Authentic Regional Ramen in Tokyo: The 2025 Guide

Food and Drink Travel Culture Jun 4, 2025

Originally a continental import, today ramen is all Japanese. From north to south, the nation boasts countless takes on the noodle dish—but you don’t need to travel the entire country to sample them all. In this series we look at some of the classic regional ramen types that can be eaten in Tokyo. Take a ramen tour without ever leaving the capital!

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Ramen’s Real Regional Flair

Unraveling the history of Japan’s various regional takes on the classic dish of ramen serves up a taste of local history. For example, people living in frigid Hokkaidō mixed rich miso and lard into their ramen to warm up. People in Kyūshū developed tonkotsu pork bone broth ramen with influence from a local abundance of pig farms. No matter where you get it, the real joy of regional ramen is the tastes of the diverse ingredients and clever adaptations that helped birth local variations.

There are so many ramen styles across Japan that there simply is no room to list them all, but below are some major styles. Until recently, aficionados had to travel to each region to get a taste of their local ramen, but now it’s as simple as making your way around Tokyo. In 2025, Japan’s capital has a wide selection of authentic regional shops. Here, we offer up a few of those many shops carefully selected and approved by true locals. Click the links for details.

Ramen from Hokkaidō/Tōhoku

Sapporo miso ramen, Asahikawa ramen (Hokkaidō)
Read more: Ōshima: The Flavor of Sapporo’s Famed Miso Ramen in Edogawa
Niboshi ramen (Aomori)
Read more: Nagao Chūkasoba: A New Take on Aomori’s Tsugaru “Niboshi” Ramen in Kanda
Karamiso ramen (Akita)
Kitakata ramen, Shirakawa ramen (Fukushima)
Read more: Mensōan Sunada: Handmade Noodles and Rich Chicken Broth from Shirakawa, Fukushima

Sapporo-style miso ramen: Ōshima (Funabori, Edogawa); Aomori-style niboshi ramen: Nagao Chūkasoba (Kanda Ogawamachi, Chiyoda); Fukushima-style Shirakawa ramen: Mensōan Sunada (Sugamo, Toshima) (© Yamakawa Daisuke)

Ramen from Kantō/Chūbu

Nagaoka shōga-jōyu ramen, Tsubamesanjō ramen (Niigata)
Read more: Aoshima Shokudō: “Shōga-jōyu” Ramen from Nagaoka, Niigata, in Akihabara
Black ramen (Toyama)
Sano ramen (Tochigi)
Katsuura tantanmen, Takeokashiki ramen (Chiba)
Iekei ramen (Yokohama)
Read more: Kan2ya: A Direct Descendant of Yokohama’s Original “Iekei” Ramen in Kamata
Taiwan ramen (Nagoya)
Read more: Kaku Masayoshi Misen: Nagoya’s Addictively Fiery Taiwan Ramen in Kanda and Shinbashi

Niigata-style shōga-jōyu ramen: Aoshima Shokudō (Kanda Sakumachō, Chiyoda); Yokohama-style iekei ramen: Kan2ya (Nishi Kamata, Ōta); Nagoya-style Taiwan ramen: Kaku Masayoshi Misen (Uchi-Kanda, Chiyoda, and Shinbashi, Minato) (© Yamakawa Daisuke)

Ramen from Kansai/Chūgoku

Takaida ramen (Osaka)
Tenri ramen (Nara)
Kyoto ramen (Kyoto)
Read more: Honke Daiichi Asahi: Decades of Kyoto’s Shōyu Ramen History in Shinjuku and Jinbōchō
Wakayama ramen (Wakayama)
Shirunashi tantanmen, Onomichi ramen (Hiroshima)
Read more: King-ken: Hiroshima’s Tongue-Tingling No-Soup Noodles in Kanda

Kyoto-style shōyu ramen: Honke Daiichi Asahi (Shinjuku, Shinjuku and Kanda Jinbōchō, Chiyoda); Hiroshima-style shirunashi tantanmen: King-ken (Kajichō, Chiyoda) (© Yamakawa Daisuke)

Ramen from Shikoku/Kyūshū/Okinawa

Tokushima ramen (Tokushima)
Read more: Haruma: A Tokyo Rarity, Tokushima Ramen in Shinjuku
Hakata ramen, Kurume ramen (Fukuoka)
Read more: Tanaka Shōten: Authentic Hakata Flavor and Aroma in Adachi
Kumamoto ramen (Kumamoto)
Miyazaki karamen (Miyazaki)
Kagoshima ramen (Kagoshima)
Okinawa soba (Okinawa)

Tokushima-style ramen: Haruma (Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku); Hakata-style ramen: Tanaka Shōten (Hitotsuya, Adachi) (© Yamakawa Daisuke)

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: A careful selection of regional ramen available in Tokyo. © Yamakawa Daisuke.)

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