This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined by San Francisco's Chef Richie Nakano.

In 2010, Nakano opened Hapa Ramen as a pop-up food stand at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. A few years later, after launching a successful Kickstarter campaign, he opened his first brick-and-mortar ramen noodle shop and earned a 2013 StarChefs Rising Star Community Chef Award. His involvement with Hapa ended, but Nakano continues to experiment with new recipes and host pop-ups, as well as writing for First We Feast as well as Rising Stars Magazine.