Ramen chain Nagi Spirits Japan, led by Satoshi Ikuta, argues that foreign workers are not interchangeable and actively hires them, even into leadership roles, with some earning up to 8 million yen annually. As of June 2025, the company employs 157 people, including 97 foreign staff, mainly from Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia. Foreign hires are recruited through staffing agencies and must hold a Specified Skilled Worker or Engineer/Humanities/International Services visa; their Japanese is business-ready, and many have little local work experience, so they are trained from scratch to absorb Nagi’s values. The company spends about 66 million yen per year on education, providing the same training as Japanese staff. Permanent residents and foreign spouses who speak Japanese well are also eligible. The article draws on Ikuta’s book describing the system for rapid education, retention and scalable growth.