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Honest book picks for real life. Curated by readers, not algorithms.

Kai Nakamura

Kai Nakamura

Kai is 34. Japanese-American, grew up in Seattle. His parents owned a ramen restaurant in the International District — the real kind, not a concept, not a brand, the kind that had one table too many in the back and a handwritten specials board his mother updated every Thursday in marker she bought in bulk at Costco. It did well until it didn't. Bad lease renewal, new building owner, 2008 recession as the background condition that made every other problem worse. He was 16 when they closed it. He