Asahikawa ramen: what it is, where it is from and what a bowl costs

From

Asahikawa, Hokkaido

Soup

soy sauce

Also

aromatic oil layer (e.g. browned lard) keeps the soup hot

Checked

18 October 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

• MAFF identifies soy sauce ramen as Asahikawa's local style.
• Because Asahikawa is very cold, bowls are covered with a layer of aromatic oil such as browned lard so the soup stays hot to the end.
• JNTO's Local Foods list includes Asahikawa ramen under Hokkaido.

The government's retail price survey records the price of a bowl of chuka soba (ramen) at ordinary shops every month in 81 cities. In August 2026 it was 707 yen in Asahikawa, 57 of 81 from the highest. Tokyo's 23 wards were 620 yen, 73 of 81, so ramen in Tokyo is not more expensive than in most cities. This is an average of the shops in the survey, not the price at a famous shop.

Spending on eating out at ramen shops

7,627 yen a year per household in Sapporo (2023–2025 average; 37 of 52 cities; Japan 8,752 yen)

Ramen shops

1,035 in Hokkaido in 2016, 19.3 per 100,000 people (12 of 47; Japan 14.3)

Spending is from the household survey of two-or-more-person households in 52 large cities, so it is the city's number, not the prefecture's. Ramen shops are the 2016 Economic Census count of businesses classified as ramen shops; some ramen shops are counted with Chinese restaurants, so the real number is higher. Per-person numbers divide by the 2016 population (our calculation).

Airport

Asahikawa Airport

Into the city

35 min into Asahikawa (quickest way in our airport guide)

• Asahikawa Airport: getting into AsahikawaTrains, buses, fares and lockers