Uguisu, Uguisu-jō and Uguisubari (Nightingale floors)

The Japanese Bush Warbler (鶯 Uguisu^?), Cettia diphone, is a passerine bird more often heard than seen. Its distinctive breeding call can be heard throughout much of Japan from the start of spring.

It is one of the favorite motifs of Japanese poetry, featured in many poems including those in Man'yōshū or Kokin Wakashū.  In poetry the bird is associated with the ume blossom, and appears with ume on hanafuda playing cards.

An uguisu-jō (jō = woman) is a female announcer at Japanese baseball games, or a woman employed to advertise products and sales with a microphone outside retail stores. These women are employed because of their beautiful 'warbling' voices. They are also employed to make public announcements for politicians in the lead-up to elections.

Some other Japanese names given to the bird are haru-dori ("spring bird"), haru-tsuge-dori ("spring-announcing bird") and hanami-dori ("spring-flower-viewing bird").
Its place in Japanese poetry has also given it the names uta-yomi-dori ("poem-reading bird") and kyo-yomi-dori ("sutra-reading bird"), the latter because its call is traditionally transcribed in Japanese as "Hō-hoke-kyo", the abbreviated Japanese title of the lotus sutra.

The bird is drab-coloured and secretive. It is normally only seen in spring before there is foliage in the trees. In winter the call is a low chirping. The Japanese Bush Warbler tends to remain deep in the shadow of foliage during the day.

Nightingale floors, or uguisubari (鴬張り)  listen (help·info), were floors designed to make a chirping sound when walked upon. These floors were used in the hallways of some temples and palaces, the most famous example being Nijo Castle, in Kyoto, Japan. Dry boards naturally creak under pressure, but these floors were designed so that the flooring nails rubbed against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises. The squeaking floors were used as a security device, assuring that none could sneak through the corridors undetected.
The "nightingale" the English name refers to is the Japanese Bush Warbler, uguisu.

Tōdai (University of Tokyo)

The University of Tokyo (東京大学 Tōkyō daigaku^?), abbreviated as Todai (東大 Tōdai^?),^[3] is a research university located in Tokyo, Japan.

The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano.

It is considered to be the most prestigious university in Japan.^[4][5]

It ranks as the highest in Asia and 21st in the world in 2011 according to Academic Ranking of World Universities.

On 20 January 2012, the university announced that it would shift the beginning of its academic year from April to September in order to align its calendar with the international standard. The shift would be phased in over five years.^[11][12]

Daibutsu: Ushiku Daibutsu

Daibutsu (大仏; kyūjitai: 大佛^?) or 'giant Buddha' is the Japanese term, often used informally, for large statues of Buddha. The oldest is that at Asuka-dera (609) and the best-known is that at Tōdai-ji in Nara (752). Tōdai-ji's daibutsu is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara and National Treasure.

The Ushiku Daibutsu (牛久大仏^?), located in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, is one of the world's tallest statues^[1] and Japan's largest daibutsu.

Completed in 1993, it stands a total of 120 meters (394 feet) tall, including the 10m high base and 10m high lotus platform. An elevator takes visitors up to 85m off the ground, where an observation floor is located. It depicts Amitabha Buddha and is plated with bronze. It is also known as Ushiku Arcadia (Amida's Radiance and Compassion Actually Developing and Illuminating Area). It was built to commemorate the birth of Shinran, founder of the Jōdo Shinshū 浄土真宗 or "True Pure Land School" of Buddhism.^[2]

Inside the statue itself is a four story building, which serves as a kind of museum.

Doraemon (2), Dorayaki and the legend of Benkei

Doraemon (ドラえもん Doraemon^?) is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko F. Fujio which later became an anime series and an Asian franchise.

The name "Doraemon" translated roughly to "stray". Unusually, the name "Doraemon" (ドラえもん^?) is written in a mixture of two Japanese scripts: Katakana (ドラ) and Hiragana (えもん). "Dora" is from "dora neko" (brazen or stray cat, どら猫), and is a corruption of nora (stray). "Emon" 衛門、右衛門 is a component of male given names, such as Goemon, though no longer as popular as in the past. "Dora" is not from dora 銅鑼 meaning gong, but due to the homophony, the series puns on this, with Doraemon loving dorayaki. Doraemon is addicted to dorayaki and falls for any trap involving them.

