Is It Worth It Owning a Ramen Shop in Japan?

Initially this video was going to explore how profitable independent ramen shops in Japan are. But it's pretty hard to get owners to show their numbers. I received full breakdowns of equipment costs and other metrics, but essentially there were too many variables to show anything definitively. But what did seem apparent was that chef owners don't get rich by doing this type of work, even if their shop is consistently busy.

Ramen shop owners deserve more respect for the hard work they put into their business.

This is by far a rare & real breakdown of the capital and other resources needed to run a successful ramen shop. Please keep these engaging and REAL interviews going...do one on unagi shops!! KUDOS to the interviewer's honesty. Outstanding storytelling

Before the pandemic my father went to Japan to learn from Koitani-san, all the way from Brazil. His ramen is at a very fair price (about 5 USD) and his weekly production gets sold out in about 5 min for more than a year now. Brazil have the largest japanese descendants population in the world and ramen is at an all time high here. He and my younger brother work 5 days a week and make about 4x the minimum wage here, which is somewhat good money.

My parents owned a restaurant. It's something I would never want to do. It's incredibly hard work, very long hours, and an extremely tight profit margin.

Owning a ramen shop (a good one) probably won't make you into a millionaire. It's hard work - training, waking up early every morning, testing the broth, getting ingredients, preparing for customers, etc. It's only for "Shokunin", a Japanese word for "craftsman (or woman)". But if you feel joy in perfecting the details of your own perfect ramen, then it's worth it.

I really appreciate these kind of videos that go deeper into the Japanese life and local business and Life Where I’m from is the best when it comes to this !

The first authentic bowl of ramen I ate in Japan (I was so excited for that first bowl of ramen that only Japan can deliver) was in a shop where they made their own noodles right in front of you. What a treat to watch. Looked tiring. I love this video because it really showcases one of the aspects I love about Japan the most- the love and care they have for the things they do, and they take pride in their work.

i think it's the same for any restaurants or eateries in general: long hours, low profit margin, high turnover in staff

I thought that part about the internet making it possible for anyone to look up ramen recipes and open up a shop was interesting. I heard that how to make the broth used to be a closely-guarded secret, so you would have to apprentice with a master to learn it. Not necessary today, I guess. There’s actually a ‘ramen espionage’ scene in the old movie, Tanpopo… a movie which I definitely recommend to anyone who’s interested in ramen by the way… especially if you’re also interested in old samurai movies and Westerns. (From the director Itami Juso.)

I had to learn how to make Ramen myself because when I got back from Japan in 2013, I was not able to find a restaurant in my country that could replicate the flavours that I tasted when I was there. Making good ramen is labour intensive, and has a lot of meticulous steps, based on my experience making ramen, I can't imagine how hard it must be for these restaurant owners. They must really love the craft..

I’m really grateful that the owner of the shop was willing to be so open about the true cost. The figures really surprised me as running a ramen shop requires such dedication, and for the amount of financial award, it really takes a special kind of artist to continue that tradition.

This is exactly why I stopped my food stall 14 years ago. I began my entrepreneurial adventure by opening road-side food stall that’s constantly busy and sold-out, and I generate more margin than the Japanese ramen shops in the video. But the hassle, the hard work, the late sleeps and early wake ups, made the money I generated wasn’t worth it. I ventured into tech world since (strange, I know), founding and running my own companies. I still work long hours, with even more pressure and hard work, but I really enjoying it. So I guess it’s true for jobs that requires craftsmanship, such as chef and programmer, really is not about the money, it’s how can you enjoy pouring yourself into it

Amazing video I loved the interviewee, he seemed really honest and genuinely nice. I feel kind of sad that they work so much for so little, but their passion seems to be from a different world. Mad respect goes to these guys!

Out of all the food I make I realize when I'm making ramen it can become a art so I definitely understand how they can genuinely enjoy this job for long hours, it's like you're preforming your art work and putting it on display for ppl to eat and enjoy.

It's the same for most restaurants all around the world, in my opinion. A huge aspect is that you can only prize up food to a certain level AND can only make so many portions a day if quality and freshness are valuable to you and your restaurant (which it should).

I’m a professional chef based in Scandinavia. I had worked in cruise ships that sails around the world and 5 star hotels and etc. When covid is gone, I will come over to Japan to study and “dissect” authentic ramen. Thank you for featuring this topic, I will be constantly watch this over and over again to spark inspiration.

The whole restaurant industry is a tough industry to be in. Restaurant owners are, in general, very passionate people. My family owned a restaurant for 10 years and I worked there for several years at different positions. I got to go home everyday after my shift but the owner always came in earlier and left later. They definitely work a lot of early mornings and late nights. There are a lot of things to keep in mind when you run a restaurant: employees and their retention (HR), finance, orders, supervising the service, client service and a lot more. Thank you for your video.

I can't believe it's been 5 years already. I remember your first video - I actually went to Mengokoro Kunimoto because of it (Just after Christmas 2016). After I arrived in Narita, I went straight to the shop on my way to my hotel. I still had my luggage and everything! Even though it was my 3rd or 4th visit to Japan, I had never been to a ramen shop before! Really glad it was my first experience.

Again I´m just baffled, how high the quality of your production is. Ok, the visual part is one thing since that is also your day job. So you have the skill to do it. But all the research and the prep work that goes into actually telling a story.... That´s absolutely amazing work and much appreciated.