The Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

I know how good it is.

How much the first taste on my lips make me tingle, how my body warms with a glow as it goes down my throat, how the smell fills my nostrils so my stresses evaporate, how the sounds of the slurping feel like a Japanese angel choir is surrounding me.

OK… that last one might be a bit of an exaggeration but you get the point – I love ramen.

But even for someone who loves hot bowls of ramen as much as anyone, I find it a bit odd that Japan would have an entire museum dedicated to the noodles.

Still, the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum is one of the most interesting things to do in Yokohama.

Yokohama is a modern metropolis of its own, although it effectively acts as an extension of Tokyo. And it’s here that the museum opens its doors each day for the hungry and the curious.

To step inside is to be transported back to Tokyo in 1958. This was the year instant noodles were invented and a culinary transformation began in Japan.

The main part of the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum has been designed to recreate a Tokyo street in the 1950s.

An evening sky is painted on the ceiling and in the main square, there are facades of shops and restaurants on every side.

The barber, the beauty salon and the cinema – they’re all just decorative. But the restaurants – they are all real and each is doing its own noodle specialty.

Vending machines outside each shop let you choose and pay for your bowl of ramen.

You then take the ticket inside, sit down, and wait for the steaming bowl of brothy noodley goodness to arrive.

The procedure for payment may have changed a bit since 1958 – even in an ‘authentic’ recreation the Japanese can’t forego their technological gimmicks – but the taste of the food is genuine.

Ramen was already being eaten well before 1958 – this was just the year that these became more accessible for daily consumption.

The noodles originally came from China and it’s not quite clear exactly when or how they made their way to Japan or why they became known as ‘ramen’.

But the Japanese still spell the word using special characters reserved only for foreign languages, reminding everyone constantly that it is not originally a local dish.

What separates Ramen from the traditional Japanese varieties is the way the noodles are made – with wheat, flour, salt, water and a special alkaline mineral water called ‘kansui’.

There are then four types of broth commonly used: A salty clear one which is the most common, a creamy one which comes from boiling pork bones and fat for a long time, a brownish one with lots of soy sauce, and one based on miso soup.

So much effort goes into the preparation of ramen and getting it just right. (If you don’t believe me, just ask Brittany Murphy. Oh, except she’s dead. Never mind.)

And a lot of effort has also gone into making this museum an experience which is about much more than just the food.

Above the main square are little alleyways with some hidden restaurants and authentic old phone boxes, television sets and posters.

There are some local businessmen who clearly come here regularly to get their lunch, there are families who have come for a day trip, and there’s just a smattering of foreign tourists like myself.

If my stomach could have handled it, I would have stayed all day and eaten as many types of ramen as possible. But I didn’t. I can’t wait to go back, though.

Visiting the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

Although there are lots of things to do in Yokohama, I think the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum is one of the most interesting.

It may be called a ‘museum’ but the main part feels a bit more like a food court. Although there are lots of interesting details in the way the 1950s Tokyo streetscape has been designed, the focus is on the restaurants.

There’s an entrance fee to get into the museum (even if all you want to do is to get some lunch), and then you can buy as much or as little food as you want (there’s no requirement to eat anything).

There are eight main restaurants in the museum at the moment and they each serve a different type of ramen, showcasing different styles or regional specialties.

• Ryu Shanghai Honten: This ramen has red spicy miso in the centre of the bowl that gradually melts into the soup, giving it some heat.
• Rishiri Ramen Miraku: From the Rishiri island of Hokkaido, it has a soy-based sauce and is made with large amounts of local kelp.
• Asakusa Rairaiken: This is a special ramen that has been made just for the museum and is a replica of a popular shop that was founded in 1910. Only 100 servings are offered each day.
• Ryukyu Shinmen Tondou: A salt-flavoured ramen that comes from Okinawa and is made with ingredients from the islands.
• Komurasaki: Serving a ramen from Kumamoto on Kyushu island that has a complex tonkotsu sauce.
• Rokkakuya 1994+: This is a reproduction of one of the three major ramen restaurant chains that made the ‘lekei’ style that originated here in Yokohama.
• ISSOU: You’ll get a really rich soup with a tonkotsu (pork bone broth) style that is famous in the Hakata district of Fukuoka. With a foamy layer of fat on the top, it’s been nicknamed “the Tonkotsu Cappuccino”.
• Miso Ramen Shop Hakata Bunpuku: Another style from the Hakata district of Fukuoka. Although tonokotsu ramen is normally what you find there, this miso ramen is very popular and can be eaten with thick or thin noodles.

Every so often, some of the restaurants change, so the museum is popular with locals who want to come and try different types of ramen.

While I think it’s easy enough to visit on your own, you will get a lot more out of the experience if you go with a local. To do that, there is this fun guided tour to the museum that also includes the Cup Noodles Museum.

Or there are some other decent tour options to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum here:

A few other bits of useful visitor information

• Adult visitors are expected to order at least one bowl of ramen when they visit a ramen restaurant.
• There are vegetarian selections on the menu but not halal.
• There is a waiting line when the shops are crowded and seat reservations are not accepted.
• Food and drinks are not allowed in the museum and shops.
• No pets are allowed except for guide pets.
• There is an elevator at the site if you’re unable to use the stairs.

If you want to get even more out of your visit, there are ramen-making classes available for an additional fee and require a reservation.

For more information, see the official website of Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum.

Because the focus here is trying some of the different types of ramen that you might not be able to find elsewhere, it makes sense to time your visit around lunch. However, that’s when it gets the busiest, so you may want to consider having a late or early lunch.

And, if you’re really interested in noodles, the other attraction to see in Yokohama is the Cup Noodles Museum where you can make your own packet of noodles.