OWARIASAHI, Aichi (Kyodo) — With over 60 years of baking under his belt, 89-year-old pastry chef Yasuo Ono has a tried-and-true recipe for success: keep it simple and change with the times.
Ono starts baking at his cake shop Emily every morning at 7:30 a.m., making items like apple pie and Mont Blanc desserts. Despite December marking his 90th birthday, he isn’t thinking of retiring.
In early July 2025, about 25 varieties of cakes, including seasonal offerings featuring peaches and mangoes as well as classic shortcakes, were displayed in the showcase alongside handwritten signs. But Ono isn’t alone — he has his family helping him.
About half of small businesses in Japan have no successor to run them after the current generation steps down, according to the government, a problem threatening not only local communities but the preservation of traditional crafts and skills.
Not so with Emily. Located in a quiet residential area in Owariasahi, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, Emily is now mainly operated by three generations: founder Ono, his 56-year-old son Yoshihide and Ono’s grandson Kazuki, 25.
“I was able to keep going as I love this,” Ono said as he reflected on his 89th birthday in December 2024, when they posted a photo of him working and received over 700 likes on social media.
In 2026, Emily will mark its 60th anniversary. Ono still takes buses and subways on his days off to visit department stores in Nagoya and looks at their cake offerings. “I look forward to seeing all the new things,” he says.
Ono was born in Niigata Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, in 1935. After graduating from junior high school,he moved to Tokyo,where,through an acquaintance’s introduction,he began living and working at a Western-style confectionery shop.
The young Ono had never eaten cake before, so when he tasted its buttercream richness for the first time, he thought, “So this is what cake tastes like.” He learned how to make cakes from scratch.
Ono opened his own cake shop in 1966 in Machida, in western Tokyo. After looking through books on sweets with his wife Mitsuko, now 85, and brainstorming together, they decided on Emily.
“It was easy to remember and sounded like a cake shop,” says Ono.
Emily is also the name of a chocolate cake that the shop has been making continuously.
Keep reading