Since 2000, the company Bunmeido has been selling a limited version of dorayaki called Doraemon Dorayaki every year around March and September.

Dorayaki (どら焼き, どらやき, 銅鑼焼き, ドラ焼き^?) is a type of Japanese confection, а red bean pancake which consists of two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of sweet Azuki red bean paste.^{[1] [2]} Dorayaki are similar to Imagawayaki, but the latter are cooked with the batter completely surrounding the bean paste filling and often served hot.

Dorayaki originally only had one layer, and the current shape was invented in 1914 by Usagiya in the Ueno district of Tokyo.^[3]

In Japanese, dora means "gong", and because of the simililarity of the shapes, this is probably the origin of the name of the sweet.^[2][3] Legend has it that the first Dorayaki were made when a samurai named Benkei forgot his gong (dora) upon leaving a farmer’s home where he was hiding and the farmer subsequently used the gong to fry the pancakes, thus the name Dorayaki.^[3]

In Kansai area, such as Osaka or Nara, this sweet is often called mikasa（三笠）. The word originally means triple straw hat, but also an alternative name of Mount Wakakusa, a low hill with gentle slope located in Nara. Many local people picture the shape of this hill while eating a mikasa. In Nara, a larger mikasa of about 30 cm in diameter is famous.^[4]

• Japonesa - a similar confection eaten in Gibraltar

Doraemon

Doraemon (ドラえもん Doraemon^?) is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko F. Fujio which later became an anime series and an Asian franchise. The series is about an intelligent robotic cat named Doraemon, who travels back in time from the 22nd century to aid a schoolboy, Nobita Nobi (野比 のび太 Nobi Nobita^?).

The series first appeared in December 1969, when it was published simultaneously in six different magazines.

In total, 1,344 stories were created in the original series, which are published by Shogakukan under the Tentōmushi (てんとう虫^?) manga brand, extending to forty-five volumes. The volumes are collected in the Takaoka Central Library in Toyama, Japan, where Fujiko Fujio were born.

A majority of Doraemon episodes are comedies with lessons regarding values such as honesty, perseverance, courage, family and respect for elders. Various environmental issues are often visited, including homeless animals, global warming, endangered species, deforestation, and pollution. Miscellaneous educational topics such as dinosaurs, the flat Earth theory, wormhole traveling, Gulliver's Travels, and the history of Japan are often covered.

In March 2008, Japan's Foreign Ministry appointed Doraemon as the nation's first "anime ambassador."^[2]
Ministry spokesman explained the novel decision as an attempt to help people in other countries to understand Japanese anime better and to deepen their interest in Japanese culture."^[3] The Foreign Ministry action confirms that Doraemon has come to be considered a Japanese cultural icon.

Sado Island and Nichiren

Sado (佐渡市 Sado-shi^?) is a city located on Sado Island (佐渡島 or 佐渡ヶ島, both Sadogashima) in Niigata Prefecture, in the Chūbu region of Japan. Since 2004, the city has comprised the entire island, although not all of its total area of 855.26 km² is urbanized. Sado is the sixth largest island of Japan in area following the four main islands and Okinawa Island (excluding the Northern Territories). The island consists of two parallel mountain ranges running roughly southwest–northeast, enclosing a central plain.

When direct control from mainland Japan started around the 8th century, the island's remoteness meant that it soon became a place of banishment for difficult or inconvenient Japanese figures. Exile to remote locations such as Sado was a very serious punishment, second only to the death penalty, and people were not expected to return.  The last banishment in Sado took place in 1700, almost a millennium after the first.

The Buddhist monk Nichiren lived on Sado close to the present village Niibo in Kuninaka Plain from 1271-74. In the 17th century, Konpon Ji Temple was built at the place where he lived. At the end of his exile, Nichiren lived at the place where Myosho Ji temple was built later. He used to meditate at the place where Jisso Ji Temple can be visited today.
Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Nam(u)-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō as the essential practice of the teaching. Nichiren Buddhism includes various schools with their own interpretations of Nichiren's teachings.

Its rich history and relaxed rural atmosphere make Sado one of the major tourist destinations in Niigata Prefecture. The island has several temples and historical ruins, and offers possibilities for various outdoor activities, as well as fresh local food. The island is dotted with Noh theaters, and the local Japanese dialect and accent are different from those of Niigata.

