Worshipping at the altar of noodles

Imagine an entire museum dedicated to a type of noodles. If that sounds a bit weird, don’t forget that this is Japan!

Written by Michael Turtle

Michael Turtle is the founder of Time Travel Turtle. A journalist for more than 20 years, he's been travelling the world since 2011.

Michael Turtle is the founder of Time Travel Turtle and has been travelling full time for a decade.

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Shin-Yokohama Raumen 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.

ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum

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.

ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum

In the city of Yokohama – an effective extension of Tokyo but a modern metropolis of its own – 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.

ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum
ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum

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.

ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum

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 museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum

Ramen were being eaten well before 1958 – this was just the year that they 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.

ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum
ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum

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.

ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum
ramen museum, yokohama, japan, shin-yokohama raumen museum

There are some local businessmen who clearly come here regularly to get their lunch, there are families who have come for a daytrip, 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.

26 thoughts on “Worshipping at the altar of noodles”

  1. A ramen museum? This is amazing. I love how they’ve recreated a typical Tokyo street from the 1950s! I became a ramen addict in South Korea and would love to try some of the stuff they have on offer in Japan.

    Reply
    • If I lived and worked near there, I reckon I would go in almost every day for lunch! Even though all ramen noodles are quite similar, there are enough differences in the various types that you don’t easily get sick of them.

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    • Thanks, Jules. From the outside it just looks like any old building so it’s such a shock to get in there and see the whole place decorated like this. There are so many little authentic bits as well – like posters and phone boxes.

      Reply
  2. Neat. I love the idea that is almost a theme park with the painted sky and 1950’s stuff. I will likely forget by the time we go, but this definitely needs to get on our visit list for Japan. I quite like Ramen, but only ever had it in the dry square blocks beloved by college students.

    The idea that Japanese has foreign characters for such things is interesting. Language and culture are so bound, that to remind at ever read that this dish come from elsewhere is kind of neat. Though exactly what it says about them I don’t know.

    Reply
    • The characters for foreign words are used mostly for more modern things. For instance, the characters are used to spell the word ‘hanbaaga’ which means hamburger. ‘Hotto doggo’ is hot dog and ‘pan’ means bread (from the Portuguese ‘pao’). It is a bit strange they still uses these characters for ramen… but at least it’s consistent!

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    • It was so wonderful. It was nothing like I was expecting but was absolutely brilliant. My mouth has been watering ever since I started writing about it – it’s like visiting all over again!! 🙂

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  3. How interesting! Somehow I haven’t tasted ramen noodles yet – whenever I make it to Japan, or a Japanese restaurant. I loved The Ramen Girl by the way, Brittany Murphy was one of my favorite actors. She had this charming way about her that I found totally endearing.

    Now I’m off to googling ramen noodles in KL!

    Reply
    • Oh, Brittany Murphy really annoyed me in the movie. She was such a self-entitled little brat – I just wanted to hit her every time she was rude to the ramen chef!!
      Anyway, let me know how you go with the ramen in KL. I imagine there would be some good shops somewhere there!

      Reply
  4. Wow! I didn’t know that this museum houses a lot of ramen restaurants. Love the ambiance. This place surely beats the ramen street in Tokyo station. I will visit this ramen museum next time I’m in Japan.

    Reply

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