When a ramen chef leaves a successful career in Japan to start a new chapter in Europe, you know there’s a story worth telling.
Meet Chef Ueno Ryuichi, a Japanese ramen creator who brought his passion — and his noodles — all the way to Amsterdam.
🇯🇵 From Japan’s Ramen World
Before moving to the Netherlands, Chef Ueno was already a well-known figure in Japan’s ramen world.
He owned and operated one of the country’s top-rated tsukemen shops, recognized for its exceptional depth of flavor and precise technique.
Here it is:
His story even caught the attention of major Japanese media — he was featured in Toyo Keizai Online, one of Japan’s leading business and culture publications, in an article titled
“The Reason Why the Owner of a Super Popular Tsukemen Shop Left Japan.”
The piece highlighted his decision to step away from success in Japan to pursue a new challenge overseas.
As seen in:
✈️ A New Chapter in Europe
For Chef Ueno, success in Japan was never the end goal.
Even while his shop Chuka Soba Hirai thrived, he often questioned the future of Japan’s restaurant industry.
“I kept asking myself if it was okay to just keep doing the same thing in Japan,” he recalls.
“While prices and wages abroad continue to rise, Japan has stayed almost the same. I started to worry about what lies ahead.”
Here’s what Chef Ueno wrote on X (Twitter) when he revealed his plan to move abroad.
こんばんは。店主の上野です。
— 中華蕎麦 ひら井 (@tyukasoba_hirai) February 17, 2024
突然ですが、大切なお知らせです。 pic.twitter.com/C26Ilb9Y7J
English translation (original post in Japanese):
“Hello, this is Ueno, owner of Chuka Soba Hirai.
I’ve decided to move my base overseas this spring. While I’ll be stepping away from daily operations, I’ll continue supporting the shop’s growth and expansion behind the scenes.
I’ve always wanted to share Japan’s beautiful ramen culture with the world. My desire to take on new challenges and test myself globally has grown stronger than ever.
There are no concrete plans yet for opening abroad, but I’d be grateful if you continue to support Chuka Soba Hirai. From March onward I’ll be in the shop less often, but I plan to stay in Japan until our third anniversary.
I’m truly thankful to everyone — my mentors, staff, suppliers, and all our customers — for helping me reach this point. I hope you’ll keep watching warmly over us as we continue our ramen journey.”
— Chef Ryuichi Ueno
With an international mindset and growing concern about Japan’s economic stagnation, Chef Ueno began thinking seriously about expending overseas.
A trip to the Netherlands and Germany in 2024 became the turning point.
“The Netherlands felt like the right place,” he says.
“There aren’t too many ramen shops yet, and I believed that if I could understand the local culture and tastes while serving authentic Japanese ramen, I could truly stand out.”
Unlike Southeast Asia or the U.S., where Japanese ramen brands are already common, Chef Ueno saw the Netherlands as a new frontier: a modern, safe, English-friendly country with room for authentic Japanese craftsmanship to flourish.
Visa accessibility for Japanese citizens also made it attractive.
Before opening his own shop, he plans to work at local ramen restaurants, learning how European customers perceive flavor while improving his English.
Eventually, he aims to serve the ramen he knows best — tonkotsu, his lifelong specialty.
He continues to run Chuka Soba Hirai from abroad, entrusting the team there to carry on the tradition and serve as a training ground for young chefs.
“If it weren’t for ramen, I would never have thought of moving abroad,” he says.
“Japanese ramen has the power to compete globally. I just want to test my own strength while I still can.
This section includes information quoted and adapted from an interview with Chef Ryuichi Ueno, originally published on Toyo Keizai Online (in Japanese).