Sado is famous as the major breeding area for the Japanese Crested Ibis.

The ibis is a major symbol of the Island and can be found on several tourist items.

Miraikan (Future Museum)

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (日本科学未来館 Nippon Kagaku Mirai-kan^?), simply known as the Miraikan (未来館^?, lit. "Future Museum"), is a museum created by Japan's Science and Technology Agency. It is situated in a new purpose-built building in the Odaiba District of Tokyo.

Some highlights include real-time displays of data from a huge array of seismometers across Japan which shows the country gently vibrating. The occasional earthquakes for which Japan is noted show up as larger movements. Visitors can search the on-line database of recent earthquake activity. The prominent Geo-cosmos globe displays near real-time displays of global weather patterns, ocean temperatures and vegetation cover. A section of rock core taken across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–T boundary) records a major meteorite impact event that is believed to have led to the final demise of the dinosaurs.

Asimo, the Honda robot is one of the star attractions along with the model maglev train. 

Multilingual staff conduct demonstrations about leading edge Japanese science. Miraikan is led by Japanese astronaut Dr. Mamoru Mohri.


Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a system of transportation created by Justus Thompson that uses magnetic levitation to suspend, guide and propel vehicles with magnets rather than using mechanical methods, such as wheels, axles and bearings.
The highest recorded speed of a maglev train is 581 km/h (361 mph), achieved in Japan by Central Japan Railway Company's (JR Central) MLX01 superconducting maglev in 2003,^[5] 6 km/h (3.7 mph) faster than the conventional wheel-rail speed record set by the TGV.^[6]

Chanbara, Zaitochi, Crimson Bat and Miyamoto Musashi

In Japan, the term chanbara (チャンバラ^?), also commonly spelled "chambara", is used for this genre, literally "sword fighting" movies,^[1] roughly equating to western swashbuckler films.  

Chanbara is a sub-category of jidaigeki, which equates to period drama. Jidaigeki may refer to a story set in an historical period, though not necessarily dealing with a samurai character or depicting swordplay.

While earlier samurai period pieces were more dramatic rather than action-based, samurai movies post World War II have become more action-based, with darker and more violent characters. Post-war samurai epics tended to portray psychologically or physically scarred warriors.^[2] Akira Kurosawa stylized and exaggerated death and violence in samurai epics. His samurai, and many others portrayed in film, were solitary figures, more often concerned with concealing their martial abilities, rather than bragging of them.^[2]

Historically, the genre is usually set during the Tokugawa era (1600–1868), the samurai film focuses on the end of an entire way of life for the samurai, many of the films deal with masterless ronin, or samurai dealing with changes to their status resulting from a changing society.

At least 26 films were made about the blind swordsman, Zatoichi. A burly masseur with short hair, he is a skilled swordsman who fights using only his hearing. While less known in the West, he is arguably the most famous chanbara character in Japan.

Four movies were made about another blind samurai, the Crimson Bat. Her character was a blind female sword fighter, and made in response to the huge success of Zatoichi.

A number of films were also made about Miyamoto Musashi, a famed historical warrior and swordsman, including a six movie series about his life, starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke.

Matcha ice cream and Monaka

Green tea ice cream (抹茶アイスクリーム Matcha aisu kurīmu^?) or Matcha ice (抹茶のアイスクリーム Matcha no aisu kurīmu) is a Japanese ice cream flavour. This flavour is extremely popular in Japan and South Korea, and other parts of East Asia, and almost all ice cream manufacturers produce a version of it, including foreign vendors such as Häagen-Dazs, Baskin-Robbins, and Natuur.

The name matcha comes from a specific type of green tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony.

Green tea ice cream is also sold in monaka form.

It has been available in the United States since the late 1970s, primarily in Japanese restaurants and markets, but is currently moving into mainstream availability.^[1] It also can be homemade.^[2]

Monaka (最中^?) is a Japanese sweet made of azuki bean jam filling sandwiched between two thin crisp wafers made from mochi. The jam can also be made from azuki beans but also with sesame seed, chestnuts, or rice cake (Mochi).
Modern monaka can also be eaten filled with ice cream.

The wafers can be square, triangular, or may be shaped like cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums and so on.

