Having a changeup means nothing
if you never throw it

I started Ramen Daikinboshi in Yokoze, and it's been about four and a half years now. I didn't originally have ties to Yokoze, but I was born in Chichibu, and I wanted to come back to the area and open some kind of restaurant. That was when I was around 25 or 26. From there, I set my sights on opening a ramen shop.

I found a good property here in Yokoze, and with guidance and help from so many people, I've managed to keep it going ever since.

Our regular menu consists of soy sauce ramen, salt ramen, niboshi (dried sardine) ramen, and kombu-water tsukemen (dipping noodles).

For the soy sauce ramen, we use a blend of four different soy sauces.

That gives it a crisp, sharp broth. Right now, the base is a chicken and pork broth -- a light, clear chintan-style soup. We blend all four soy sauces into it.

First, I do a trial blend and taste it. Then I figure out what each soy sauce brings to the table, and if I think, "I want to bring out more of this flavor," I increase that proportion.

Using just one type doesn't give you much depth. Each one has its own strengths.

The broth is made from Daisen chicken stock and pork back-bone stock. We add kombu (kelp) to both.

At my previous job, I worked at a shop that really specialized in niboshi ramen, and I learned a lot there. There are so many varieties of dried sardines, and the flavor changes completely depending on the region -- the Sea of Japan side, the Pacific side, Chiba, Ehime -- they're all completely different.

For the kombu water, we use the base portion of ma-kombu (true kelp). Ours gets quite thick and viscous. Some ramen shops have a lighter, runny kombu water, but I prefer it thick and sticky.

I've done mazesoba (mixed noodles), sea bream ramen, oyster ramen, squid-niboshi ramen... I think we have around five different types of mazesoba alone now.

I haven't told anyone this, but starting from October, I've been rotating one new item each month.

I've also done chicken paitan (rich white chicken broth), tom yum kung ramen, Okinawan soki soba, Jiro-style ramen, and more recently, iekei-style ramen and ramen-shop-style ramen. I love recreating regional ramen styles from around Japan.

There's a popular limited-edition tsukemen called the Seabura Tori Tsukemen (chicken back-fat tsukemen) -- it has cabbage in it, and people keep saying, "Please make this a permanent item!" A lot of customers come just for that, so I make sure to offer it at least once a week.

I think what I really enjoy is imagining how a dish would turn out if I tried to recreate it, and then serving locals something they've never tried before.

When I launch a new limited-edition item, it draws a lot of different people, and on those days, about 70% of sales can come from the limited-edition bowl alone.

Most of our customers are local, so on a regular day outside of tourist season, I'd say 70-80% are locals or people who came for work. I think if we only had salt and soy sauce ramen on the regular menu, people would get bored, so the limited editions really matter.

I trained at about four ramen shops. At my very first shop, we were already doing one-day-only specials. It started as once a month, but over time it became an almost daily thing.

In terms of the variety of specials, the biggest influence was my last shop, Yoshikawa. When I said, "I want to make this kind of ramen," they'd let me try all sorts of things and taught me a lot.

Our most frequent regular comes four or five times a week.

If I had to name one thing I do to build repeat customers, it's talking with them.

That said, I get told a lot that I look angry. When I'm quietly focused on cooking, people say, "You always look so intimidating." I'm not actually upset though (laughs).

But once we start chatting, people realize, "Oh, he's not like that at all." So please, everyone, get past that first impression. I'm really not angry (laughs).

I think changing the limited edition every day keeps people from getting bored and keeps them watching. And at the end of the day, it's free advertising. My only goal is to make ramen that makes people think, "Today's special looks so good, I have to go" -- that's all I can do.

During my training days, I was told, "You need to post on social media every single day." My mentor said, "Post like it's your own shop," and that's when I started taking it seriously.

In terms of bowls, it's about 90 to 100. The average is probably around 90.

Definitely. Things like appearing at events, getting featured in Ramen Walker magazine, or going on TV make a big difference. TV is especially powerful.

I think locals are coming in pretty regularly now. We've got the awareness. Our social media following is a little over 3,000.

But I want to go further. I want more people across Saitama to know about us, and I want tourists to think, "If I'm going to Chichibu, I want to try Daikinboshi."

Branding is my biggest weakness, but people often tell me the ramen itself is great, so I want to work on that side of things going forward.

Even if there's a line, if there are five groups or fewer, you should be able to get in fairly quickly. I never want anyone to wait more than 30 minutes.

I kind of separate Chichibu and Yokoze in my mind. Maybe that's something only people who live in the Chichibu area would understand.

But it's not like I'm not using local ingredients. I buy fresh produce from the JA farmers' market, I use local miso, I use Shimada soy sauce -- I'm actually using quite a lot of local stuff.

Yeah, let's spread the word (laughs).