Taro Arai of Mikuni Restaurants Rocks

BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE

Taro Arai Rocks on the Cover of Megamorphosis Magazine

Jeremy Sykes

TARO ARAI, CHIEF

DREAMING OFFICER

OF MIKUNI IS AN

INSPIRING EXAMPLE

OF BELIEVING IN

THE IMPOSSIBLE

AND REMEMBERING

WHAT'S IMPORTANT

TO SUCCEED.

THE CRAZY KID It all started in Japan. Taro was quite the character growing up, standing out literally everywhere he went. He explains, “My name Taro means first son; Arai means wild. So, wild, first son. I didn’t name myself, [but] I was kind of crazy. I was the only one that had a reverse mohawk—all different hairstyles—[sometimes] I shaved only half. I did everything I shouldn’t do in Japan, and people didn’t like it, especially teachers. They want to teach formality—you have to be a certain way. I just couldn’t do it.”

HARD WORK PAYS OFF It’s not only about believing, however. To back up Taro’s belief that there had to be something “more” in life than his negative experiences, he knew how to work hard. He says, “I started doing the newspaper route since [I was] 11 and raised enough money to pay for the whole family to come here. Then as soon as we got here, actually, we had a Japanese speaking church that needed a Japanese speaking pastor. We got a green card right away; that was a miracle too.” Had he not put the effort in, after the dream of going to America fell into his lap, he and his family may not be in the sweet spot they’re in today.