Saving a ramen chain during the pandemic - Staying Afloat
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- We were catching up with Tomoharu Shono, who told us how he was managing his ramen restaurant group, split between Japan and overseas, during the pandemic.
In Staying Afloat, Shono tells us his story, from having to close down his restaurants overseas, installing security measures to leveraging his 15 years of experience as a ramen creator to develop new products, while also sharing his views about the food industry, hardly hit worldwide.
We had filmed with Shono a few years back in Shoku, where we looked at his philosophy and his approach to ramen: • The Ramen Creator, Tom...
MENSHO Official Website: menya-shono.com/
Overseas Restaurants Information:
- Mensho Tokyo (San Francisco, CA): 672 Geary St, San Francisco, CA
- Mensho Tokyo BKK (Bangkok, Thailand): 571 RSU Tower Room G-03 G Floor Klongton Nua, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Tokyo Restaurants Information:
- MENSHO: 1 Chome-17-16 Otowa, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
- Menya Shono: 1 Chome−3 Ichigayatamachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
- GACHI: 7-10 Sumiyoshicho Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
- MENSHO TOKYO: 1 Chome-15-9 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
- Jikasei MENSHO: 15−1, Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
- Mensho San Francisco: 1 Chome−1−3, Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
![State of Play | September 24, 2024 [ENGLISH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fVs0suPHAX8/mqdefault.jpg)
![Cody Johnson - I'm Gonna Love You (with Carrie Underwood) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yy9PuYMU29g/mqdefault.jpg)
English and French subtitles are available under the "CC" menu. Portuguese and Spanish subtitles have also been available through Community Contributions, which are open for additional language submissions. Thank you for following Archipel!
Portuguese sub please.
What's the font type that you use in your documentaries? I really dig it, it's refined yet pleasing to the eye.
@@filosofacil9563 Portuguese subtitles are now available!
Hi, thanks for the video. I only have one problem with the background music in the intro - I have tinnitus and the high pitch sound makes it really hard for me to focus on the content. Thank you for reading this feedback!
obrigado
It seems like landlords are another source of a problem during an emergency even in Japan...
In any case, thanks for documenting this side of a pandemic.
Time for a Global Rent Strike!
carbon_cc Yeah, the ending kinda broke my heart. There is this creative, smart, hard working dude doing all he can to adapt to the new environment, only for his efforts to be thwarted by a landlord who seems to lack the empathy and understanding of the situation. 😔
landlords are also running businesses...
@@MangakaDay how far up your ass your head has to be to prevent the tennant making money that they will later give to YOU as a rent? You can run a business and also be a dumbfuck.
@@MangakaDay What I am wondering is, wouldn't the landlord also earn more money, because he's still
keeping the revenue stream going, or am I missing something here with how the breaching of contract works :thinking:
Hi. My name is Lourdes. I’m from Spain. And I want to thank you for uploading your videos. Bringing a little bit of the lives of these people closer together, you can feel a little bit more the kind part of humanity. Tired of all the news of the fights of the politicians of my country these are the things that matter to me. I wish Tomoharu Shono and your entire team all the best. Warm greetings.
Gracias Lourdes! We're wishing you all the best as well. Things will get better.
I find this channel to be one of the best on RUclips. The amount of work and effort that you put in is incredible, thank you so much for that!
I was planning a trip to Japan this April and these events were an unfortunate surprise. But I'm not giving up. I'm confident that we will reunite and do much better next year!
The lawsuit from a landlord is pathetic, hope it won't cause big problems
Thanks a lot for the kind word. Hope you'll be able to make your trip once things settle down!
Hello there. I’m a loyal customer from BKK Thailand. You are hands down THE BEST ramen in town. I am happy to see your efforts. Thank you very much and please continue fighting as you ramen really brings joy into my life.
Nice, we have a friend who went to Mensho's BKK restaurant as well and told us it was great!
I'm kind of speechless at how capable and dedicated this guy is... hats off to you, sir.
Archipel, your channel is one of a kind. Amazing atmosphere and production quality. I'm a huge fan of your work, been following you for years. Thank you so so much. Best of luck to Mr Shono as well!
