With much gratitude, I am happy to announce that Kick Back Cafe is able to celebrate our first anniversary. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who supported this cafe and shared the vision of the cafe.

Looking back at the year, I can't help but realize that it flew by too quickly. At times it seems like it was an eternity ago when this cafe had its grand-opening, but it also seems only yesterday that we first opened the door of this cafe to our customers. There have been so many encounters with various people, as well as abundant and diverse support received from a great number of generous people.

If any of you have even once greeted one of our staff in the middle of the street while they were passing out fliers, you do not realize what an encouragement you were to them. If any of you have come by and dropped off snacks so that the staff could eat it on their time off, you do not realize the effect it had on their hearts. There were customers that came to live concerts at KBC religiously.
There were also customers that came to our lunches so often that not only our staff considered them family, but they also considered themselves to be part of the Kick Back family. There is just not enough space in this article and time left in this world to express the gratitude that I have for each and every one who supported Kick Back in any way, shape or form. It is because of this help that we are able to celebrate this first anniversary.

I would also like to thank and commend the musicians that played in a no-smoking and no-alcohol live-cafe such as ours. It is not often that you find musicians that are willing to cooperate with such an environment and I feel tremendously blessed to be able to witness many supportive musicians who not only coped with this environment but found it in themselves to enjoy it.

Many thanks go also to the neighboring shops around us, who graciously welcomed our cafe as part of the city, and also invited newcomers like us to participate in the renowned Olaho-Sengawa Festival. It was an honor just to be involved in such a grand festival, but even while the excitement having participated in the Olaho-Sengawa was still prevalent among the staff, we were asked to participate in another festival, only this time, we were asked to produce the festival. This showed that despite our brief history as a cafe, our neighbors were sharing our vision and cooperating with us - That meant a great deal to us then, and it still means a great deal to us today.

With all that has gone on with this cafe, if it weren't for the customers of Kick Back Cafe, not only would our success be impossible, but also it would be meaningless. We owe our greatest gratitude to the customers that visited us and this includes even those of you who visited us just once. Without you all, none of what we celebrate in this first anniversary would have been possible.

As we look back on the year, we want to constantly remind ourselves that it was not us that achieved something, but it was you all with us that made this a success. We look forward to improving our service and contributing in various ways to this city, in hopes of expressing our thanks to you all.

As we embrace and celebrate our first anniversary, we look back at the past success, but we also celebrate the hope and expectations that we have for the second year of KBC. We hope that you will continue to use us and continue to enjoy Kick Back, as we look forward to serving all of you.

Owner of Kick Back Cafe, Marehisa Ishii