淺草來々軒 (Rairaiken at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum)

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淺草來々軒

Take the time machine at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum back to the early 1900s. They’ve recreated Japan’s first ramen at Rairaiken.

Rairaiken was the first ramen shop in Japan. Located in the Tokyo neighborhood of Asakusa, this shop was founded in 1910 and lasted until 1976. Of course, many shops stemmed from the original Asakusa Rairaiken, but as the years went on, the taste changed.

The shop was founded by Kuniichi Ozaki (尾崎貫一). When he died in 1922, the shop was taken over by his wife Arata Ozaki (尾崎新一) and eventually his son Ichiro Ozaki (尾崎一郎). Pictured above you can see Kunio Takahashi, the grandson of the founder, seated and Yusaku, the great-great-grandson, standing on the right. Kunio Takahashi is credited as the only living relative to have tasted the original ramen at Rairaiken.

Using research by the Ramen Museum, consulting from Shinasobaya (支那そばや), and some help from the descendants, they recreated this ramen as best they could. Ingredients are as close as possible. Even the flour used for the noodles is a genetic descendant of the flour used in 1910.

Fumika Sano (佐野史華), daughter of the late Minoru Sano, and her mom Shiori were there for the opening.

The ramen is your standard shoyu fare. Of course, with anything this old, there could possibly be some controversy. Were they really the first ramen shop? What about all the Chinese restaurants around at the time? Wasn’t Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628–1701) technically the first person to eat ramen? You could debate this on a scholarly level (though I assure you the museum did their due diligence here). You could also scoff at the idea of recreating something when the only person who remembers eating it said himself that he can’t remember the exact nuances of flavors.

Or you can just be a sport and say that this is awesome. The use of soy sauce and menma are the defining ingredients that set this dish apart from other Chinese soup noodles. Of course, being 1910, you won’t find any delicate sous-vide chashu. The chashu at Rairaiken was roasted. The menma is also made using the technique of the time. Dried menma from Taiwain is reconstituted for the bowl here.

Noodles were made using a green bamboo pole by hand. This technique lives on in some restaurants around Japan.

Shumai dumplings are a famous specialty of Yokohama, but the recreated version from Rairaiken is over double the size.

You’ll find plenty of info about Rairaiken at the Ramen Museum.

You can even get a mini bowl if you want to slurp at other shops. Enjoy some history and then move on to the present.

Thank you for inviting me to the press opening. I felt honored.

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