Kurume Ramen is a celebrated local specialty of Kurume City in southern Fukuoka Prefecture. Known for its rich pork-bone broth, it is widely regarded as the origin of tonkotsu ramen, which later spread throughout Kyushu and became one of Japan’s best-known noodle dishes. Its history began with a small street-food stall and developed through a fortunate accident that helped establish the characteristic cloudy-white soup enjoyed today.
The story of Kurume Ramen began in 1937, when Nankin Senryo, the first ramen shop in Kurume, opened for business. Its pork-bone ramen quickly gained a reputation and became especially popular in a city where military divisions and a national university brought together a large population of residents and visitors.
The original soup was reportedly relatively clear rather than the cloudy white associated with tonkotsu ramen today. Nevertheless, Nankin Senryo’s distinctive pork-bone broth laid the foundations for a style of ramen that would eventually influence noodle culture across Kyushu, with Kagoshima often considered a notable exception to its early spread.
A second important milestone came in 1947, when a shop called Sankyu opened in Kurume. Its owner, Katsumi Sugino, was preparing pork-bone broth when a mistake during cooking caused it to boil for too long. The soup became cloudy and white, unlike the clearer broth traditionally served at the time.
When the resulting soup was tasted, it proved unexpectedly delicious, with a mellow yet richly concentrated flavor. The shop decided to serve it to customers, and this accidental discovery helped establish the cloudy pork-bone broth that became a defining feature of tonkotsu ramen.
The influence of Kurume Ramen extended well beyond the city. After establishing Sankyu, Sugino later opened a restaurant called Raikiken in Kokura and trained many apprentices. Through the spread of this cooking style and the work of ramen chefs who learned from him, the tradition of cloudy pork-bone ramen continued to develop and reach new communities.
Kurume is therefore an essential destination for anyone interested in the history of Japanese ramen. While tonkotsu ramen now comes in many regional variations, the city’s long-standing ramen culture offers a chance to discover the roots of one of Kyushu’s most iconic dishes.
Kurume Ramen is more than a satisfying bowl of noodles; it is a local food tradition shaped by ingenuity, craftsmanship, and decades of culinary history. When visiting Kurume, take the opportunity to compare different ramen shops and discover how each one expresses the rich flavor of pork-bone broth in its own way.