5 minutes with Shigeharu ‘Shige’ Kobayashi

Columbia is lucky to have Shigeharu Kobayashi, affectionatly known as Shige. Shige is a restaurant dishwasher who prefers small solutions to community challenges and, in his own words, “leads a narrow life.”

Q. For the people who don’t know you, tell us about yourself.

A. I’m a restaurant dishwasher ... I would like to invite you to think very small with me. Even though my strongest skills at Camon Japanese Restaurant are at the three-compartment sink, my title is general manager. I’ve worked with my father, chef Shigeru Kobayashi, for a couple dozen years now. This year he and Camon are celebrating their 35th year serving diners in downtown Columbia.

To truly nourish our loved ones, we need to take good care of the small space around us and require good care from those who control our environment.

Because of screens and satellites, we live in a time when the biggest world problems have easy access to us, but we don’t have easy access to providing solutions. Not all of us are millionaires, epidemiologists, or constitutional scholars. This can lead us to conspiratorial thinking, because when faced with a problem, a lot of us want three things: we want to feel like we understand, we want to have control over a situation so we feel safe, and we want to protect our social image. Conspiracy theories and intra-bubble thinking are the junk food that quickly satisfies those hungers.

Q. What are your ties to the city?

A. Columbia has been home base for my whole life. I’ve worked in the food and beverage industry here and I’ve also been in other cultural roles, including programs drector of the Tapp’s Arts Center, editor of Subpar Magazine, co-writer of a handful of graphic novels, and a speaker at both TEDxColumbiaSC and TEDxUofSC. I’m serving on the acquisitions committee of the Columbia Museum of Art, and Columbia City Council’s Complete Count Committee to encourage participation in the U.S. Census.

Q. Why is filling out the Census so important?

A. Filling out your Census form is really good low-hanging fruit. Hundreds of billions of dollars in federal infrastructure and non-profit spending are divided out to communities based on the counted populations of those areas. That means for every person in Columbia who gets counted, a real amount of resources will come our way, whether that’s for school budgets, SNAP benefits, or highway construction.

Spending the 10 minutes to fill out the Census is an easy, safe, and important way to boost our numbers that will get used for community decisions for the next 10 years. You can fill out a form online at www.my2020census.gov.

Q. What’s next for you?

A. We’re in a time of major disruption and there is an opportunity for individuals like you and me to change the culture in significant ways. Remember during the wildfire of this disease, many businesses are brush that is being cleared out, which makes room for your new project.

A lot more people are cooking now, and it will elevate our understanding of good food and eating around a table. The next generation of restaurants are going to have to be quite special to keep diners coming back.

Personally, I’m writing more and deepening my relationships. If you have a project you’d like me to be a part of, please reach out. I like being in this community, and I like doing good.

Preach Jacobs, special to GoColumbia

This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 5:24 PM with the headline "5 minutes with Shigeharu ‘Shige’ Kobayashi."