What happened with Mr. Shono? A great story, after all! Love it how he could reorganize his restaurant in order to stay afloat. Moreover, when he says that he want´s everybody be happy after this pandemic
Shono is still staying afloat, many of his restaurants in Tokyo have reopened, unfortunately the situation is still dire overseas.
Very informative and inspiring as much as it is very sad to see that the restaurant had to close.
Developing numerous tasty and healthy food to please his customers while having to deal with the worldwide situation.
His team is very brave.
I hope they survive this and keep making delicious food for people :)
Also may I ask who made the soundtrack you used for the video ?
The music sounds very nice.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed!
Awareness, Adaptability and Resilience are key for businesses sustainability. People should adapt themselves to all kinds of situations, even those that can hardly be controlled.
There are countless restaurants who failed in that process and remained closed during the epidemy due to the fact that they did not offer delivery services nor the necessary conditions to allow people to eat-in.
This man did not only succeed but also innovated to bring "perfection" to people's home. Je tire mon chapeau.
You can just feel the labor of love and kindness this work is for him exude off of how he talks. Sharing good food with people in probably one of the scariest events in our modern history, and still innovating in order to better serve his patrons. I'm all warm and fuzzy inside ;w;
No joke, I was planning to go to Mensho Tokyo San Francisco just when the pandemic hit. I hate going up into San Francisco so this was a big deal for me. I'll probably need to go up and order take out from them.
SO grateful for this kind of business.
Love from SF, hope to see more of your restaurant and that the expansion can go forward in the future. Amazing soul food.
He invested a lot of time in his product for great take away options compared to most who froze soup and noodles
Oh man I had Mensho in both Tokyo and SF before.. one of the most creative ramen I ever had in years.
love your channel, beautiful cinematography and ambient music
Thank you!
What he came up with to save his business is impressive. But keep in mind this is a chain business, they have much more resource to that allowed them to develop new products and services to best suit these times. Most other ramen shops aren't so fortunate, same goes to all sorts of small family own businesses.
True, Shono is the first to mention that being a chain gave us an extra stamina that many independent restaurants don't have unfortunately.
Thank you for this informative video. Keep up the good work!
PS: That landlord suing him at this time is just plain wrong. Hope he wins the case.
Thank you! We feel a bit confused now as the cases are back as before except there isn't really any restriction in place in Tokyo anymore...
great guy! his ramen shop here in San Francisco was always packed with line of people standing outside.
Productions like these is why I stay subscribed. Phenomenal work.
Thank you!
Boy, that lawsuit came from nowhere!! hope things worked out.
And this is what we'd lose if this channel only covered areas like the manga and the games industry. Thank you so much guys, as always!
Thank you Luis for your continued support!
Thank you so much for the videos! During these hard times with all of the bad things happening around the world, the videos you guys make are like a safe haven. Keep up the great work!
Thanks a lot for the kind word!
Excellent work, always interesting to see how these guys handling the situation. As he said, new services should appears after that. And smallest ramen shops will suffer from this crisis, no doubt. Hope everyone will get support from customers then.
The situation is slowly getting back to normal here in Japan so hopefully things are getting better, although we're still being cautious.
Nice, brief look at the state of food service (and a single business) in Japan during the pandemic.
This is the first time I've even heard of a ramen burger, though I'm not surprised it exists.
Ramen burgers have been done before, but they failed at capturing the essence of ramen or burgers.
They failed before because they usually used burger ingredients or just regular egg-based noodles.
A new phase of industries.. thanks for documenting this.
Thanks for watching!
Awesome capture of the scenario and how things are turning out. Wishing the best for him and everyone in the world.
Thanks!
Pays them for staying at home. That is honour unlike some greedy businesses. Here in Australia we have a payment to keep people employed but bosses expect them to work more if they get paid more than they usually do.
This video gave me some hope. Thank you, & good luck to anyone reading this.
Thanks for the kind word!
Nothing really to say, but I enjoyed this video. Thanks for making and sharing it.
People who dislike this kind of videos, this people. Why? Anyway, great video as always. Keep fighting.
Thank you ✊
Respect to this man!
Great production. subscribed
Thank you!
