Season 3, Episode 5 (Special Uncut): Kouraku and the Taste of Home — Special Japanese Interview with Mamoru Tokuda-san (シーズン3・第5話 特別編: 後楽、故郷の味)
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This is the special, uncut companion episode to our main June 2026 feature on Kouraku, officially certified by the City of Los Angeles as America's oldest operating ramen shop. While our main episode features English translations, we wanted to share our entire raw, heartwarming conversation exactly as it happened on Second Street in Little Tokyo.
Listen in as host Michelle Malizaki sits down with Kouraku's owner, Mamoru Tokuda-san, speaking entirely in Japanese. Mamoru-san shares his personal journey from volunteering during the uncertainty of the 2020 pandemic to stepping up…
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