Tonkotsu is the most popular ramen style outside of Japan thanks to the likes of Ichiran and Ippudo, which hail from Hakata, Fukuoka. There are plenty more ramen chains that have managed to break into the global markets, and unsurprisingly, with its familiar tonkotsu style and fragrant garlic oil, Ajisen is also well-loved and recognised around the world for its Kumamoto ramen. However, Kumamoto’s ramen style has evolved throughout the years, and its origin may not even be Kumamoto City at all. In this article, we’ll be delving into its precursor, and the three names that helped to build the brand and credibility of this ramen. This is Ramen 341: The Origin of Kumamoto Garlic Oil Ramen.

Table of Contents

History of Kumamoto Ramen Components of Kumamoto Ramen . Soup . Noodles . Toppings The Shops Kiyoken

Kumamoto ramen is a tonkotsu ramen style, which means that the soup is made using pork bones as a base. While previously, ramen broths were clear in colour and light in flavour due to a long, simmering process, tonkotsu broths are milky due to the emulsification caused by cooking pork bones at a rolling boil. This style was accidentally discovered in Kurume City in a shop called Sankyu (三九).

Sankyu is where we want to focus. When chef Katsumi Sugino left Kurume City to open up a different ramen store, Sankyu’s rights were taken over by a frequent customer named Hidemitsu Shikkasho (四ヶ所日出光). In 1952, Shikkasho moved Sankyu to Tamana City in the Kumamoto Prefecture, about an hour’s drive south of Kurume City. Unsurprisingly, this style of ramen became popular very quickly, especially amongst the working class. These visitors from Kumamoto included three young, aspiring chefs named Hajime Kimura (木村一), Yasutoshi Yamanaka (山中安敏), and Takaharu Shigematsu (重光孝治), who had gone to see what all the fuss was with this new-fangled dish. They were so impressed with the rich, flavourful tonkotsu ramen with garlic oil that they had to go back to Kumamoto and open up their own ramen stores.

• Hajime Kimura went on to open up Shoyoken (松葉軒) in 1953, which is recognised as the original Kumamoto ramen, which has since closed after 65 years in operation.
• Yasutoshi Yamanaka went on to open Komurasaki (こむらさき) in 1954, one of the most famous local ramen chains from Kumamoto City.
• Takaharu Shigematsu worked a short stint in a ramen chain called Keika (桂花), before going on to open up his own store in 1968 called Ajisen (味千), now a global chain with stores all over Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.

This means that not only did Katsumi Sugino, the original owner of Sankyu, create an entirely new style of ramen (tonkotsu), but his work directly influenced the creation of Tamana, Kumamoto, and even Saga ramen, and is now a dish that is enjoyed and revered not just in Japan, but all around the world.

Components of Kumamoto Ramen

Let’s be clear that not all ramen found in Kumamoto is Kumamoto ramen, and not all Kumamoto ramen will be exactly the same. However, because many of them stemmed from the same root, they tend to have commonalities.

Soup

Tonkotsu soup of Kurume ramen is made by topping up leftover soup from the previous day’s stock with the yobimodoshi style (呼び戻し), but despite the origins of Tamana and Kumamoto ramen both being influenced by Kurume ramen, it’s made using a more typical torikiri style (取り切り), where a new broth is made every day. It results in a creamy, rich soup stock without the strong, offensive flavour that’s sometimes associated with pork, and to make it even lighter, the broth is sometimes made using a combination of pork and chicken bones, too.

Noodles

Tamana ramen uses medium-thin straight noodles, and Kumamoto ramen uses medium-thick straight noodles, cooked to be a bit firm. It’s likely difficult to tell the difference.

Toppings

Tamana ramen became distinguished from Kurume ramen when it started to localise the flavour to the tastes and commodities of the region. Around the time ramen was booming in Tamana, seaweed farming was also growing. Nori seaweed, which was a product of seaweed farming, became a typical topping to add to Tamana ramen.

Garlic also became common as a topping for ramen as a means to envigorate the often blue-collar customer base that would seek cheap and fast ramen. While raw or toasted garlic tended to sink to the bottom of the soup and become muddy in flavour, garlic chips that were minced finely, fried in oil, and served as a koumiyu floated to the surface and had a pleasant flavour, infusing each bite of noodle as it is lifted from the soup. Garlic oil can either be served on the soup, usually to the customer’s taste, or as a condiment on the counter.

Kumamoto ramen adopted the same toppings, except they continued to develop the garlic oil into a black version called mayu (マー油). This involves grinding the garlic down finer and burning some of it to bring out a very toasty flavour, and then combining it with the remaining garlic oil until it looks like a black paste. It appears to be black pepper floating on an oil slick. Other toppings common for both Tamana and Kumamoto ramen, can include chashu pork slices, bean sprouts, and menma bamboo shoots.

