Buoyed by community support, flood-hit ramen shop in Chiba reopens

Undeterred by the heavy rains that flooded it three times since August, Ramen Mitake in Oamishirasato, Chiba Prefecture, has reopened in a show of resilience driven by community support.

Takahiro Ikeda, the 47-year-old owner of the local ramen shop, described the ordeal as “like something out of a TV drama or manga.”

Encouraged by neighboring business owners and loyal customers, Ikeda got back to work earlier this month and developed a new dish, Oami Kimchi Ramen, to symbolize his determination to rebuild.

On Sunday, about two weeks after the shop reopened, around 50 people were lined up outside before opening time.

“I was deeply concerned about the damage and have been talking with friends about visiting the shop together to show our support,” said Tsutomu Takatsu, a 55-year-old construction worker from Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture.

A regular customer who lives nearby also expressed relief, saying he was glad the shop had reopened.

Ikeda said the shop was flooded to a depth of about 90 centimeters during torrential rain in Chiba in mid-August. He spent days cleaning and disinfecting the premises, and replaced everything from refrigerators and cooking appliances to an outdoor air-conditioning unit.

The shop reopened on Sept. 5, but it was flooded again the following day after record-breaking rainfall.

Ikeda had planned to try again on Sept. 22, but Typhoon Dujuan struck the area the day before the scheduled reopening.

The third flood reached a depth of about 70 cm. Although Ikeda had installed flood barriers at the shop’s two entrances, water seeped in through gaps in the walls.

Messages of encouragement from customers and people in the neighborhood helped him find the strength to start over.

“People tell me, ‘Keep going’ and ‘We’ll come back again.’ I can only feel grateful,” Ikeda said.

Kazuaki Kimura, the 40-year-old head of Ichiryu, a nearby shop that sells kimchi, also came to help clear mud from the restaurant’s parking lot.

“I couldn’t just stand by and watch. I wanted to help get the place back up and running as soon as possible,” Kimura said.

The two business owners also teamed up to create Oami Kimchi Ramen, a new dish intended to help support the community’s recovery.

Ikeda hopes the dish will eventually become a local specialty.

“I want to change the perception of Oamishirasato as ’a town that sinks’ and show that its people are moving forward despite repeated setbacks.”