Bringing a Taste of Japan to the World

“I realized I was a pretty good ramen cook,” says Sasago, who craved the authentic noodle dish he enjoyed back home in Japan and began cooking it for himself at his HBS dorm. “I made a lot of new friends right away when they stopped in to see what smelled so good. Everyone who tried my ramen really loved it, and that inspired my decision to launch a ramen business in Boston.”

Alleviating Debt Concerns

Sasago studied commerce at Waseda University in Tokyo and the University of Sydney in Australia prior to attending HBS. His ability to pursue a graduate school education depended on the need-based financial aid he received to help with tuition and other expenses. He notes that the Japan Fellowship, which is supported by alumni in the HBS Club of Japan, “enabled me to be inspired by a new possibility without the concern of heavy student debt.”

He explored that possibility full tilt while earning his MBA. “Some days, my student life was half academic, half ramen chef,” says Sasago, who interned at a popular Cambridge ramen eatery to fine-tune his cooking skills. Senior Lecturer Lena Goldberg’s elective course Challenges and Opportunities in the Restaurant Business and a related independent study “opened amazing opportunities for me in terms of learning and contacts in Boston,” he shares.

Sasago also found support in Boston’s Japanese business community and from fellow ramen enthusiast Masato Nakamura (MBA 2020), who became his business partner. During his first-year summer break, Sasago secured initial funding from investors in Japan, and in November 2019, with Nakamura and some friends, he presided over a mostly successful “Yasu & Masa’s Ramen” pop-up event in Cambridge. “Everyone ate well, and no one got food poisoning,” he laughs, “but it was definitely a learning experience.”

Pandemic Delays Plans

With plans for a summer 2020 restaurant opening, Sasago was one day away from signing a lease on a space in South Boston in March when “COVID-19 hit, and everything stopped,” he explains. Despite the obvious barriers to launching a business during a pandemic, Sasago remains determined to move forward with his plan to offer Boston diners a unique blend of authentic Japanese culture and cooking, organic farm-to-table ingredients, and—a novelty for ramen venues—cocktail service.

With classic entrepreneurial resilience, by June, Sasago had already found a property with more space and in a better location and was interviewing chefs for a planned winter 2021 opening. In view of COVID-19’s persistent threat, Sasago revised his business plan to include expanded take-out and delivery, and meal kits with high-quality ingredients for cooking at home. Building on what he learns in Boston, he hopes someday to bring the concept to consumers in emerging markets across the globe.

“Most restaurant owners can cook, but they don’t have a business mindset,” Sasago says. “I have that advantage now, and I know we can make this work.”