Bringing Ramen culture to Canada
Ramen Arashi was created by Ken Seki and Yuji Yokomori in 2017 out of a desire to bring authentic Japanese Ramen culture to their home in Canada. The first location was in Banff. It was in a nondescript second floor of a shopping mall on the strip, and during those first couple of years, Ken and Yuji worked tirelessly on their menu in hopes of bringing the very best regional Ramen styles into one menu. It was an immediate success.
A second location in Canmore quickly followed with similar success. Their first franchise opened in Victoria in 2022 with a second franchise opening in Kelowna less than a year later.
Arashi "The wind that flows down from the mountains"
The word Arashi is Japanese for ‘Storm’, but the name was selected for a specific reason. In 2017, when the founders, Ken Seki and Yuji Yokomori decided to introduce their authentic Japanese ramen to Canada, they were both living in Banff, Alberta. Long time residents of the Rockies, they both loved the mountains. With the dream that their ramen would spread around North America, they decided on a word that would reflect both their roots in the majestic Canadian mountains and their dream.
The Japanese character for ‘Arashi’ is composed of two parts, the top meaning mountain and the bottom meaning wind. Only when combined do they mean storm and can be read as ‘Arashi’, as the winds of a storm flow down from the mountains. Ken and Yuji see it as the winds of their dreams are flowing down from the mountains.
The entire team at Ramen Arashi is happy to bring the enjoyment of authentic Japanese Ramen to a wide Canadian audience.