Shisha Fes Tokyo: How Jun Kikuchi Organized the First Hookah Exhibition in Tokyo.

In modern Tokyo, the hookah industry is going through a real renaissance: new spaces are opening, more and more themed events are being held, and the Japanese shisha community is becoming increasingly active. One of the leaders of this movement is Jun Kikuchi, the owner of the KITUNE shisha lounge and the organizer of the first large-scale hookah festival in the Japanese capital, Shisha Fes Tokyo.

We talked with Jun about the development of hookah culture in Japan, how the idea of creating his own exhibition was born, what difficulties he faced along the way, and how he sees the future of the industry in his country.

Introducing Jun Kikuchi

Q: Could you introduce yourself? What is your name, and what do you do?

My name is Jun Kikuchi. I own a Shisha Lounge in Tokyo called KITUNE and organized a Shisha Festival called Shisha Fes Tokyo, gathering 20 shisha stores in Japan, with DARKSIDE also coming from HQ.

Q: How long have you been involved in the hookah industry?

I joined the store in summer 2022; I’ve been in this industry for roughly 5 years.

Q: How did you first get into it? What was the starting point?

I became a shisha lover from 2020, when COVID broke out. I was a regular at this store, and since our group is based in Osaka, they asked me to take part as ownership in charge of business in Tokyo.

Q: What are the most important skills or knowledge you have acquired over the years?

I smoked many shishas, not only in Tokyo but around the globe. I made many friends in this industry by directly visiting them, talking to them, and smoking their shisha. This was the key factor for me to make this event successful.

History of the Exhibition

Q: How did the idea to organize your own exhibition come about?

The idea was that this kind of event sized shisha event had never been held before in Tokyo. There are similar events in other places in Japan and some mini-events gathering shisha lovers and stores in Tokyo, but there wasn’t an event of this size in Tokyo yet, so I gathered all the stores and partners to have the very first one in the biggest city in Japan, Tokyo.​

Q: What inspired you to create it?

The idea was rather smaller in the early stage, but little by little the discussion went on and it formed up to this size. My willingness to make this very first event in Tokyo happen and to kick off my roadmaps for the future was my main inspiration.

Q: What were the main goals of the exhibition to introduce people to your work, showcase your work, or develop a community?

The goal was to develop this community in Japan. Though still not the major mainstream in Japan, this industry has made significant growth so far from a few years back. Now is the time for Japanese shisha and packers, masters to get more into the community in Japan to raise Japanese shisha presence more. Also the time for us to show our strength and abilities to the global market what I’m keeping in my sleeves is to support this.

Q: What difficulties did you encounter during preparation?

There were many difficulties… I never hosted an event in the past! Combining all the stores together was one, but thinking through how the customers will have fun and be comfortable was the most challenging for me.

Q: How did the event itself go? Did the result meet your expectations?

Though it was far from perfect, the event itself went nice and smooth; luckily, didn’t see any major troubles I was afraid of customers getting sick or injured, making any fires, no shisha were broken nor damaged.

Hookah Culture in Japan

Q: How would you assess the state of the hookah market in Japan today?

The Japanese hookah market is expanding; there were only less than 150 stores in the past, but COVID broke out and people were looking for new things in the country, and shisha stores have expanded. Now the whole country has more than around 1,000 stores. New brands and equipment have been introduced to the market, and we feel a lot of attention from overseas now.​

Q: How popular is hookah culture among Japanese people?

The culture is still not a major market compared to bars, hot springs, or sports. But the market is growing, more stores opening every month targeting not only major shisha lovers but also all genres of people: classical bar style, fancy cafe style. We can say the expansion refers to the amount of stores that have opened in the past few years.​

Q: What restrictions or market peculiarities do you encounter? (legislation, rent, consumption culture)

Japan has solid and sure laws and rules to treat properly. The most challenge is the rent; the real estate in Japan is not too high, but the owners don’t know what shisha is, and many owners are not sure about the safety and risk to invite them to their places.

