When Hiroaki Mitsui first came to DC to play semi-professional basketball, he couldn’t find the Japanese comfort food that he craved. Seeing this culinary void, he decided that he would take it upon himself to bring his hometown favorites like okonomiyaki and curry rice to the DMV. Hiro began Ramen by UZU as a small pop-up February 2016 inside of Honeycomb Grocer, which was located inside of Union Market. He has since gone on to be named the DMV’s best cheap Japanese restaurant by Washingtonian Magazine. Takashi Nakajima joined Ramen by UZU in fall of 2017, but he is no stranger to ramen. Takashi and Hiro met at Toki Underground, where they both worked for many years. Takashi is also a local artist and is the creative director for Ramen by UZU.