COME BACK ANYTIME presents a window into the lives of self-taught Japanese ramen master Masamoto Ueda and his wife Kazuko, who have run their tiny Tokyo ramen shop, Bizentei for more than 40 years. Ueda serves his legendary ramen to scores of devoted customers who have joined him over the decades in making the restaurant an intimate place of community. For Ueda, it’s more than just a livelihood, but his life. And his die-hard regulars are more than just customers, but true friends.
On the weekends, he leads eclectic groups of regulars on seasonal pilgrimages across the Japanese countryside, where they forage, harvest, and share local produce, such as pears, bamboo shoots, rice, and wild mountain yams. Periodic visits with the Uedas at home gradually reveal their personal history and the history of their beloved restaurant.

In the lively nighttime hours, we revel with the regulars, while also hearing their intimate testimonials as they each sit alone in the restaurant during the quiet hours. One describes how Ueda provided comfort and solace when she frequented Bizentei during a time of great personal grief and loss. A married couple tell of how they met at the restaurant thanks to Ueda, who played subtle matchmaker, and how their children know him only as Grandpa.

As the year progresses, season by season, we eventually hear how the Uedas and their customers feel about the inevitability that the master will retire someday and, because he desires no heir or apprentice, Bizentei and all that it represents will exist no more. Acknowledging the reality that nothing lasts forever, they resolve to make the best of what time remains and to truly appreciate this special place, this uniquely delicious, soul-nourishing soup, and this special community of friends, for as long as they can.

Directors Statement

Although I love ramen, I didn’t start out thinking, “I want to make a documentary about ramen” or to profile a famous ramen master. The film found me gradually. One day, a Japanese friend asked if I wanted to go camping up in Niigata Prefecture where the master of his favorite ramen shop and some of the regulars were planning to dig wild mountain yams. “A ramen master who hangs out with his customers on the weekends?” That sounded very intriguing. So, we went to meet the master at his restaurant, Bizentei in central Tokyo. And as we made plans for our upcoming adventure, I experienced his delicious ramen for the first time. Bizentei’s signature bowl is soy-based with a light and clear pork bone soup, curly noodles, and topped with a few soy-marinated bamboo shoots, a bit of green komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) and a few slices of a one-of-a-kind, slow-cooked, soy-marinated chashu pork. It’s a classic, old-fashioned bowl of “Tokyo-style” ramen. And yet, it was not like any I had tasted before.

The mountain yam foraging was hard work but a wonderful experience. The master and his friends were unassuming and welcoming, even though my Japanese was terrible. After that, I started going to Bizentei to have ramen a few times a month and I was touched by how the master, his wife Kazuko, and their diverse community of regulars made me feel at home there. And I was enthralled by the atmosphere, particularly at night, when it is more like a lively izakaya than a ramen shop with the gregarious after work drinking crowd in full swing. It felt a bit like stepping back in time to the Shōwa Era that I recognized from some of my favorite classic Japanese films by Ozu, Kurosawa, Naruse, and of course, Itami’s Tampopo.

Over the years, I was invited to join the master and his regulars on other weekend adventures – flounder fishing off the coast of Chiba, making pizza in his homemade outdoor oven at his small country garden plot. I had been feeling the itch to make a film in Japan for quite some time, and one day it hit me that it should be about this experience – this man, these adventures, this restaurant, and this unique community of regulars that gather there. I hope viewers might enjoy watching the film as much as I did making it. And I hope that through the film, viewers might experience some of what I experienced. Except for the taste. That ramen... For that, you’ll have to visit Bizentei. If you find yourself in Tokyo, seek it out. The Uedas are eager to welcome you.

Festivals (selection)

- Hot Docs, Special Presentations, Canada (2021)
- Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia (2021)
-Bergen IFF, Norway (2021)
- "Best Feature Documentary", Devour! The Food Film Fest, Canada (2021)
- Newport Beach FF, USA (2021)
- Denver FF, USA (2021)
- Hawaii IFF, USA (2021)
- DOC NYC, International Competition, USA (2021)
- FIPADOC, Taste of Doc competition, France (2022)
- HIFF Hana Hou Film Festival, USA (2022)
- "Best Documentary", Sonoma IFF, USA (2022)