Thank you for your work, I love this channel
Thank you! 🙏
Great video, half through it, very intersting to see the point of view of a manager.
Thank you!
Incredible. Thank you
Thanks for watching!
Loans are basically debt, governments are forcing businesses into debt to survive. Shaking my head.
Great video. I don't understand the reasoning behind the landlord's lawsuit. To force out a tenant at this time would imply #1 he wants another tenant in that space, or #2 the landlord actually has another hamburger tenant in the area. If its #1, good luck trying that now.
We can confirm it is not #2; the reason remains quite mysterious to us and even to Shono himself...
@@ArchipelDocumentaries The landlord did it because he's a jealous jerk
Big fan as always
Thank you!
What a scummy thing the landlord did, my god. There really are some horrible people everywhere.
This reminds me ichiraku ramen
His landlord sued him for pivoting his restaurant? Shameful
Sad but true...
Great video man. music could be a little softer though.
"I don't think we will be able to go back to normal right after the coronavirus disappears", a poignant quote. We are living in interesting times, thanks for the small peek into the lives of business owners in Japan.
Thanks for watching!
sadly.... for MENSHO
to be a landlord is not a kind of job, it is purely and simple greed
He looks so stressed.
Amazing content! Keep it up!
Thank you, we sure intend to!
A respectable man, hope things go well for him
When I saw 14:51, I called BS towards his landlord. They could have talked it out without doing a lawsuit for being able to pivot the business to survive.
😔
What a resilient, positive, creative and people-centred guy. And what a stupid landlord ! I wish him and Mensho group the very best!
Wow, this man is a hero. Good and empathetic leader, coming up with creative solutions to adapt to situation while still delivering quality, taking care of his people and keeping his discipline, wits and hard work despite losing his businesses and pandemic stress and anxiety. Very strong minded and kind hearted dude. Great video as always, Archipel! 🙌🏼❤️
Thank you!
That ramen burger looks amazing
What an inspiring man - to be able to keep thinking and innovating, and to challenge the adversity that comes from this pandemic. Truly someone I would consider an expert in their field, who refuses to let hardships keep him in a standstill. And one could even see the optimism in that hidden smile of his - when he talks about hoping to find the happy faces of customers again, after the corona virus disappears. Optimism is probably more important now than ever with how easily jaded we can be due to current events. But that did just make the sadness I felt all the more bitter, when we learned about his restaurant having to temporarily close because of his landlord. I really hope for the best for Shono when this is all over.
Thank you, Archipel, for the amazing videos you create. Your style is very unique in how grounded it is, and how immersed I can be just watching them.
Thanks for the support!
This is fantastic, Thank you for your work in these troubling times
Thanks for watching!
Incredible channel. Respect man .
Thanks for the kind word!
Ganbare,, hoping to visit one of his restaurants when things get better there,, just heard Tokyo is on high alert due to new cases there.. stay safe..
While the amount of publicly announced cases is way lower that other countries, there was indeed a rise in cases this week so we're staying cautious.
@@ArchipelDocumentaries it seems there it have higher fatalities compared to its Asian neighbors (excluding India and China).. almost 900?
Hope the landlord gets what is coming to him
What was the breach of contract? His landlord has the power to make sure he only makes one specific type of food in one specific way?
The breach of contract allegedly only to changing the restaurant's main product from regular ramen to a ramen burger, and does not indeed have nothing to do with selling takeout. There wasn't any new development on this as far as we've heard.
Thanks for the update (and the fantastic videos). I thought there surely must be something more to it. But this sounds completely insane.
You're selling blue shirts in your red shirt store? You're out of here!
That's so ingenious. I wonder if I'll ever have a chance to try the ramen burger.
could you please put all his resturant addresses in the video discription, i plane on visiting tokyo again as soon as its ok to travel again and i would love to eat there when i return ;)
We've added the addresses to the restaurants that are currently open. (There are a bit more now that the state of emergency has been lifted in Japan.)
@@ArchipelDocumentaries thank you, very much appreciated ;)
domo arigato gozaimasu for this documentary, keep sharing these kinds of adventures and stories, it helps a lot.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed!
This has been very inspiring. If possible, please do more of this series.