🍜 Pop-up & Collaboration Summary (Chronological)
Since moving to Europe, Chef Ueno has hosted and joined several successful ramen pop-ups and collaborations.
| Date | Event / Venue | Location | Ramen Type / Concept |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | “Ramen Me” Pop-up with Chef Ryuichi Ueno | Ramen Me, Porto | Tonkotsu Ramen & Tsukemen — a special collaboration event where Chef Ueno served his signature pork-based ramen and dipping noodles, showcasing his creativity and technique. A lively evening celebrating food, people, and craftsmanship. |
| August 2025 | Tsukemen Event @ Vatten Ramen Plantage | Vatten Ramen LABO Plantage, Amsterdam | Tsukemen — dipping-style ramen with rich broth and house-made noodles. First-ever tsukemen event at Vatten. |
| September 2025 | “Ramen Me” Pop-up with Chef Ryuichi Ueno | Ramen Me, Porto | Ginger Shoyu Ramen & Garlic Shrimp Shio Ramen — part of the “Ramen Me” pop-up, a poetic collaboration exploring warmth, connection, and creativity through ramen. Two contrasting bowls — one gentle and aromatic, the other bold with garlic and shrimp — beautifully captured Chef Ueno’s expressive style. |
| October 2025 | CHINTAN CHARSIU RAMEN EVENT @ Vatten Ramen Plantage | Vatten Ramen LABO Plantage, Amsterdam | Pork Chintan Ramen — clear, slow-simmered broth with hand-kneaded flat noodles and pork shoulder charsiu. Variations: Ginger Shoyu / Garlic Shio. |
“Ramen Me” Pop-up with Chef Ryuichi Ueno
A special collaboration event where Chef Ueno served his signature pork-based ramen and dipping noodles, showcasing his creativity and technique. A lively evening celebrating food, people, and craftsmanship.
Tsukemen Event @ Vatten Ramen Plantage
Dipping-style ramen with rich broth and house-made noodles. First-ever tsukemen event at Vatten.
“Ramen Me” Pop-up with Chef Ryuichi Ueno
Part of the “Ramen Me” pop-up — a poetic collaboration exploring warmth, connection, and creativity through ramen. Two contrasting bowls — one gentle and aromatic, the other bold with garlic and shrimp — beautifully captured Chef Ueno’s expressive style.
CHINTAN CHARSIU RAMEN EVENT @ Vatten Ramen Plantage
Clear, slow-simmered broth with hand-kneaded flat noodles and pork shoulder charsiu. Variations: Ginger Shoyu / Garlic Shio.
👣 My Pop-up Visits & Experiences
To truly experience the craft behind these collaborations, I personally visited some of Chef Ueno’s pop-up events.
Here are a few of my Instagram posts capturing those unforgettable ramen moments:
📍 June 2025 — Ramen Me Pop-up in Porto
📍 August 2025 — Tsukemen Event at Vatten Ramen Amsterdam
🍲 His Ramen Philosophy
For Chef Ueno, ramen is not just a daily comfort food — it’s meant to be a treat, a gourmet experience.
“I don’t want to imitate others. I want to create something unique — something that stands out completely on its own.
I’d rather have someone say, ‘That’s incredible!’ than just, ‘That’s good.’”
Rather than following trends or replicating popular styles, Chef Ueno strives to craft bowls that feel one-of-a-kind — original expressions of his own taste, intuition, and pursuit of uniquness.
His goal is not only to satisfy but to surprise; to make ramen that leaves a lasting impression, not just a full stomach.
🌍 Looking Ahead
Since arriving in the Netherlands, Chef Ueno has been immersing himself in the local ramen scene — working at ramen restaurants to gain firsthand knowledge of the market while organizing pop-up events across Europe.
Each experience, from the kitchen to the pop-up counter, has helped him understand how ramen is received outside Japan and how it can continue to evolve.
“I’m still learning every day,” he says.
“By cooking here, I can see what connects people to ramen — and what makes it universal.”
With plans for more collaborations and events ahead, Chef Ueno continues to blend his Japanese roots with new inspirations found in Europe.
📸 Follow his journey on Instagram → @supersaiyajin26
As someone who has followed his journey across Europe,
I can truly say that every pop-up feels like the start of something new — a reminder that ramen isn’t just food, it’s connection. 🍜✨
