Ramen consumption ranking and local specialty ramen in top cities
Finally, we looked at ramen consumption by region in Japan. This is a ranking of per capita annual ramen consumption in eating out based on statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (covering households of two or more people). This is a three-year average from 2019 to 2021 for prefectural capitals and ordinance-designated cities in Japan (52 cities in all).
This ranking clearly shows that the top cities in terms of ramen consumption are located in cold regions, such as the Tohoku region (1st: Yamagata City, 3rd: Aomori City, 4th: Sendai City, etc.) and the Joetsu and Hokuriku regions (2nd: Niigata City, 6th: Kanazawa City, etc.).
The ranking of salt intake per capita is also higher in cold regions. According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s National Health and Nutrition Survey (2019), the Hokuriku region ranks first in per capita salt intake, followed by the Tohoku region. Cold regions, such as the Tohoku region, have historically had many dishes with high salt content. This is believed to be because people living in the cold Tohoku region have maintained their body temperature by raising blood pressure through high salt intake. Therefore, ramen, a dish with a higher salt content than many other dishes, is probably favored even more than in other regions.
It is interesting to note that Sapporo City, the birthplace of miso ramen, and Fukuoka City, the birthplace of tonkotsu (pork) ramen, which is well known as “local ramen,” are not at the top of the ramen consumption ranking, coming in at No. 20 and No. 36, respectively.
It seems that the top cities in the ranking, or the prefectures to which they belong, have a variety of “local ramen” that is loved by many locals. The following is a list of ramen that is characteristic of the top cities. We hope that foreign visitors to Japan will visit these cities and taste the various flavors of ramen that Japan boasts.
