Land of 80000 Ramen Shops, 9 of them at Shinyokohama Ramen Museum

Governments and Regional Groups these days don't limit themselves to publishing long dry studies.

Available in English and only online, Highlighting Japan is a valuable effort to open world's eyes on the many facets of Japanese food, culture and business.

One of the features in the March Issue is on Ramen noodles which I am sure are experiencing a renaissance in consumed and thrifty times.

The story takes us to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum in Yokohama.

Visiting the museum site I learned that there are a number of styles of Ramen dishes with regional appeal amongst them Sio, Shoyu, Tonkotsu, Miso.

The museum's homepage has a few historical facts for us:

"Ramen's popularity quickly spread from Yokohama, Hakodate and Japan's other port cities to every corner of Japan during the Taisho and Showa eras (most of the 20th century).
At first, ramen restaurants enthusiastically reproduced the recipes from the big port cities. Eventually however, they learned to refine their ramen recipes to their local tastes and identities. Today, every locality in Japan boasts its own unique style of ramen."

They can be sampled in 9 restaurants hosted in the museum for example the dish below, Hokkaido style at Eki (from museum site).

To serve a bit of government statistics, Highlighting Japan reports that no less than 80,000 Ramen Shops can be found across Japan.

Perfect for budget travelers in search of a quick comforting dish to grab while exploring the country.

Noodling around for Tokyo Thursdays # 131

Previously: Mad, Bad and Dangerous, Japanese Femmes Fatales, March 31-April 18, New York