The Shops

Let’s talk about some of the shops where you can get Tamana and Kumamoto ramen, and there are plenty of choices in each city. For Tamana, definitely refer to the Tamana Ramen Association website (Japanese only). If you’re a diehard ramen fan, it’s only about 30 minutes north of Kumamoto by the local train line, so it’s an opportunity to try an older, homier style if that’s what you’re looking for. Kumamoto doesn’t have any shortage either.

Komurasaki こむらさき

Komurasaki (こむらさき) was opened in 1954 by Yasutoshi Yamanaka, one of the 3 who had gone to Sankyu in Tamana City to taste Tamana Ramen. They serve bean sprouts and bamboo shoots on their standard ramen, and garlic chips that are more similar to the Tamana style than the current Kumamoto style. They have 2 locations: one in Kumamoto, and one in the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum in the city of Yokohama about 30 minutes from Tokyo by train. This ramen-themed museum is full of exhibitions, workshops, and the famous underground basement decorated to look like Japan from the past, where a number of famous ramen restaurants from around the country are invited to set up shop for a period of a few months to a few years.

With the shops being on rotation, it’s not strange to see the line-up change entirely in 5 years, but only one shop has remained since its opening in 1994: Komurasaki from Kumamoto. So if you do want to try a very old style of ramen without making the trip all the way out to the western island of Kyushu, then you pop by the museum and give it a go.

Keika 桂花

Takaharu Hidematsu, the founder of Ajisen, worked in a store called Keika (桂花) prior to opening up his own restaurant. They have a distinctive red logo with stores found throughout the Kumamoto Prefecture and Tokyo, including a collaboration with Ajisen in the Aso Kumamoto Airport. They serve bamboo shoots in their ramen, and are known for their thick slices of kakuni braised pork belly.

Ajisen 味千

Ajisen (味千) was founded in 1968 as an 8-seater ramen shop, and has since expanded to over 700 around the world. Their original ramen uses garlic chips in oil, though they do also offer black garlic oil on their menu, too. If you’re in Japan and you’re looking for a chain but are tired of Ichiran, then Ajisen is a pretty good bet.

Other Stores

For a list of other stores, including independent and mom-and-pop stores around Kumamoto, go to the ramen navigator on the Kumamoto tourism website.

Where We Ate: Kiyoken 埼陽軒

We were only in Kumamoto for one night, and were restricted by time and location. Our search turned out to be a challenge, with conflicting information as to the taste and quality of many Kumamoto ramen shops due to domestic tourism in Kumamoto, meaning it was difficult to identify easily-pleased visitors and the locals who know what they’re looking for.

Kiyoken (埼陽軒) was almost not on our radar. A tiny restaurant preserved with the features of an era decades gone, it’s in a neighbourhood that most wouldn’t think to visit, nor would appear to be an establishment one would care to try. Its awnings are faded red, the decor unchanged since opening, with only a handful of counter seats and a couple of tables. The menu is hand-written in cursive Japanese, a simple selection of some variations on their ramen and a few side dishes like pan-fried gyoza dumplings and fried rice. It’s not stuck in the past more than it is a well-preserved piece of nostalgia, a beloved neighbourhood staple that remains unchanging despite the relentless pressure to change to keep up with the times.

Shinichiro Mitsugi (貢慎一郎) runs the restaurant, passed down from his parents, the original proprietors. We interviewed him, though it was a clumsy attempt as we hadn’t found the confidence to lead the questions and were shy about our inability to bridge the language gap, but he had been patient enough to answer our questions, telling us that the recipe had remained the same since the store opened, and he had no plans to expand past its status as a friendly little neighbourhood spot.

A simple bowl of ramen at the time of our visit (Nov. 2023) was beyond reasonable at ¥700 (less than US$5). We also tried their gyoza (8pc, ¥400) and simmered horse tendon (¥500), which are tasty and well-seasoned. The pace of service is hardly the speed you’d expect in most ramen restaurants, but the friendly atmosphere and the comforting sound of cooking dulled by the tight space is familiar.

The food is still served piping hot, and laughably slapdash; it’s unpretentious, and its simplicity oddly appealing, the fragrance of garlic and the savoury soup stimulating the appetite before even the first mouthful. While we couldn’t be certain, there’s something particular about the flavour of the broth, not particularly thick and yet rich and mildly sweet, aided by the savoury, aromatic garlic chips that we both believe we remember distinctly. It’s salty but not cloying, it’s hearty and flavourful without that lip-gloss greasiness that Kyushu tonkotsu has become known for. The sides aren’t extraordinary but it’s plenty tasty, and for many, it’s the nostalgia that makes it even more delicious.

Kiyoken, as of the time of publishing this in October 2024, is temporarily closed. They’ve been temporarily closed since April 2024. We don’t know what has happened, and it seems as though the locals are continuing to show their support for Kiyoken by leaving them positive messages on Google. This is as good a time as any to remind everyone that where we spend our money as tourists matters. While we know it’s not always possible, we encourage supporting local, independent stores. The world is tough, and Kiyoken is worth trying because you can’t get this flavour just anywhere. So if you pass by, and this humble, little shop is still there, and happens to be open, please stop by.

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