“One More Time” — Hiroshi Kawahara’s Mission to Bring Back Nandenkanden

A tiger returns alongside his son

“‘FRIDAY’ has featured me quite a lot. One way or another, I must’ve appeared around 20 times because of all sorts of stories, don’t you think? (laughs)”

Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Nandenkanden,” President Hiroshi Kawahara (62) appeared before a FRIDAY reporter for the first time in a while. The darkly tanned skin and piercing eyes that once defined his image had faded, leaving him with a noticeably gentler impression.

“You know, I’m actually naturally fair-skinned. Even when I go to the beach, I turn white again pretty quickly. I always admired having a tan, so I’d say at the restaurant, ‘I want to get darker!’ One of our customers who owned a tanning salon said, ‘Come by—it’s free!’ So I went, and I really got tan.

Then Kazuya Kato (54), the son of Hibari Misora, who appeared with me on Money no Tora, and I got excited and said, ‘Let’s open a tanning salon together!’ We actually did it as part of the show’s project. But before we knew it, the employees had run off in the middle of the night. (laughs)”

Standing beside him was his son, Kota Kawahara (30)—a handsome young man with fair skin and refined features. Seeing him, one gets the sense that this may have been the elder Kawahara’s original appearance before his famous tanning days.

Now, father and son are working together to revive “Nandenkanden,” the ramen chain that helped ignite Japan’s tonkotsu ramen boom in the 1980s and 1990s.

“I never inherited my own father’s family business. I thought, ‘Kota should do whatever he wants. Nandenkanden can end with my generation.’ But I’m grateful, you know.

I’m still recovering, so I thought I’d ask my son to help out.”

Kawahara collapsed at home in July 2022—the very same day that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated. Only Kawahara and Kota were at home that day.

“Dad was generally healthy and hated hospitals. He’d catch a cold maybe once every few years. But that day, he was lying down the entire time. Even when I spoke to him, he’d only manage to say, ‘Yeah.’

His face, which was usually dark from tanning, had turned pale. Then he quietly said, ‘Please call an ambulance.’

At the hospital, he was diagnosed with infective endocarditis and aortic valve insufficiency. His heart valve had stopped functioning properly. He underwent four surgeries in total, including receiving an artificial valve,” Kota recalled.

For Kota, reviving “Nandenkanden” became a deeply personal mission.

“My main job is in digital marketing consulting, so honestly, I was unsure whether I wanted to take over the business.

But when my father, lying in bed in a weak voice, said, ‘I want you to inherit the ramen business,’ something switched inside me. I thought, ‘All right—I’ll do it!'”

“I’ll take care of the taste,” the father declared. “Kota has marketing skills, so we’ll combine our strengths.” Determination returned to his eyes.

“I’ve never actually worked at my father’s restaurant before, so first I’ve been focusing on recreating Nandenkanden’s soup. Fortunately, the recipes still exist, and with help from former employees, we’ve managed to restore the original flavor.

The next step is finding partners to help reopen a physical restaurant. To make a strong impression that Nandenkanden is back, we’re currently prioritizing increasing our public exposure.

As part of that effort, we’re expanding through pop-up operations, serving ramen at super sento bathhouses and izakaya pubs,”Kota explained.

The May 29 combined issue of “FRIDAY” and the paid edition “FRIDAY GOLD,” released on May 14, feature additional stories from the Kawahara family, including the ramen development process, the famous printed seaweed toppings, a collaboration involving Michael Jackson, and behind-the-scenes anecdotes about mentaiko before it became widely known.