Monaka is a type of dessert (Wagashi) which is served with tea. There are still many very famous Monaka specialty stores in Japan.

Buta no Shippo

Butanoshippo (豚のしっぽ^?) is a Japanese card game. It literally means pig's tail in English. The game is usually played with three or more players. It can be considered a party game.

Basic Rules:

In Japan, there are several varieties of "pig tail" card games played in a circle and this is just how to play one of those.

1. On a table or on the floor, make a large circle with face down cards. This ring is what is referred to as the "pig's tail". Every player places their hand on the outside of the circle and gets ready.
2. Players do janken, a Japanese version of rock, scissors, paper, to decide who plays in what order. In that order, each player takes a card from the pig's "tail" and quickly flips it up and places it inside the circle. Then the player puts their hand back outside the circle.
3. Next, when a player flips over an attack card (such as a joker, or the same suit as the last card flipped over, the same number as the last, etc) each player quickly takes their hand from the outside of the circle and piles it up on the flipped over card's inside the ring of cards. This is called "attack".
4. Of all the players, the player with the hand on the top (that is, the slowest player) has to take all the cards that have been flipped over until the attack happened. If a player tries to attack on the wrong card and touches the flipped over cards, that player must take all the currently flipped over cards. The loser is based on the number of cards held at the end of the game.
5. As the cards are taken from the "tail" the circle should get smaller.

Neo Geo and SNK

The Neo Geo (ネオジオ Neo Jio^?) is a cartridge-based arcade system board and home video game console released on January 31, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first system in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s. The hardware featured comparatively colourful 2D graphics.

The MVS (Multi Video System), as the Neo Geo was known to the coin-operated arcade game industry, offered arcade operators the ability to put up to six different arcade titles into a single cabinet, a key economic consideration for operators with limited floorspace. With its games stored on self-contained cartridges, a game-cabinet could be exchanged for a different game-title by swapping the game's ROM-cartridge and cabinet artwork.

Several popular franchise-series, including Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters, Metal Slug and Samurai Shodown, were released for the platform.

The Neo Geo system was also marketed as a very costly home console, commonly referred to today as the AES (Advanced Entertainment System).

The Neo Geo was ranked 19th out of the 25 best video game consoles of all time by the video game website IGN in 2009.^[1] In 2012, SNK Playmore announced the release of the Neo Geo X, a handheld and home console based on the original AES.<sup>[2][3][4]

SNK Playmore Corporation (also known as SNK or Playmore) is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of Shin Nihon Kikaku (新日本企画?, lit. "New Japan Project"), which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986.

SNK is most notable for creating the Neo Geo family in 1990, which contained many game consoles and arcade systems throughout the 1990s. Their most popular and successful console was the handheld Neo Geo Pocket Color from 1999, which was the last console of the Neo Geo family, which ended in 2001. 

There was also the NeoGeoWorld theme park (Tokyo, Japan), based on the Neo Geo brand.[2]</sup>
 

Todōfuken

In the Japanese language there are four different terms for prefectures. The prefectures are sometimes collectively referred to as to-dō-fu-ken (都道府県^?) in Japanese, which is a simple combination of the four terms.

Historically, during the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established bugyō-ruled zones (奉行支配地) around the nine largest cities in Japan, and 302 township-ruled zones (郡代支配地) elsewhere. When the Meiji government began to create the prefectural system in 1868, the nine bugyō-ruled zones became fu (府), while the township-ruled zones and the rest of the bugyo-ruled zones became ken (県). Later, in 1871, the government designated Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto as fu, and relegated the other fu to the status of ken. During World War II, in 1943, Tokyo became a to, a new type of pseudo-prefecture (see below).
Hokkaido is referred to as a dō (道).

Despite the differences in terminology, there is little functional difference between the four types of prefecture.

Kyoto Seika University

Kyoto Seika University (京都精華大学 Kyōto Seika Daigaku^?) is a private university, located in Iwakura, Kyoto, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1968, and it was chartered as a university in 1979.
The school is noted for its faculties of manga and anime, and being involved in the teaching and training of future manga artists.^[1][2][3][4] The dean of the manga faculty is Keiko Takemiya, and noted American anthropologist and translator Matt Thorn is also an associate professor at the school's faculty of manga.^[5][6] Graduates of the university have gone on to forge successful careers in the manga, anime, and media industries.^[2][6]

In 2005, Kyoto Seika University established the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Located in a converted elementary school building in downtown Kyoto, it contains the world's largest manga collection.

