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Why Pizza 4P’s Bengaluru outlet became ‘Pizza for Peace’ in Kannada: Japanese owner reveals real reason
Owner and CEO of Pizza 4P’s, Masuko Yosuke, shared a tweet on why he opened a store in Bengaluru and the meaning behind the name.
Pictures of the Bengaluru outlet of Pizza 4P’s are going viral but because of the Kannada translation of the store’s name. The image, which shows the storefront, captures “ Pizza 4P’s” written in English. However, when translated into the Indian language, it reads “Pizza for Peace”. While some thought it was a translation mistake, others enjoyed the interesting moniker. The Japanese CEO and founder of the pizza chain, Masuko Yosuke, has addressed the buzz, revealing the real reason behind the name.
His translated tweet read, “Regarding the Kannada translation of Pizza 4P’s, I’ve received an unbelievable number of comments (most of them positive), and it’s truly an honour. For those who might not know yet, let me give you a bit of background.”
He added, “‘4P’s’ comes from ‘For Peace’. I named it with the hope of providing Inner Peace (peace of mind). It ties into our vision of ‘Make the world smile for peace’. From my own experiences, I believe that happiness is ultimately something you decide for yourself, and that sentiment—of wanting to be a place that can spark that—is woven into the name.”
How did Pizza 4P’s journey start?
Yosuke shared, “It all started when I built a pizza oven with a mate and served it up to everyone, which led me down this path. Back then, the death of a friend triggered my depression, but I realised that ‘bringing joy to others gives my life value’, so I opened up with the mate I built the pizza oven with, and my wife. There was no fresh mozzarella in Vietnam at the time, so I started by scouting for farms, taught myself via YouTube, and spent six months experimenting in my home kitchen, eventually managing to open the pizza shop.”
While opening his second branch, he ran into an unexpected problem when he was told he had “no building permit” halfway into construction. “After that, it went from private equity with a Vietnamese investor to now having a fund from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as a shareholder.”
Then the pandemic hit, forcing him to shut down all 30 of his stores. He “borrowed millions from private investors to somehow scrape through.”
Why expand to India?
The owner of the Vietnam-based Japanese Italian pizza restaurant shared, “My decision to expand into India had personal reasons too. Long before starting 4P’s, during a time when I was lost, I spent about six months in Rishikesh in northern India training in yoga and meditation, and tried fasting for a week for the first time. India is the place that literally changed my life. That’s why, with such a special connection, I chose this land. Now, in our third year here, I’ve moved over with my wife and our two daughters as a family. It’s a tough market, so I’m taking the lead myself and diving in. “
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After the Bengaluru store, which is set to open on July 4, he plans to open another outlet in Mumbai BKC in 2027. He also shared his plans to take “Asia’s Pizza 4P’s” to “the world’s Pizza 4P’s”.
