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

From

Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture

Soup

mild pork-bone and chicken-bone stock

Noodles

medium, straight

Also

fried garlic and mayu oil

Checked

18 October 2026, JNTO

• JNTO says Kumamoto ramen has a mild soup blending pork-bone and chicken stock.
• Medium-sized straight noodles go down smoothly.
• Kumamoto's tourism federation says fried garlic and mayu oil in the bowl are its trademark, unlike Hakata or Kurume.
• JNTO says Kumamoto ramen took shape in the 1950s-60s when three local friends opened Shoyoken (1953), Komurasaki (1954) and Ajisen (1968).

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 993 yen in Kumamoto City, 1 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

7,303 yen a year per household in Kumamoto City (2023–2025 average; 42 of 52 cities; Japan 8,752 yen)

Ramen shops

267 in Kumamoto in 2016, 15.1 per 100,000 people (22 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

Kumamoto Airport

Into the city

30 min into Kumamoto (quickest way in our airport guide)

• Kumamoto Airport: getting into KumamotoTrains, buses, fares and lockers