Ramen, Japan’s signature noodle dish, is one of the country’s most famous foods all around the world! While the dish has its roots in Chinese cuisine, Japan has adapted ramen to its own liking and taste, and today, Japanese ramen is in a class of its own! Every region in Japan has their own variation of this special dish, usually featuring local, specialty ingredients, which makes each “regional ramen” an interesting reflection of that area’s flavor palate and preferences!
Looking for some authentic Japan ramen Tokyo-style? Or perhaps you’re interested in something more exotic, like the options from Shikoku or Kyushu? Let’s look at 5 different kinds of ramen from all around the nation, and where to try each of them in Tokyo!
1. Toyama’s Black Ramen
Toyama City’s Buraku Ramen (literally, “black ramen”) was invented in 1947 in a restaurant called Daiki Nishimachi Honten. Featuring a broth made with thickened soy sauce, this dish was created to provide extra amounts of much-needed salt to hard-working manual laborers. The broth is rich in flavor, and the dish is often topped with menma (seasoned bamboo shoots), negi (chopped Japanese leeks), and delightfully soft, tender, roasted pork slices, or chashu. You can also order an ajitama (soft-boiled, seasoned egg) to experience the creamy, soft-boiled yolk paired with the ramen’s thick, black broth!
Toyama’s Black Ramen is well-known throughout Japan and is widely found in ramen shops in the Hokuriku region, along the coast of the Sea of Japan. You can also try this unique ramen in Tokyo, too, at a restaurant called Menya Iroha. This restaurant offers some of the most famous Japaneese ramen Tokyo has to offer – and in fact, it has had the most sales of any shop for five years straight in the Tokyo Ramen Show, Japan’s largest ramen festival!
2. Nagoya’s Taiwan Ramen 🌶️🌶️
Despite its name, Taiwan Ramen actually originated in Nagoya, in Japan’s Chūbu region, in a Chinese restaurant called Misen. Nagoya is famous throughout the country for its strong, hearty flavors, and one of their most popular staples is dark red miso, which is used for making dishes like miso-stewed udon and oden. Although their Taiwan Ramen does not have any red miso in it, it is still a super spicy, super savory, and red in color! It’s a very hearty ramen dish that has become a well-established mainstay of Nagoya’s city cuisine.
The rich and savory ramen broth is made with chicken bones, and the dish is topped with minced pork, Chinese chives, and lots of chili peppers to give it a unique red color. Served piping hot, this is definitely not a dish for the faint of heart! You can try this unique ramen at Misen Ganso, a Tokyo restaurant that is actually a branch of the main store in Nagoya – so rest assured that the quality won’t be lacking compared to the original!
3. Nagoya’s Taiwan Mazesoba 🌶️
Another popular ramen dish also hails from Nagoya! Inspired by Taiwan Ramen, a restaurant called Menya Hanabi created their own, soup-less version of the dish in 2008. The resulting Taiwan “Mazesoba” (or “hand-mixed noodles dish”) has since become a beloved delicacy, firmly established beside the more traditional kinds of Nagoya cuisine. This unique dish can be found in many noodle restaurants throughout the Chūbu region, and is definitely a must-try if you love savory and punchy flavors!
Taiwan Mazesoba is a dry ramen that features extra-thick wheat noodles topped with special, spicy, minced pork, braised in a soy-based sauce. It also comes with chopped Chinese chives, negi, a fragrant fried fish powder, shredded nori (seaweed), and raw egg yolk! Some places even give you the option to add minced garlic, cubes of grilled pork belly, chashu, and/or ajitama to your bowl.
When eating Taiwan Mazesoba, it’s classic practice to have a small, half-serving of rice when you’re finished with the noodles. The rice serves to sop up the deliciously thick, rich sauce that’s left behind. Condiments such as chili powder (for an extra punch) and vinegar (to balance out the dish’s richness) are also offered when having Taiwan Mazesoba, letting you customize your own experience to your liking! Menya Hanabi also has many outlets across Tokyo, so you can try this delicious dish while you are there!
4. Tokushima Ramen
Tokushima Ramen has a broth made from a rich, hearty, pork-based soup, and this ramen’s unique flavors can be found in shops all around the Shikoku region of Japan. Traditionally, there are 3 different kinds of broth – Brown (made from pork bones seasoned with soy sauce), Yellow (made with chicken and vegetable stocks), and White (made from pork bones and marrow simmered for hours in a tonkotsu-style broth).
The ramen is topped with menma, tender sweet-and-spicy slices of pork belly, negi, and a raw egg yolk. As it is served piping hot, mixing the egg yolk into the soup creates a creamier and thicker soup stock! You can try authentic Tokushima Ramen at Menya Udatsu in Shinjuku, although Tokyo prefers this Japanese ramen with the Yellow broth.
5. Nagasaki Champon
Originating in the early 1900s, Nagasaki Champon was first made in the Shikanoko Chinese restaurant in Nagasaki. It has a thick, savory, white broth made from pork and chicken bones and uses thick wheat noodles. Lots of stewed vegetables are usually added as toppings, including cabbage, carrots, bamboo shoots, and wood-ear mushrooms. The dish often has slices of pork in it, too, plus slices of pink fishcake, and seafood (like shrimp, squid, and even scallops!). While its ingredients differ slightly from restaurant to restaurant, its distinctive flavor will keep you coming back for more!
Nagasaki Champon is a type of Japanese ramen Tokyo and other cities truly love! There are chain restaurants all throughout the Kansai and Kyushu regions in Japan’s southwest, but in Tokyo, specifically, you can try this dish out in Shibuya and Takadanobaba, at the famous Nagasaki Hanten. Not only are the noodles delivered directly to the store from Nagasaki each week, but the owner of the restaurant is from Nagasaki himself, and sometimes he personally makes the champon for his patrons!
If you’re passionate about ramen, don’t miss the Ramen Lover’s Guide to Japan by Best Experience Japan. This comprehensive guide explores regional specialties like Hokkaido’s miso ramen and Kyushu’s tonkotsu, offering insights into the unique flavors and cultural significance of each bowl.
Japan’s regional areas feature many exclusive dishes and cuisines that are unique to each area, showcasing an assortment of regional flavors, ingredients, and characteristics. As the capital of Japan, it should come as no surprise that Tokyo boasts of all the flavors the nation has to offer! Why not try some unique Japanese ramen in Tokyo on your next visit to the Land of the Rising Sun?