Have you ever dreamed of opening up your own ramen shop?

你是否曾經夢想開一間拉麵店

While most ramen-ya's kitchen's are wide open to see,

大多數的拉麵店是開放式的 但工作內容不僅僅是你看到的那些

you may be surprised at all the work that goes into owning a ramen store yourself.

經營一間拉麵店所需要付出的努力 是你想像不到的

Ticket please.

餐券 謝謝

Please wait.

請稍等

Shio (salt) ramen

鹽味拉麵

While ramen is Japanese fast food, it's not a fast process to make.

雖然拉麵是日本的速食， 但是做出一碗拉麵的過程並不簡單

It takes time, dedication, hard work, and knowledge.

這都要花時間、奉獻、勤勞，還有知識

While he does buy his fresh noodles from a men-ya (that means noodle store),

雖然麵是從製麵廠買來的

most everything he makes is from scratch.

其他材料全部都要自己做

Thanks for waiting, here you go. Here you are.

久等了

Thank you for waiting. Here you go.

久等了 請享用

What kind of hours does he work?

他每天都要工作幾小時？

8am to 11:30pm, six days a week.

早上８點到晚上１１點半 １個禮拜工作６天

And this is not the, I'm out of the house, from 8am to 11:30pm,

這可不是說 早上8點出門 11點半回家

so I'm working all that time even though I have breaks.

雖然辛苦了這麼久，但中間還有休息。

This is non-stop hard work from when he enters the shop until when he leaves.

我指的是無間斷的勞動 從進了拉麵店到打烊為止

If you add it all up, and I did, that's an 80 (really 93) hour work week!

如果去計算工時 每週就要80(93)個小時

My father used to own a Ramen restaurant.

我的父親以前擁有過一家拉麵店

He used to be a salary man, but he quit start his own restaurant.

本來是上班族 辭職後開了一家自己的拉麵店

When I was a teenager, I helped in the restaurant.

當我還在唸書的時候，會去父親的拉麵店幫忙

At that time, making Ramen wasn't what I wanted to do with my life.

那個時候 拉麵並不是我的人生目標

It was just helping and it was a part time job.

只是當作打工

I wanted to get out into the world so I started to work

後來想去闖蕩看看

as a sales man, but it was not for me

當了上班族 卻感覺這不是自己想做的

and I came to realize that

那個時候就在想

I wanted to create something

果然想用自己創造的東西

and make people happy

用自己端出來的料理 讓客人感到高興

That's what I wanted to do.

那就是我想做的工作

I start working at 8:00AM. I make fish broth everyday.

我從早上８點開始工作 我每天都會煮魚高湯

And while I make the broth, I also prepare eggs.

當我在煮高湯的時候，我也會準備雞蛋。

Menya Musashi, No.1 Ramen restaurant in Japan at that time, came to my mind,

那時候我想起了當時日本頂尖的拉麵店 麺屋武蔵

and I made a phone call

所以我打了電話

to ask them to take me as an apprentice.

去拜託他們收我為徒

I started at the Menya Musashi Shinjuku main shop,

在麺屋武蔵的新宿本店 工作了４年半。

I worked there for 4 1/2 years.

不停地累積經驗 直到現在

Kunimoto's restaurant has 4 main dishes.

國本有4道主菜

Of course they all contain ramen noodles,

當然，每道都有拉麵

but they're actually not all the same thickness,

但是這些拉麵的厚度都不相同

nor are they prepared the same way.

準備方式也不同

This is regular ramen.

這是普通拉麵。

Each restaurant will have their own take on the dish.

每家拉麵店都有自己的特色

Kunimoto's version has a flavourful broth with fatty pork.

國本拉麵店 則是充滿風味的高湯，搭配沾滿油脂的叉燒

This is Shio ramen, and shio stands for salt.

這是鹽味拉麵，SHIO是鹽的意思。

It has a light broth and lean pork.

有著清爽的高湯，跟瘦肉叉燒

The noodles used are thinner than the regular ramen's.

使用的麵條比普通拉麵還要細

- Large Shio (salt) ramen, here you are. - Thank you very much for waiting.

鹽味拉麵 久等了，請享用

This is Noukou (thick) ramen.

這是濃厚拉麵

This one has a thick broth, and you can really taste the fish.

這種拉麵都用濃湯 你幾乎可以嘗到魚的味道

It also comes with plenty of onions.

還會加很多洋蔥

This last dish is Tsukemen.

最後一道是沾麵

The broth and noodles are separated in two different bowls.

高湯跟麵條會分開裝

Its flavour is most similar to the regular ramen, but it's broth is richer.

高湯的味道跟一般拉麵很像 但是這種比較濃

The noodles are cooled down, and the water squeezed out.

麵條會被冷卻 並擠掉多餘的水

While the noodles are served cold, the broth is hot.

上菜的時候麵條是冷的 高湯卻是熱的

So you have a little break from 3:30pm to 5:00pm?

