Ramen Making Classes in Tokyo

The Classes Side by Side

The table lines up each class by what you make, where it meets, how long it runs and the price per person.

What Costs Extra

Most prices leave out the trip to the class, and some charge for food or drink on the day. The table sets each price beside what the booking leaves out.

The Four Soups Behind the Classes

The Japan National Tourism Organization names shio, shoyu, miso and tonkotsu as the most common ramen soups. The Shibuya class covers three of them in one session, while the other classes build one bowl from start to finish.

Short on Time: Kabukicho or Kappabashi

Easy Ramen Making in Kabukicho meets at Shinjuku Ale, a craft beer bar near the Godzilla Head. You build one bowl from pre-made soup and noodles in 60 minutes.

Ramen Noodle Making on Kappabashi Street is the pick if you want to touch the dough. You knead flour and slice noodles with a large noodle knife, using an Edo period technique and no machinery. Then you choose a flavor and toppings at your seat and eat what you cut.

Three Broths in One Session: Shibuya

The Shibuya Ramen Class: Tonkotsu, Shoyu and Miso takes a group of up to 20 through kneading, rolling and cutting noodles on a professional noodle machine. You blowtorch chicken chashu, then assemble tonkotsu, shoyu and miso mini bowls and taste them side by side.

The Whole Process: Akihabara or Meguro

Ramen From Scratch and Akihabara Tour starts at 11AM with a 20-minute walk around Akihabara and a 20-minute grocery store tour of Japanese seasonings. Then you knead noodles, prepare the broth and cook chashu pork for Jiro-style ramen, which is your lunch.

Become a Ramen Chef for a Day runs in a working ramen restaurant in Meguro with up to 10 guests. You break bones for clear and white broths, make noodles and gyoza, prepare chashu, ajitamago and wonton, then work the line. You leave with a 50-page recipe e-book.

To eat ramen rather than cook it, compare the guided Tokyo ramen tours instead.

If You Want Tokyo's Own Style

Tokyo's classic bowl is a dark, pork bone or chicken-based shoyu ramen, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. The Shibuya Ramen Class: Tonkotsu, Shoyu and Miso is the class here that names shoyu among the bowls you make.

Meeting Points by Area

Each class gives its own meeting point and nearest station.

• Kabukicho: Shinjuku Ale, 1-14-5 Kabukicho, 5 minutes on foot from Shinjuku Station.
• Near Shibuya: 2-16-29 Ohashi, Meguro-ku, a 3-5 minute walk from Ikejiri-ohashi Station, one stop from Shibuya.
• Meguro: 4-chome-10-3 Meguro, near the Meguro River, second floor, stairs only.
• Akihabara: outside the Central Ticket Gate of JR Akihabara Station, where the guide waits with a sign. The class itself runs in a studio reached by train from Suehirocho Station.
• Asakusa: an open kitchen studio on Kappabashi Kitchenware Street, across from the large beetle made of sample foods.

A Ramen Class at the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum

In Yokohama, the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum runs a paid Ramen Making Experience. A reservation is required, and you make noodles with the traditional green bamboo beating method. Adult admission to the museum is 450 yen, and it opens 11:00-21:00 on weekdays.

What a Beginner Can Handle

In Kabukicho the soup and noodles are ready before you arrive. The Shibuya class is beginner-friendly and breaks its 90 minutes into short steps:

• Welcome and introduction to ramen (0-10 min)
• Prepare the chicken chashu (10-15 min)
• Knead, roll and cut fresh noodles (15-35 min)
• Blowtorch the chicken chashu (35-50 min)
• Assemble the mini bowls (50-60 min)
• Taste, compare and take photos (60-90 min)

Where It Gets Demanding

The Meguro class is intensive and needs teamwork to finish the ramen within 3.5 hours. You smash bones in half for the broth before the noodles and gyoza.

Another Way to Try the Noodle Step

The Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum runs its own paid Ramen Making Experience, reservation required, where visitors make noodles with the traditional green bamboo beating method.

Which Class Teaches Which

Only the Shibuya class covers three styles in one session. The others teach one broth or let you pick a flavor.

• Shibuya: tonkotsu, shoyu and miso as 3 mini bowls.
• Meguro: clear and white broths, served as shoyu or tonkotsu.
• Akihabara: Jiro-style ramen, broth and chashu pork made in class.
• Kappabashi: you pick a flavor and toppings after cutting the noodles.
• Kabukicho: a house soup with pork, chicken and beef, its recipe kept secret.

Diet Rules Class by Class

The table compares what each class offers vegetarians and vegans and which allergies it cannot work around.

Ask Before You Go

The Japan National Tourism Organization notes that ramen shops usually specialise in one or two soups, so a kitchen may have no meat-free stock ready. Send your diet when you book, not on the day.

Ages and Access

Ramen Noodle Making on Kappabashi Street takes children from 3 and is wheelchair accessible, with room for a stroller. Easy Ramen Making in Kabukicho counts ages 4-11 as children, but it runs in a craft beer bar and anyone under 20 must come with a parent or guardian. Become a Ramen Chef for a Day is up a flight of stairs, and the Shibuya studio is not suitable for guests who cannot use stairs.

Arrival and Group Rules

For the Shibuya class, arrive early. Guests 5 or more minutes late may be refused entry. In Akihabara, if you are more than 10 minutes late you go to the studio on your own, with no refund for the delay.

The Akihabara class also needs at least 2 people per booking. Group caps run from 6 in Kabukicho and Kappabashi to 20 in Shibuya.

A Family Alternative in Yokohama

The Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum admits children aged 6 to 18 for 100 yen and under-6s free, and adults pay 450 yen. Its own noodle-making class needs a reservation.