of addiction or mental health issues, you know they need help, and unfortunately, you know money needs to be spent for infrastructure and transit and but I think as COVID showed, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and we can make a difference,” he said.
“It’s a bigger issue than then I can wrap my head around,” he added.
The death has also shaken parts of Japan, where Kakiuchi’s mother lives, and the restaurant owner says he was asked about Vancouver’s safety for those coming to Canada from Japan in an interview with an Asian outlet yesterday.
“I took pains to say, and who knows if they’re going to use it, but I said, ‘this isn’t Vancouver. It’s not who we are, and, you know, it could literally happen anywhere, and unfortunately, it was just the wrong place and the wrong time.’”
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With files from Megan Devlin