Our History

Breaking Away From Conventional Thinking, Expanding the Possibilities

At one time, the Japanese community in Los Angeles thought it was taboo to own more than one store, believing that such an endeavor could not succeed. Shin-Sen-Gumi Restaurant Group founder and “Kyokucho” (Chief Boss) Mitsuyasu Shigeta broke that taboo when he opened his highly successful 2nd and 3rd stores at the same time, to the surprise of those around him. Additionally, when he decided to open the first Hakata ramen shop in Los Angeles, the employees of Shin-Sen-Gumi were unanimous in their opposition. The conventional thinking at the time was that Tonkotsu (pork bone) soup was something that only people from Kyushu ate, let alone the fact that many people did not eat pork for religious reasons. However, Mr. Shigeta followed his own beliefs and succeeded in turning this way of thinking on its head. Indeed, the greater the resistance the deeper the feeling of joy when one can overcome such thinking. If one can expand the possibilities of dreams and desires a new joy can be found and that, in the end, is what helps people grow.

The Birth Of Our Logo

For the first 15 years of its existence, Shin-Sen-Gumi Restaurant Group operated without an official logo. This changed when Mr. Kenji Ine, a close friend of group founder Mitsuyasu Shigeta and a fellow native of Tokunoshima, took it upon himself to have one made. At the time, Mr. Ine was working at an advertising agency in Tokyo and reached out to the renowned calligrapher Mr. Hiroyuki Yamazaki to design the logo.

Mr. Yamazaki, known for his work on the logos and titles of "Ore No Sora" by Hiroshi Motomiya, as well as the box office hits "The Last Samurai" and "Hero," crafted a design that incorporated the shape of Tokunoshima Island. This was done at Mr. Ine's request, as a tribute to his friend Shigeta, who is considered a representative of the island. Tokunoshima is especially significant as it is the birthplace of Mr. Shigeta. The island’s shape is depicted in red in the upper right portion of the logo, above the Japanese character "Magokoro," which translates to "sincerity."

The overall design was created to embody the Shin-Sen-Gumi Group’s passion, sincerity, and deep connection to its roots on Tokunoshima.

Our historical events in a chronological order