We were thinking of it, although it's a bit of an ambiguous situation as there are still COVID cases here but things are almost running as normal...
Thank you for this! Although the lawsuit from the landlord in the middle of a global crisis when he adjusted his menu to keep his business going is ...questionable.
It is indeed more than questionable... we unfortunately see/hear about such cases everywhere.
I really love these ambient musics behind the documentary, may I ask who is the composer?
Eu gostei muito 👏👏👏, shooooow
do you think it’s acceptable to put ramin in a sandwich? how about a taco? A salad? Lettuce wraps? Iced cream?
You, sir. You are living the dream. Absolutely amazing
Ramen burger... tastes seems delicious... but if I can’t slurp the broth, it’s not as satisfying as a Ramen to me... something it’s not just the taste, but the feel too that brings satisfaction and satiety... nonetheless, an interesting dish on its own
Wonderful video. Just wondering what camera and lenses you use?
the landlord... jeez the shittiest human being ever
Sub Español Por favor!
Todos sus videos son muy buenos🙌
Adapt and overcome. What a smart guy.
Wow!! Soo many good things from this documentary. Even though I like traditional, the Ramen hamburger sounds great and innovative!
Thank you, the Ramen burger is indeed trying to stay as authentic as it gets.
Excellent work on this, on every level.
Thank you!
Shono's dedicated to what he is doing. It is not just his business, this is a way of living for him - with this routine, attitude, and philosophy. Amazing if his chain strives after all the impact. Would love to try that ramen! Also, as usual, great job by Archipel editing, filming, and adding sound.
Thanks for the kind word!
It's a ramen story ❤️❤️❤️👏👏👏stay safe stay healthy
God bless
Please legenda pt brasil
Legendas em português já estão disponíveis.
can you cover Animators ??? maybe yutaka nakamura ?
We definitely want to cover animators, however one hurdle is that rights holding companies tend to ask for licensing fees to use animation clips which can make it difficult both logistically and financially.
Any chance you guys can do one on the Japanese Game Center business and Industry during or post Covid Pandemic?
Yes, that's definitely an angle that could be interesting to explore.
@@ArchipelDocumentaries I really hope you guys will. That's one industry that I really feel bad for during this pandemic, especially for the smaller independent centers like Mikado and Game Newton. That industry has already been in a decide as it is -_-
As always, thank you for your content.
Tomoharu Shono and team, I wish you the best. I hope to see your ramen burger chain in America one day, I love ramen and worked for a shop that opened in January of 2019. Due to the pandemic we had to close our doors and there's been no sign of us returning, my dream is to open up my own ramen business one day and I be willing to even relocate to wherever you decide to open your spot. Thank you for all your hard work!
Thanks for sharing, good luck with your dream!
Amazing production as always
Thank you!
A wonderful story of love, care & compassion for feeding & nourishing his fellow human beings. That😒evil,🤑greedy🧐Landlord that served MENSHO that lawsuit needs to burn in hell.
Thank you for sharing this story.
Thanks for watching!
This is a very intriguing look into the effects of the pendemic. It's wonderful to see how a small can find solutions to treat customers during tough times
Spanish subtitles please!!! 😭
スペイン語で字幕を付けてください 😭😢
I wonder how the ramen noodle tastes. Looks so yummy!
all my homies hate landlords
That's how you keep a business open during strange times like these. You've got to innovate and change with the times to keep things afloat. Simply awesome!
Exactly!
Amazing as always, I hope you keep making more of these
Thank you, we already have a couple of ideas!
Does somebody know the brand of his hoody? Looks amazing....
This is actually an official MENSHO hoodie, that was made in collaboration with the Journal Standard brand - not sure if it's still available for sale though...
WHATT, this guy has a restaraunt in Russia? Where?
He was just about to open his restaurant in Russia when the pandemic hit. Shono is the type of person who gives up, we're sure he'll open it once things settle. He did tell us that he did a lot of research on Russia's soup culture to find a way to adapt it to his ramen.
@@ArchipelDocumentaries I go to Moscow every year and I'd love to visit the place, where can I look for updates on it?
物凄く良い動画ありがとうございました！
死ぬまで応援しています！
ありがとうございます！これからも尽力していきます✊