A question I often get asked abroad.
When people think of famous Japanese food, sushi is usually the first thing that comes to mind.
But right next to sushi, you’ll often find another global favourite: ramen.
In London, the ramen boom has been going strong for years. New shops pop up all the time, and weekend queues outside ramen restaurants are now a common sight. (I’ll be sharing a full “London Ramen Guide” soon!)
Because of this, I get asked one particular question all the time:
“Is Ramen Japanese?”
And honestly, even as a Japanese person, I sometimes hesitate.
China has lamian, but it doesn’t feel quite the same as the ramen I grew up eating in Japan.
So this time, I decided to dig a little deeper—using resources from the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum—to figure out what ramen really is.
The conclusion: Ramen is Chinese-born, Japanese-raised.
In short, ramen began as a Chinese noodle dish, and then evolved dramatically after arriving in Japan.
Because of this blended origin, it’s not easy to classify ramen as “purely Japanese” or “purely Chinese.”
It’s an immigrant dish that took root and grew into something uniquely Japanese.
The earliest form of ramen is believed to be Nankin soba, a dish introduced by Chinese cooks who came to Japan between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It spread from port cities like Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki, where Chinatowns were first established.
Nankin soba was simple: wheat noodles in a soy-based broth, topped with sliced pork and spring onions.
From there, Japanese chefs started adapting it—adding pork bone broth, miso, fish stock, and other flavours—slowly shaping the ramen we know today.
Ramen truly exploded in popularity after World War II, thanks to the rise of street food stalls.
At night, yatai (mobile food carts) would appear throughout the cities, serving hot, cheap, fast bowls of ramen to crowds of hungry workers.
At the time, Japan was facing severe food shortages.
But wheat flour was relatively easy to obtain because of U.S. food aid.
Ramen was filling, affordable, and nutritionally substantial—so it spread quickly and became a national everyday food.
Before it was known as “ramen,” people called it shina soba or chuka soba.
The turning point came in 1958, when Nissin Foods launched Chicken Ramen, the world’s first instant ramen.
The product name helped popularise the word “ramen” nationwide.
Instant noodles—and later Cup Noodles—then carried Japanese ramen culture around the globe.
Today, Japan is home to an estimated 20,000 ramen shops.
And in London, ramen restaurants have become increasingly common, offering flavours that rival many bowls back home.
(Stay tuned for my London ramen recommendations coming soon!)
Ramen has now taken its place beside sushi as one of Japan’s best-known foods.
But tracing its history reveals that it’s actually a hybrid dish—born in China, transformed in Japan, and loved worldwide.
Living abroad makes this cultural evolution even more fascinating.
And wherever you go, there will always be someone slurping a warm bowl of ramen somewhere in the world.