Q: Are there any differences between the Japanese approach to hookahs and the approach in other countries?

Japan shisha has kicked off with classic blonde leaves, Nakhala, Al Fakher, and the mainstream for users is still blonde leaf. Japanese packers foil them using modern HMS and bowls. Dark/Cigar leaf has been growing in the market the past 2-3 years but still has more potential to grow.

Creativity and Style

Q: What distinguishes your work or your approach from others?

I have approached and formed this event to more focus on Shisha Lounge level; overseas big events are more focused on Flavor/Equipment manufacturers, but I want to showcase more on the stores in Japan, and for future projects, this approach will be the same idea.

Q: Do you use elements of Japanese culture in your concepts?

The Japanese shisha scene is still on the rise; the market has some small issues with each other, but mainly store to store are good relationships and wanted to praise this and show to the customers that there might be more good lounges that might be their favorites. Therefore, I made the event simple as much as possible: customer comes in and meets new people and new shishas, that’s it. No elements of battle or other events.

Q: Which brands, forms, or materials are closest to you?

I’ve had a close watch on other overseas events held around the world. For shisha brands, I smoke DOGMA Cigars, DARKSIDES, Al Fakher, really just like to smoke what the packer, lounge wants to present me.

The Future of the Industry

Q: How do you see the hookah industry developing in Japan over the next 3–5 years?

The hookah industry has grown massively the past 5 years ever since COVID; I see the market will see another changing point: large restaurant groups, entertainment groups are coming with massive stores compared to past stores. The market is now shifting to stores using massive investment with beautiful interiors targeting customers who are rather soft hookah lovers, more targeting on using hookah lounges with friends and focusing on the atmosphere. The other lounges I see will expand are rather smaller stores with famous, well-known packers. So the customer will be choosing either massive large lounges or smaller well-known lounges.​

Q: Do you plan to expand the exhibition or hold a series of events?

I’m planning to have a number of events in Japan; after growing the customer acknowledgements, the plan is to host a world-class festival in Asia. The reason is because there are no massive scale hookah festivals in the Pacific Asia region, and now the packers and stores are getting attention on a global scale.

Q: What are your dreams as a representative of the hookah industry?

My dreams and ambition is to make the Japanese shisha industry even grow to a major market. The Japanese shisha industry is in order and has regulation for treating shisha in the system but still not in the mainstream industry, and people planning to have lounges are having difficulty with real estate and the business size they can do since the landowners and real estate agencies have no understanding of smoking hookah. By hosting these events, we will not only have co-understanding in the Japanese shisha industry but also gain trust and reliability through the whole society that this industry is clean and positive.

Personal Recommendations and Thoughts

Q: What advice would you give to those who want to start working in the hookah industry?

For the Japanese market, I can say stick to the basics. New equipment and flavors are installed always, but this is a hospitality business, and of course the product hookah is important, but the true value of the stores is more fundamental: keeping the store cozy, clean, and the staff welcoming and having good care of their customers.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

The factor I like is that I see and meet many types of people through this business. In Japanese lounges, there are many interesting talents and customers coming in and enjoying the smoke this I haven’t seen in other industries I took part in.

Q: Is there anything you would like to change in the industry?

My biggest wish is for the market to grow and have more business level in terms of sales. I’ve seen many good young shisha packers decide to move on to industries not related to hookah, considering that this market is not enough for their careers to have a family in the long term. This I would like to overcome by expanding understanding and growth of this market, so we could have a larger market and more customers, aside from gaining more understandings.

This interview with Jun Kikuchi highlights how deeply and thoughtfully the Japanese shisha scene is evolving. Despite cultural and market limitations, the enthusiasm and professionalism of figures like him are making this industry stronger, more mature, and closer to global recognition. Shisha Fes Tokyo became not just an event, but a symbol of uniting the Japanese community and, as Jun says, just the first step toward Japan making its mark on the world hookah stage.