Related post: Kyoto International Manga Museum.

Origin of "Pacchiri" (Anime and Manga)

Many anime and manga characters feature large eyes.

Osamu Tezuka, who is believed to have been the first to use this technique, was inspired by the exaggerated features of American cartoon characters such as Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, and Disney's Bambi.^[3][28] Tezuka found that large eyes style allowed his characters to show emotions distinctly. When Tezuka began drawing Ribbon no Kishi, the first manga specifically targeted at young girls, Tezuka further exaggerated the size of the characters' eyes. Indeed, through Ribbon no Kishi, Tezuka set a stylistic template that later shōjo artists tended to follow.

Coloring is added to give eyes, particularly to the cornea, some depth. The depth is accomplished by applying variable color shading. Generally, a mixture of a light shade, the tone color, and a dark shade is used.^[29][30]

Cultural anthropologist Matt Thorn argues that Japanese animators and audiences do not perceive such stylized eyes as inherently more or less foreign.^[31]
However, not all anime have large eyes. For example, some of the work of Hayao Miyazaki and Toshiro Kawamoto are known for having realistically proportioned eyes, as well as realistic hair colors on their characters.<sup>[32]

Matt Thorn (born May 12, 1965) is a cultural anthropologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Manga Production at Kyoto Seika University's Faculty of Manga in Japan.[1][2][3]</sup>

Anime

Anime (アニメ^?, [anime] ( listen); ⁱ/ˈænɨmeɪ/ or /ˈɑːnɨmeɪ/) is a style of animation originating in Japan, characterized by colorful graphics and often featuring themes intended for an adult audience.^[1] The word is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The intended meaning of the term sometimes varies depending on the context.^[2]

While the earliest known Japanese animation dates to 1917, and many original Japanese animations were produced in the ensuing decades, the characteristic anime style developed in the 1960s—notably with the work of Osamu Tezuka—and became known outside Japan in the 1980s.

Anime began at the start of the 20th century, when Japanese filmmakers experimented with the animation techniques also pioneered in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia.^[3] The oldest known anime in existence first screened in 1917 – a two-minute clip of a samurai trying to test a new sword on his target, only to suffer defeat.^[4][5] Early pioneers included Shimokawa Oten, Jun'ichi Kouchi, and Seitarō Kitayama.^[6]

Anime, like manga, has a large audience in Japan and recognition throughout the world. Distributors can release anime via television broadcasts, directly to video, or theatrically, as well as online.
Both hand-drawn and computer-animated anime exist. It is used in television series, films, video, video games, commercials, and internet-based releases, and represents most, if not all, genres of fiction. As the market for anime increased in Japan, it also gained popularity in East and Southeast Asia. Anime is currently popular in many different regions around the world.

While animation for children exists, most anime are intended for an older audience.^[45]

Mount Kuruma and Sōjōbō

Mount Kurama (鞍馬山 Kurama-yama^?) is a mountain to the north-west of the city of Kyoto.
It is the birthplace of the holistic healing art called Reiki, and is said to be the home of Sōjōbō, King of the Tengu, who taught swordsmanship to Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

Kurama is also the location of the annual Kurama Fire Festival (鞍馬の火祭り Kurama no Hi-matsuri^?), which takes place every October. Kurama-dera (鞍馬寺^?) is now designated as a national treasure of Japan.
The philosopher Hayashi Razan lists one of the three greatest of the daitengu as Sōjōbō of Mount Kurama.^[1] The demons of Kurama and Atago are among the most famous tengu.<sup>[2]

The mountain is also known as the birthplace of the holistic healing art called Reiki. In the early 1900s (some say 1914, others say 1922), the founder of Reiki, Mikao Usui, meditated for 21 days on this mountain and received the Reiki healing energy. Mikao Usui meditated near the top of the mountain at a site called Osugi Gongen, at the site of a great sacred tree (kami) said to be an incarnation of the god Maoson.[3]</sup>

Sōjōbō (僧正坊^?, lit. "high Buddhist priest") is the mythical king of the tengu, minor deities who inhabit the mountains of forests of Japan. Sōjōbō is an ancient yamabushi (mountain hermit) tengu with long, white hair and an unnaturally long nose. He carries a fan made from seven feathers as a sign of his position at the top of tengu society. He is extremely powerful, and one legend says he has the strength of 1,000 normal tengu. Sōjōbō lives on Mount Kurama (north of Kyoto).

