Noodle-Loving Manga Character and Nan’yō, Yamagata Team Up to Promote Ramen

Yamagata: Japan’s Leading Ramen Prefecture by Spending

While many local regions in Japan boast their own distinctive variety of ramen, Japan’s celebrated noodle dish, it is Yamagata Prefecture that lays claim to the title of “Top Ramen Prefecture.”

According to the Survey on Household Income and Spending, whose results are released every February by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the prefectural capital of Yamagata placed first for household spending at restaurants serving ramen noodles for eight years in a row up to 2020. It was overtaken by the city of Niigata in 2021, but the following year it regained the top position, with household spending on ramen surging to ¥13,196. That same year the city of Niigata ranked second and the city of Fukushima came in third.

The “Nippon Local Ramen General Election” was held for the first time in October 2023 by a group of organizations that includes the Nippon Ramen Association. Sakata Ramen, an entry by the Tōhoku block that features seafood-flavored soup, homemade noodles, and wonton with thin dough wrapping, took the grand prize based on attendee votes and online mentions.

Hosting a total of 60 shops, Yamagata Prefecture has the most ramen restaurants in the country per 100,000 population. In addition to Sakata ramen, other local ramen varieties unique to the region include chilled ramen, torimotsu (chicken giblets) ramen, Yonezawa ramen, and spicy miso ramen.

Comments made by locals reveal what it is about ramen that people in Yamagata Prefecture love so much.

“Besides the fact that we love hot foods due to the weather being so cold,” says one person, “there has long been a tradition in Yamagata Prefecture of people making soba noodles by hand at home. So it’s only natural that people would want ramen noodles when dining out.”

“After the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake,” explains another, “many people from Yokohama resettled in this area and they brought ramen with them.”

There are many soba restaurants in Yamagata that serve ramen, and it is customary for families and people working in offices to order the dish for delivery. These traditions are what propel the large amount of ramen consumed in the prefecture.

The Only “Department of Ramen” in the Country

The city of Nan’yō in Yamagata Prefecture may very well be the only municipality to have a “Department of Ramen.”

The city of Nan’yō is located in the southeastern portion of the prefecture and has a population of approximately 30,000. It is known for its famous Akayu Onsen hot spring, which has been in operation since the late Heian period (794–1185), and as the setting of the well-known folk tale Tsuru no ongaeshi (The Grateful Crane).

Akayu Onsen has been in operation for more than 930 years. One story tells of samurai wounded in battle bathing here and discovering that their wounds were healed. Another story says that the name of the hot spring, which translates to “red water,” got its name as a result of wounded samurai blood coloring the water. (Courtesy Nan’yō Municipal Government)

The creation of the Department of Ramen was triggered by a 2014 questionnaire survey of junior high and high school students in the city in which many of the students answered “ramen” to the question “What is it about Nan’yō that you would most like people outside the city and prefecture to know about?” In 2015 “city planning with ramen as its focus” was proposed as a strategy for future urban growth. And in July 2016 a public and private partnership program known as the “R & R” (Ramen & Revolution) Project was launched.

The Project first visited each of the restaurants in the city serving ramen and created a database and map based on the data that was gathered. In addition to a web version, the information was also distributed in pamphlet form by the Future Strategy Department of the municipal government.

The Department of Ramen is not an official department of the municipal government, as it has not been approved by the city council. Instead, it is an umbrella term for a variety of projects carried out by a group of city employee volunteers and individuals recruited from the general public who share office space within the city’s Future Strategy Department, from which they plan and carry out PR activities. In fact, the term “Department of Ramen” is a registered trademark of the city.

Even in Yamagata Prefecture, which leads the nation in terms of ramen popularity, the city of Nan’yō has three times the prefecture’s average number of ramen restaurants per capita. But as Nan’yō is not known outside the prefecture for this culinary background, the city identified “community development utilizing ramen” as a way to increase tourism.

Manga Character Ms. Koizumi is a Fan

The Department of Ramen is involved in a collaboration with the manga Rāmen daisuki Koizumi-san (Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles), by Narumi Naru. A popular title, the series has sold over 3 million copies in print and has been made into anime and live-action versions for television, too.

Koizumi, a cool, taciturn, and mysterious high school student who transferred from another school, turns out to be a genuine ramen connoisseur who spends her days in search of the next tasty bowl of noodles. Uninterested in anything but ramen, she doggedly visits every single noodle shop in the country.

Starting in 2019, Nan’yō’s Department of Ramen has worked with Narumi to hold annual “Ramen Card Rallies,” in which diners visiting 40 restaurants in the city and the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum in Kanagawa Prefecture can collect cards designed by the manga artist. (The fiscal 2023 rally ran through the end of January 2024.) Additional prizes are available for ramen fans collecting enough of the cards.

A flyer for the 2023 Nan’yō Ramen Card Rally. (Courtesy Nan’yō Municipal Government)

Tours for Inbound Travelers

A new train with wrap advertising that features the manga character was made possible by a subsidy provided by the Japan Tourism Agency to boost inbound tourism and consumption. The train makes three round-trip runs per day between Akayu Station and Arato Station, and offers special stickers to riders who are also participating in the Ramen Card Rally.

The Yamagata Railway Flower Nagai Line is a local line running between Akayu Station in the city of Nan’yō and the town of Shirataka. The “flower” in the name of the line comes from the many blossoms visible along the route. (Courtesy of Nan’yō Municipal Government)

Efforts are also underway to conduct tours for inbound tourists through collaboration with travel agencies. Twice during December 2023, test tours were conducted with the participation of approximately 30 foreign nationals resident in Japan. Participants included people from Taiwan, China, South Korea, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and Ecuador. Based on the results of those test tours, approximately 10 actual four-hour tours—including visits to local shrines, dining on delivered ramen, and visiting a local sake brewery—were planned between January 10 and February 28.

By Shinkansen, the trip from Tokyo Station to Akayu Station takes two and a half hours. Thus, there is good access from the capital and other nearby major population centers.

“I hope that people will experience Yamagata’s unique omotenashi hospitality and culture of ramen delivery service,’” says Zenji Hiroaki of the Nan’yō Department of Ramen. “It’s easy to get here with JR’s ‘free pass’ overseas tourist ticket for unlimited rides, taking the bullet train line to Akayu Station, and then transferring to the local train.”

According to the city of Nan’yō, the economic ripple effect of the “Ramen Card Rally” held in 2022 totaled some ¥138 million, including spending on accommodations and transportation by visitors from outside Yamagata Prefecture.

“When we include other inbound visitors in the calculation,” explains Zenji, “the economic impact is magnified even further. I’d like to prove that ramen by itself can be utilized to spur regional revitalization.”

Nan’yō Mayor Shiraiwa Takao holding a PR panel for local ramen that features the manga character Ms. Koizumi. (Courtesy Nan’yō Municipal Government)

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Ms. Koizumi, wearing the uniform of Yamagata Railway Co. employees, appears on the wrap advertisement, greeting train passengers with a bowl of ramen in hand. Photo courtesy of Nan’yō Municipal Government.)