At the age of 20, he traveled to Hokkaido and was inspired by Asahikawa’s rich Shoyu ramen and authentic Sapporo’s Miso ramen. He was amazed by the difference of Soki Soba in Okinawa at the age of 21.

Shigeto moved to Tokyo and was overwhelmed by the mouthwatering cloudy and rich soup of Keika Ramen, which he ate twice a week. He kept on devouring Keika Ramen until he moved to New York City at the age of 28.

After moving to New York City in spring of 1981, he was unable to find authentic Japanese ramen and craved for Ramen. In summer of 1997, his Jazz Band went on a tour in Japan and simultaneously he began touring famous Japanese ramen restaurants. He traveled around Japan and ate various ramen including Kumamoto Ramen, Hakata Ramen, Kurume Ramen, Nagasaki Chanpon, Wakayama Ramen, Kyoto Ramen, Toyama Ramen and many more. It was as though he was on a gourmet Ramen tour for six years.

After a day after returning to New York City on September 10th, 2001, he heard a catastrophic roaring sound coming from the window and he felt his life crumble as he lost a source of income except his music. He began his late-night ascetic training in October at his friend’s restaurant. He had no qualms about cooking. The 20 years he spent in his apartment reading Ramen Books and watching Ramen Shows made him want to perfect his ramen more and was rather excited to serve his ramen to customers.

His first ramen was rich with pork based broth and zest of salt garlic inspired by Keika Ramen in Tokyo, and his second work was shoyu with pork based broth spurred by Wakayama and Asahikawa Ramen.

Minca History
After eight months of ascetic training from October 2001 and thoroughly hammering out a business plan, Shigeto opened his one and only Minca in June 2004. The broth is made from vast amounts of pork bones and chicken bones, and emphasized on hearty Japanese taste by using seaweed, dried bonito, and dried shiitake mushrooms imported from Japan. He also obtains miso from Sendai and Shinshuu to create an unique and robust miso ramen. Shigeto spent most of his time developing ramen to serve wide selections of delicious ramen to his customers.

Kambi History
Minca’s sister restaurant Kanbi Ramen House opened in November 2008. Located at 14th Street and 1st Avenue to serve many Ramen Lovers.

We look forward to serve you the best authentic ramen.
Please send us your comments, your questions, and your suggestions to info@newyorkramen.com.