Kenji was born in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa prefecture just south of Tokyo. His father took him to a lot of restaurants from the time he was very little. This must be part of the reason Kenji aspired to work at a restaurant. Right after graduating from high school, Kenji moved to Alaska, where his father’s childhood friend lived. His father’s friend was the owner of the Alaska branch of Kumagoro, a famous ramen noodle restaurant in Japan. Kenji started working at Kumagoro as a dishwasher, then underwent thorough culinary training to learn pan-fried dishes, tenpura, grilled dishes, and sushi. Although at first Kenji did not have any special knowledge nor experience as a chef, the other chefs at Kumagoro were all professionals that had gone through many years of training at various sushi or kappo (fancy restaurants serving traditional Japanese cuisine) restaurants in Japan. Kenji says that he learned his various culinary skills from all of them. Alaska is a vast land and endowed with natural beauty, but it does not have many clubs and places for a young man to hang out during his off time. That stark environment contributed to Kenji’s single-minded dedication to his work. When Kenji felt satisfied with the level of training he had received in Alaska, he moved on to Seattle where his father lived. At that time, Kenji’s father was an owner of Kumagoro’s Seattle branch. Father hired son as a manager at the restaurant. Three years later, his father made Kenji an owner and entrusted him with Kumagoro Seattle. Unfortunately, however, the lease of the restaurant expired one and a half years later and the family had to close their branch of Kumagoro. Although Kenji felt attached to Seattle, he knew he had to move forward. So he took up a friend’s offer and moved to Los Angeles.

Meantime, Furaibo was expanding and planning to set up an outpost in West Los Angeles. The restaurant was looking for a manager to launch the branch. Kenji applied for the position and was hired. Furaibo is a well-established restaurant, with over 80 branches in Japan, and 4 locations in America. Utilizing his solid experience, Kenji assumed the position as Los Angeles representative of Furaibo and has been successfully maintaining the restaurant’s reputation for the past 13 years. Keeping the Furaibo tradition alive, supporting its employees, and handling various on site situations, are just a few examples of his responsibilities as manager. “When it’s time to work, focus on working. When it’s time to take a break, concentrate on your off time. I treat employees as my equal. That is the key to bringing out our best,” Kenji told me. His words were sincere and very touching.