Meet the UT graduate who runs a Vols-themed bar in Japan

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – For those of you who may not know, there is a Tennessee Volunteers-themed sports bar in Tokyo, Japan, and during a recent trip to the country, WVLT’s Ted Hall stopped by and got a slice of Tennessee in Tokyo.

Despite Tokyo being the biggest city in the world with 37 million people, there are quiet streets downtown, which is where the Good Ole Bar is located.

The bar’s only employee is Yoshitoshi Momoki, who is the bar’s owner, bartender and entertainer.

Yoshi, as he’s known, has been open for over a year and has a special appreciation for East Tennesseans.

“I’m so proud, but I want to appreciate the people of Tennessee, especially East Tennessee, because they show me support and love. It’s kind of a mutual thing,” Yoshi said.

Yoshi is a Vol. He saw the M.C. Hammer concert at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Russians play the Vols in 1988 and graduated from the University of Tennessee in broadcasting in 1993.

“He graduated from UT. He loves UT so much, and people from the U.S.,” said Kiyo Morikam, a patron at the bar.

After decades of marketing work in Japan, Yoshi risked it all to start a Tennessee-themed sports bar because he’s so proud of the university.

But why did Yoshi go to UT? He failed the Japanese university entrance exam and saw in a book that UT had renovated their library. After graduating from the university, he moved back to Japan because he had no confidence in his English.

At the bar, important Vol games are on a constant replay. Tokyo is 13 hours ahead, meaning 7 p.m. on a Saturday in Knoxville is 8 a.m. in Japan.

wvlt

Even without live games, it still gets crowded. There’s only room for about 10 people with only four seats in the bar.

“They want to say hi to me,” Yoshi said.

The peak of the night Ted visited, there were about 24 people inside the bar. About six of them were locals while everyone else was Americans.

“Knoxville, Tennessee. Came here to see Yoshi,” one patron said.

Most people who visit Yoshi bring him Vol merchandise. A UT student who was there gave him a shirt he caught out of a cannon at a game.

So why did Yoshi name the bar Good Ole Tennessee? Well, Rocky Top was taken in 1980. However, it’s not a Vol-themed bar. It’s a bluegrass bar just four miles from Yoshi’s bar.

Anyone who goes should be ready to sing Rocky Top with pom poms, get a picture taken and sign the hometown map.

“It’s quite overwhelming,” Yoshi said. “The map that I have hanging up is the second one. The first one filled up with 420 Tennesseans in nine months, and I had to put up a new one.”

Yoshi already has a couple hundred signatures on the new map. He said he’s easily had over 1,000 Americans fly to Tokyo to visit. It’s 14 hours in the air from Atlanta to Tokyo.

Jack and Coke is the specialty, and extra large is called Appalachia.

Yoshi said if he can hire staff, he’ll start calling the food options by Tennessee names. He already makes chilidogs and fries. A hot dog is $6.

The biggest problem Yoshi faces is that it gets too busy, but he wants to make everyone happy.

He calls it the first-ever place in Tokyo to enjoy southern charm, a taste of Tennessee.

“This is special,” Yoshi said. “Thank you so much.”