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Founder Shigemi Kawahara will be in the kitchen* during the event. The original taste before the birth of Shiro-Maru and Akamaru is revived!

Ippudo 1994" in Hakata Revival at Ra Expo from February 9 (Fri.) to May 12 (Sun.), 2024

新横浜ラーメン博物館

Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum (Kohoku-ku, Yokohama; CEO: Hiroshi Iwaoka) launched a project on July 1, 2022 (Friday) to celebrate its 30th anniversary in March this year, in which about 37 famous stores that opened in the past will open stores in a relay format over a period of two years.

Now, Ippudo 1994 will open a restaurant in Hakata from February 9, 2024 (Fri.) to May 12, 2024 (Sun.) as the sixth project, following the fifth "1994 group" restaurant, Sumire 1994 in Sapporo.

*Except for some dates.


Main Visual


The concept of "Ippudo 1994" is to recreate the taste of Ippudo as it was in 1994, before the birth of "Shiro-Maru" and "Akamaru," which are synonymous with Ippudo. Ippudo, now in its 39th year, has added the theme of "Ippudo Chronicle," which looks back on the epoch-making menu items in Ippudo's history along with the history of Ippudo, and expresses its gratitude for the 39 years of its history. The theme is "Ippudo Chronicle," a look back at the epoch-making menu items in Ippudo's history along with the history of Ippudo. In addition, special collaborations that have never been realized before are scheduled to take place during the three-month period, so you will not be able to take your eyes off the condensed three-month period!



History of Ippudo

Ippudo was founded on October 16, 1985 by Shigemi Kawahara, the founder of Ippudo, in Daimyo, Fukuoka City.

Before Ippudo was founded, Mr. Kawahara opened the bar "After the Rain" near Hakata Station in 1979. While the bar was thriving, Mr. Kawahara set a goal to open another restaurant by the age of 33 and to find his true calling by the age of 35. Most people thought, "Since it's thriving, why don't you just open a second store?" However, Mr. Kawahara decided, "Let's overturn the image of ramen stores as dirty, smelly, and scary, and create a stylish ramen store where women can easily come in by themselves and where women all over Fukuoka will gather! After about a year of training, he established Ippudo on October 16, 1985, at the age of 33, when he had set his sights on this goal. The name "Ippudo" came from his desire to "create a new wind in the ramen world! and the name was derived from "Ippudo," a band he liked at the time.


The store was about 3.5 square meters in size, and because it was an unprecedentedly stylish store that female customers could casually enter, the number of customers gradually increased by word of mouth, and after one year it became a prosperous store with 200 customers a day. However, although Ippudo was making a steady profit, the subsequent development of roadside ramen stores such as Soufutei (1988) and izakaya (Japanese style pub) did not generate as much profit as expected, and the company's financial situation became difficult.

It was during this time that Ippudo was approached about opening a branch in the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum.


Ippudo Daimyo Main Store (at the time of establishment)

Shigemi Kawahara (at the time of the BAR)


There is no way I would come to a place like this! Opening a store at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

Mr. Kawahara says, "Mr. Iwaoka visited us many times, and I felt his enthusiasm and dreams were very passionate. So, although I wasn't keen on the idea, I visited Shin-Yokohama just to see the site."


In June 1993, on a drizzly evening, as I got off the station and walked to the construction site, I saw empty lots and hardly any people walking around, and I thought to myself, "There is no way a customer would come to a place like this! Let's turn it down right away," he thought instantly. Mr. Iwaoka said, "I think we can make 10 million in monthly sales," but in his heart he said, "Don't be silly! There is no way we can sell 10 million at a place like this!" I was stunned. On the way home, he asked me to stop by the office for the preparation of the establishment, so I reluctantly did. There was an enthusiasm I had forgotten about, some people were making phone calls, others were arguing loudly, the walls were covered with articles about ramen from all over the country, and there were messages like "150 days until opening" and "We're going to win! " and other papers were taped to the wall. That scene was so dazzling that I thought it didn't matter where we were located, I wanted to work with these staff members. If I had not stopped by the preparation room, Ippudo might not be what it is today.


Thus, Mr. Kawahara gambled on their enthusiasm and decided to open a restaurant. Today, the Ippudo Group has more than 250 restaurants in Japan and abroad, but when it opened the Ramen Museum in 1994, there was only one Ippudo restaurant, the Daimyo main ramen restaurant in Hakata. Even so, we didn't expect that many customers. I begged Mr. Iwaoka many times to reconsider the admission fee." Because of this situation, Mr. Kawahara took only his best apprentice, recruited a part-time worker there, and planned to return to Fukuoka within a week or so. However, once the restaurant opened, the number of customers far exceeded his expectations, and in the end he was only able to return to Fukuoka six months later."


Preliminary inspection of the construction site

Exterior view of Ippudo Rahaku branch (1994)

Bustling crowd at the time of opening


Thank you for 39 years! Ippudo Chronicle

The concept of the "1994 group" is to recreate the taste of 1994, before the birth of "Shiro-Maru" and "Akamaru", which are synonymous with Ippudo. The concept of "Ippudo" is to recreate the taste of the restaurant as it was in 1994.

Ippudo is now in its 39th year of business, and the theme of "Ippudo Chronicle," which looks back on the epoch-making menu items in Ippudo's history along with the history of Ippudo, has been added to express gratitude for the past 39 years. Various menu items will be revived over a period of approximately three months.



The original taste of Ippudo before the birth of Shiroumaru and Akamaru will be revived.

The original flavor is a creamy pork bone broth made from 100% pig's head only.

The broth is carefully cooked for 12 hours, starting the day before with a pre-treatment process, and is prepared so that it has no odor, is easy to drink, and has a deep, refreshing flavor. For the kaeshi, six different types of dark and light soy sauces from Kyushu are carefully selected and blended to maximize the richness and flavor of the pork bones, creating a traditional Hakata flavor.

The flour used for the noodles is 100% "Minami-no-Kaori" wheat produced in Fukuoka Prefecture. The noodles are specially made low-moisture thin noodles (No. 26) with a rich aroma of wheat, expressing a nostalgic impression of the past and a light texture and smoothness with a good crispness. The chashu pork is traditional roasted pork chashu, which is made by roasting the surface of pork shoulder and slowly simmering it in Kyushu soy sauce. The texture of the wood ear seasoned with soy sauce and the flavorful green onions enhance the pork bone broth.


The Ramen of Origin


●Schedule of "Ippudo Chronicle

*We will announce what menu items will be available at a later date via SNS and other means.


Ippudo Chronicle Schedule


For more information on "Ippudo 1994", please visit

https://note.com/ramenmuseum/n/n49d7ac521c1e

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