Sorry for the completely un-ramen related post. That’s me in the Santa suit, my motorcycle covered with toys. Every year, my motorcycle club organizes a charity event. We collect toys, load up our bikes with said toys, and ride from Tokyo to orphanages in the surrounding area. The idea of a “Toy Run” is very…

東京ラーメンショー2011 Welcome back! I woke up a bit late, and then took the wrong train, so I missed the 10am opening of the 2011 Tokyo Ramen Show. But it didn’t matter, Keizo was late too. But not later than me, and he had just picked up the first bowl of the day. I think this…

Daniel, author of How to Japonese, was back in Japan for the summer. Just in time for the recent opening of 4 new shops in the Tokyo Ramen Street. Here you go, not only are these shops great, but the convenience of being in Tokyo Station can’t be beat. First up was Shichisai. Perfect pork…

At Nishio Ramen trying out the new shoyu ramen. High quality stuff from Shikoku. This isn’t your average Kikkoman in a 2L bottle shoyu, The Nagi group will be hosting a charity event tomorrow, April 3rd, at the naginicai shop. If you are in Tokyo, I’ll be going there around 4pm. Sorry for the late…

Ramen shops in Tokyo (and across Japan) are teaming up to provide some much needed aid, in the form of both money and time, to the disaster in the North. For now, all the information is in Japanese. Check the links below if you can read 日本語. The gist is that a lot of shops…

Just a quick update to let people know that everything is fine on my end. I flew to Hong Kong a day before the massive earthquake in Japan, missing out on it completely. Please send good thoughts to those affected- Brian

山手線 A first trip to Tokyo can be daunting. Shinjuku Station, to use the most extreme example, services close to 4 million people every day. A single train from Tokyo Station can take you non-stop to the northern reaches of Aomori; another down south to the island of Kyushu (sorry ramen fans, there still isn’t…