Savor the essence of Hokkaido ramen — 8 popular ramen shops form "Asahikawa Ramen Village"

▲ The famous Asahikawa ramen shop “Baikouken” from Hokkaido has opened a branch in the underground food court of Taipei 101. The photo shows Baikouken’s signature ramen. (Photo / Reporter You... taken)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Located in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, Japan, the city is primarily known for its soy sauce ramen and is ranked alongside Sapporo’s miso ramen and Hakodate’s salt ramen as one of the “Three Great Ramens of Hokkaido.” Due to the extremely high number of ramen shops in Asahikawa City, it is also known as the “Kingdom of Ramen.” To allow visitors to enjoy the finest flavors of Asahikawa ramen, eight popular ramen shops, carefully selected by locals, have been brought together to create “Asahikawa Ramen Village.”

▲ Although small in size, “Asahikawa Ramen Village” in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, brings together the essence of the city’s ramen scene. (Photo / FromAsahikawa Ramen Village official website)

Established in 1996, “Asahikawa Ramen Village” is a compact space that can be explored in about 10 minutes, yet it gathers the best of Asahikawa’s soy sauce ramen. With eight ramen shops, each offering unique styles and signature flavors, it fully satisfies the appetites of ramen enthusiasts. Ichizo Inamura, Vice President of the Hokkaido Tourism Federation, stated that Asahikawa Ramen Village currently attracts at least 500,000 visitors annually, with a minimum of 1,500 people coming to eat ramen here every day.

The ramen village features a long, rectangular building design, with its exterior walls illustrated by students from Tokai University in Hokkaido in a comic-book style, depicting representative sights of Asahikawa such as Asahibashi Bridge, the Daisetsuzan Mountains, and adorable animals from Asahiyama Zoo. Inside, in addition to selling ramen-related products and Hokkaido souvenir goods, there is also a large ramen-themed installation art piece as well as the “Ramen Village Shrine” where visitors can pray for love and good fortune.

Among the popular shops in the village are “Yamatoya” and “Baikouken,” which already have branches in Taipei, as well as “Kato Ramen Workshop,” “Aoba Asahikawa Ramen,” “Ishida Asahikawa Ramen,” “Matsuda Ittetsuan Asahikawa Ramen,” “Mogami Ramen Village,” and “Tenkin Ramen Shop.” Each shop has its own separate entrance, and not all of them serve only “soy sauce ramen” — there are also popular options such as salt-flavored broth or thick pork bone tonkotsu ramen introduced from Fukuoka.

Additionally, due to the limited area of Asahikawa Ramen Village, the total seating capacity of the eight shops is only about 220 seats, so during busy times, customers may need to wait in line outside.

 % Images of the eight popular ramen shops. (Photo / Screenshot fromAsahikawa Ramen Village official website)

Asahikawa Ramen Village

Address: Power Building, 4-chome, 11-jo, Nagayama, Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, Japan

Transportation: Take the JR line to Minami-Nagayama Station and walk for 5 minutes

Admission: Free entry

Price: Approximately 1,000 Japanese yen per person