When 2025 became 2026, Yasumasa Ito decided 34 years was long enough and it was time to shut down Tampopo, the venerable Japanese noodle and donburi bowl bodega in the Lesley Building in Porter Square. Cambridge Day posted an appreciation piece highlighting our favorite dishes, and lauding Ito for maintaining high quality over the years.
That story led to this story: around Memorial Day, the Day received an email from Kotaro Moria, who lives in Kanazawa — also known as “Little Kyoto” — in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture. Moria told us he appreciated our story, and it was a reason why he was coming to Boston to help Ito through the last 30 days of Tampopo’s existence.
Moria studied at Fisher College 16 years ago and worked for Ito while he was here. He now runs an IT and web design firm in Japan.
“I knew Tampopo was closing,” Morita said. “Another staff member asked me to make a website so customers could send messages to Ito-san. While I was working on it, I saw a recent photo of him. He looked thinner than I remembered, and I thought that this was hard on him, and I felt like I should go help. A few days later he took me up on it.”
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