所以你下午３點半到５點的時候會稍息一下嗎？

I... don't get a break.

我... 不會休息

I constantly cook broth,

因為要煮高湯

and do some other chores, cook soup, and cool it down.

煮的同時 一邊進行其他瑣碎的作業

I don't really take a break, maybe 15 minutes if I can.

通常都沒有休息 如果我可以的話或許１５分鐘吧

At 9:00am, a part timer comes and works until 3:00pm.

早上９點的時候 有個打工的會來，然後工作到下午３點

And from 3:00pm, I start preparing.

然後從下午３點開始我就開始準備

I have been looking for workers. I can't find anyone at all.

我在找員工，可是都找不到人

Right now, My parents help me. I feel awful to ask them to work for me.

現在有我的父母幫我。 可是要他們幫我工作感覺很糟糕。

If you expect other people to work like you do,

會...很認真的去教導他們

It can be too much for them as they're not an owner.

但是對他們來講負擔太大了 之前來打工的就是這樣

To train people as you would train yourself

要求別人跟自己有完全一樣的想法

is really tough...

真的不容易...

Former co-workers at Menya Musashi,

之前在麺屋武蔵一起工作的朋友

They all have their own restaurants.

現在都獨立了 開了自己的餐廳

Everyone works crazy hours.

比較近的...現在在立石開店

It is worse than mine. Like some work from 5:00 AM.

有一些人比我還辛苦 比方說從早上５點就開始工作

It's a tough job.

這是一份很艱難的工作。

Since I work for myself, and I'm not someone's employee,

畢竟自己就是老闆 並不是其他人的僱員

this is my only chance. I won't get another opportunity like this.

如果經營不下去的話 就什麼都沒有了

When I first opened this restaurant with my little brother, I gave it my life.

當初跟弟弟一起開這家餐廳的時候 真的是拚了老命

Make a living... yes I can.

就...勉強維持生計

What's the least favourite thing about owning a ramen restaurant?

當了拉麵店的老闆 有什麼討厭的回憶嗎？

There's nothing I don't like.

沒有

-Good work. - Yes, good work.

- 辛苦了。 - 是的，辛苦了。

One by one, as much as I can,

一碗接著一碗 小心翼翼的

I put my very best in every bowl I make.

每一碗拉麵都用全力去做

With ramen, out of 100 customers, not everyone will like your food.

畢竟拉麵 不是100位客人來了，100位都會覺得好吃

How can I say this...

該怎麼講．．．

As much as I can, with everything I have,

在自己能做到的範圍內

I try to put my very best into each bowl of ramen.

端出最好的東西

Then if someone says it's delicious, that's the best feeling.

如果客人說好吃 就很開心

When you think about being an owner, you think you're the boss of everyone,

當你成為老闆 你會覺得自己是所有人的老闆

and sure, you are, kind of...

當然你是 算是...

But what you may not know, is that the shop owns you.

你不知道的是 這家店才是你的老闆

And instead of one boss, you have all your customers who you need to please.

比起一位老闆 你要服務的是所有的客人

If you think you'll get away from having to do the dirty tasks,

如果你以為當老闆 可以擺脫髒兮兮的工作

you may be sad to realize that you still may find yourself doing all of them.

你可能會很失望 發現你還是要自己去做這些工作

From cleaning dishes, to washing walls, to scrubbing floors.

從洗碗，擦牆壁、擦地板

I asked him, if he had another owner-like employee,

我問他 如果你可以找到像你一樣能幹的員工

would he be able to not work so much.

是不是就不用這麼辛苦了？

I can't believe his answer, which was

我不敢相信他的答案

that he would have the mentee open up a second restaurant!

他說：「會請他去開第二家店 這間讓他顧就好」

-It wasn't busy today so I finished early. - Oh!

今天沒這麼忙 提早打烊

I normally finish at this time (11:30pm), but I didn't.

通常會到１１點半

Kunimoto is the first person in and the last person out.

國本店長是第一個踏進店面的人 也是最後一個走的人

So kids, this is what it's like to own a ramen restaurant.

親愛的觀眾 開一家拉麵店就是這麼辛苦

Thank you!

hey 你還在看?

- Thank you! - Thank you!

如果你是國本店長

Oh hey! You're still watching?

謝謝你 願意讓我拍這麼多天

If you're Kunimoto-san,

請繼續加油

then thank you so much for letting me invade your restaurant for a couple days.

應該也不用我講了

I would say keep up the hard work,

特別感謝在Patreon的你們

but you don't need me telling you that.

協助我拍攝這些小紀錄片

A special thanks to all those on Patreon

對我講意義很大

who supports these little documentaries of mine.

也感謝我老婆幫忙翻譯

It means a lot to me.

And thanks to my wife, who helped translate and worked with me

to chop down 5 hours of footage into these 10 minutes.

Peace!