Just outside of Tokyo in the city of Yokohama, two museums celebrate the past and present of Japanese ramen, and from our viewpoint, the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum is more of a must-visit. For over 30 years, its lower level has housed a rotating collection of pop-up restaurants from around the country, enabling visitors to sample authentic regional ramen preparations and flavors in either full-sized or miniature portions. The museum also offers exhibitions showing off ramen magazines – yes, they’re a real thing – and a timeline of historical ramen trends, a well-stocked gift shop, a lab where you can build and fully customize your own bowl of freeze-dried ramen, and with reservations, ramen-making classes.
Although Nissin’s Cupnoodles Museum is in the same city, easy enough to visit in the same day, and loaded with its own attractions, we preferred the overall experience here as fans of fresh rather than reconstituted ramen. That said, if you’re fascinated by noodles generally or ramen specifically, they’re both worth visiting.
