Genki Cornwall

Nat and Owen's Journey to St. Agnes and the opening of Genki. . . .

After university we upped sticks and went on an adventure to Japan. We wanted a change, to experience a new culture and to take ourselves out of our comfort zone. It’s easy to take things for granted if you’ve never had any different so off we went!
On arrival in Tokyo we were greeted by extreme change as you’d probably expect! A huge cultural difference that we had to learn all about. We gradually found good jobs and a small apartment and began to feel at home in a very foreign land. By spending time in lots of different areas of Japan, studying a bit of the language and meeting numerous people we began to learn more about the Japanese way. We began to love it! The country has a vast mountainous countryside and a beautiful climate of extremes. From amazing wintery powder days in the mountains to sweaty humid summer days at the beach, not to mention the beautiful cherry blossom season in spring and the varying colours of the mountains in autumn. The place was seriously picturesque! The people are calm and respectful and incredibly accommodating. We made lifelong friends and began to really settle down in a beautiful place.
Then in March 2011, disaster struck Japan. As you probably saw on the news a huge earthquake hit the north-east coast of the Honshu Island and a massive life destroying Tsunami hit the region. The devastating effects of this natural disaster were unimaginable and being in the country at the time really words cannot describe the devastation. There was an incredible amount of lives lost and homes destroyed and we will never understand how the Japanese people held themselves with so much reserve through so much disaster. Luckily Tokyo’s buildings are designed to withstand a considerable extent of movement and none of the buildings there came down. We felt incredibly lucky. However the following day we woke up to the news of the nuclear situation in the north-east about 120km north of Tokyo. The situation felt to be getting serious for us so we made the decision to make our way back to the UK. We were getting married in July and felt that it was a sign to move closer to our family and friends. Life is too short!
However we have amazingly fond memories of Japan and the experiences we had there, and a huge amount of respect for the way the nation held themselves through such travesty, which is why we decided to bring some of the Zen back to Cornwall with us and open up Genki.
There are many similarities we found between Cornwall and Japan. We spent most of our free time at the beach absorbing the nature and surfing as much as we could. We travelled some of the islands and surfed in as many different places as we could, especially those off the beaten track during Typhoon swell! Cornwall offers this same quality right on our doorstep. We spend hours walking the coast path, surfing Cornish waves or just simply sitting back and loving the beautiful surroundings. Which is why we decided to make this amazing place our home and open our dream bar.

The Zen gardens found in Kyoto (Japans old capital) are truly spectacular and give a beautiful feeling of tranquillity. We hope that we can transfer some of this tranquillity into the gardens of Genki with our unique landscaping. So whether you’re waiting for the surf to pick up, enjoying a post surf high protein smoothie, watching the beach with a coffee, or enjoying a sundown drink with friends the gardens will be there to relax in and soak up the natural beauty of St. Agnes.

Nat and Owen's Journey to St. Agnes and the opening of Genki. . . .

After university we upped sticks and went on an adventure to Japan. We wanted a change, to experience a new culture and to take ourselves out of our comfort zone. It’s easy to take things for granted if you’ve never had any different so off we went!
On arrival in Tokyo we were greeted by extreme change as you’d probably expect! A huge cultural difference that we had to learn all about. We gradually found good jobs and a small apartment and began to feel at home in a very foreign land. By spending time in lots of different areas of Japan, studying a bit of the language and meeting numerous people we began to learn more about the Japanese way. We began to love it! The country has a vast mountainous countryside and a beautiful climate of extremes. From amazing wintery powder days in the mountains to sweaty humid summer days at the beach, not to mention the beautiful cherry blossom season in spring and the varying colours of the mountains in autumn. The place was seriously picturesque! The people are calm and respectful and incredibly accommodating. We made lifelong friends and began to really settle down in a beautiful place.
Then in March 2011, disaster struck Japan. As you probably saw on the news a huge earthquake hit the north-east coast of the Honshu Island and a massive life destroying Tsunami hit the region. The devastating effects of this natural disaster were unimaginable and being in the country at the time really words cannot describe the devastation. There was an incredible amount of lives lost and homes destroyed and we will never understand how the Japanese people held themselves with so much reserve through so much disaster. Luckily Tokyo’s buildings are designed to withstand a considerable extent of movement and none of the buildings there came down. We felt incredibly lucky. However the following day we woke up to the news of the nuclear situation in the north-east about 120km north of Tokyo. The situation felt to be getting serious for us so we made the decision to make our way back to the UK. We were getting married in July and felt that it was a sign to move closer to our family and friends. Life is too short!
However we have amazingly fond memories of Japan and the experiences we had there, and a huge amount of respect for the way the nation held themselves through such travesty, which is why we decided to bring some of the Zen back to Cornwall with us and open up Genki.
There are many similarities we found between Cornwall and Japan. We spent most of our free time at the beach absorbing the nature and surfing as much as we could. We travelled some of the islands and surfed in as many different places as we could, especially those off the beaten track during Typhoon swell! Cornwall offers this same quality right on our doorstep. We spend hours walking the coast path, surfing Cornish waves or just simply sitting back and loving the beautiful surroundings. Which is why we decided to make this amazing place our home and open our dream bar.

The Zen gardens found in Kyoto (Japans old capital) are truly spectacular and give a beautiful feeling of tranquillity. We hope that we can transfer some of this tranquillity into the gardens of Genki with our unique landscaping. So whether you’re waiting for the surf to pick up, enjoying a post surf high protein smoothie, watching the beach with a coffee, or enjoying a sundown drink with friends the gardens will be there to relax in and soak up the natural beauty of St. Agnes.