Sōjōbō is perhaps best known for teaching the warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune (then known by his childhood name Ushiwaka-maru or Shanao) the arts of swordsmanship, tactics, and magic in the 12th century. In fact, the name "Sōjōbō" originates from Sōjōgatani, the valley at Mount Kurama near Kibune Shrine associated with the Shugenja. It is in this valley that Ushiwaka trained with Sōjōbō in legend. This relationship serves as the basis of many Japanese woodblock prints, including one by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Also in some Japanese villages, parents spread the myth that he eats little boys to stop them going into the forests at night.^{[citation needed]}
 

Suzu

Suzu (鈴^?) is a round and hollow Japanese Shinto Bell that contains pellets that sound when agitated.
Suzu come in many sizes, ranging from tiny ones on good luck charms (called omamori (お守り^?)) to large ones at shrine entrances.

At Shinto shrines, large Suzu drape over entrances, as it is said that ringing them calls kami, allowing one to acquire positive power and authority, while repelling evil. Handheld clustered Suzu, similar to jingle bells, are used musically at Shinto ceremonies.

Suzu is also an uncommon female name in Japan meaning "Bell" or "Tin".

Shinatobe

Shinatobe is a Japanese goddess of the winds.

Sentō

Sentō (銭湯^?) is a type of Japanese communal bath house where customers pay for entrance.

Traditionally these bath houses have been quite utilitarian, with one large room separating the sexes by a tall barrier, and on both sides, usually a minimum of lined up faucets and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others.

Since the second half of the 20th century, these communal bath houses have been decreasing in numbers as more and more Japanese residences now have baths. Some Japanese find social importance in going to public baths, out of the theory that physical proximity/intimacy brings emotional intimacy, which is termed skinship in Japanese. Others go to a sentō because they live in a small housing facility without a private bath or to enjoy bathing in a spacious room and to relax in saunas or jet baths that often accompany new or renovated sentōs.

Another type of Japanese public bath is onsen, which uses hot water from a natural hot spring. They are not exclusive: A sentō can be called an onsen if it derives its bath water from naturally heated hot springs. A legal definition exists that can classify a public bathing facility as sentō.

Some public baths have signs refusing entry for people with tattoos. However, one may be allowed in if the tattoos are not too obvious. If one ventures to a public bathing place that is publicly owned, this should not present a problem as they have a duty to let all tax-paying citizens in. The original reason behind the ban was to keep out the yakuza (officially called the "violence groups" by the police).^[4]

Ramen and Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum

Ramen (ラーメン rāmen^?, IPA: [ɽaːmeɴ]) is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or (occasionally) fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as sliced pork (チャーシュー chāshū^?), dried seaweed (海苔 nori^?), kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn. Almost every locality in Japan has its own variation of ramen, from the tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen of Kyushu to the miso ramen of Hokkaido.

While standard versions of ramen are available throughout Japan since the Taisho era, the last few decades have shown a proliferation of regional variations.

In Akihabara, vending machines distribute warm ramen in a steel can, known as ramen kan (らーめん缶^?). It is produced by a popular ramen restaurant and contains noodles, soup, menma, and pork. It is intended as a quick snack, and includes a small folded plastic fork. There are few kinds of flavor such as tonkotsu and curry.<sup>[12]

A serving of ramen is high in carbohydrates and low in vitamins and minerals. Ramen soup tends to be high in sodium. The noodles themselves contain very little sodium so one can avoid drinking the broth if a low-sodium diet is recommended for health reasons.</sup>

The Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum (新横浜ラーメン博物館 Shin-Yokohama Rāmen Hakubutsukan^?) is a food amusement park located in the Shin-Yokohama district of Kōhoku-ku, Yokohama, Japan. (The "u" in "Raumen", referring to ramen, is intentionally spelled that way.)
The museum is devoted to the Japanese ramen noodle soup and features a large recreation of Tokyo in the year Shōwa 33 (1958), the year instant noodles were invented. Within the museum are branches of famous ramen restaurants from Kyūshū to Hokkaidō. The museum opened on March 3, 1994.