June 12, 2026

Ramen Shops & Wa

[By student Christopher Gurr]

One of the goals I had while here in Japan was to visit establishments bombarded with negative reviews, as there are some places that, while appearing bad on the outside, are good if you experience them in person, especially restaurants. Out of all the things I have experienced in Japan, those have been the most insightful and worthwhile. Just like Wa entails, peace can be achieved in many ways, and food helps to bring out that comfort, and one such restaurant I visited that achieves this is Menya Dogenbozu, a ramen shop in Nakano.

A bowl of ramen (Japanese noodle soup) with meat, broth, and vegetables.

A bowl of ramen from Menya Dogenbozu, a ramen shop in the Nakano area of Tokyo. Photo by Christopher Gurr.

Owned by Naoya Chikahiro, his ramen shop has been in business for quite a while now, serving ramen with savory broths, slices of pork and chicken, runny eggs, stringy and chewy men (that means noodles in Japanese), and some of the best okra east of the Caribbean. When I got my first two bowls 2-1/2 weeks ago, I was in heaven. The broth was nice and warm, and the toppings made it all the more satisfying; there was simply no reason why I’d let any of that go to waste, so I consumed ALL of my bowls. It was that good. Conversations with patrons was also calming and wonderful. One man I spoke to was a bilingual salary man working for an insurance company with a branch in New Jersey. He gave me insight into Japanese politics, and even caught me up on recent information and developments I wasn’t aware of.

Speaking of politics, that’s one of the biggest reasons for this ramen shop’s negative reviews. The owner Chikahiro is an outspoken activist, protesting for human rights every single day whenever possible before he opens up his ramen shop. Because his beliefs are the complete opposite of Japan’s mostly-conservative political sphere, he has received plenty of pushback from both mainstream conservatives and even people with ties to Japan’s rising far-right, mostly in the form of negative online reviews (which, here in Japan, can be illegal in some instances). Even with such pushback, he doesn’t have any plans of giving up anytime soon; he’ll stop at nothing until he can ensure his activism makes a change.

A bowl of ramen (Japanese noodle soup) with meat, broth, vegetables, and egg.

A bowl of ramen from YUJI, a ramen shop in the Kiyosumi Shirakawa area of Tokyo. Photo by Luke Strosnider.

At the end of the day, I feel that this is what restaurants are all about; bringing out change, and maintaining Wa. Whether it’s the ingredients of the ramen, acts of generosity, or wonderful conversations, every facet of a restaurant brings out the best in humanity, and keeps Wa alive. I’m happy I was able to contribute to that by simply ordering a bowl, sitting down, taking in the atmosphere, talking to others, and enjoying the culinary gifts of the chef. If there is anywhere I’d rather be if I ever return to Japan, it’s places like this.