Eat four regional ramens in an afternoon in a basement built as 1958
The world's first ramen theme park
The Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum opened on 6 March 1994. Its two basement floors are a full-size reconstruction of a 1958 shitamachi street, with period film posters, TV aerials, a retro sweet shop and patrolling old-style police, lined with ramen shops brought in from around the country.
Why it's unique
It is the world's first ramen theme park. Be precise about that: Osaka's Takimi Kōji, a themed food street, opened a year earlier in 1993, so this is the first built around ramen rather than the first food theme park of any kind.
What it lets you do that nowhere else does is eat across the country's regional ramen styles side by side, from Rishiri Island shōyu to Kumamoto tonkotsu, in a single afternoon and under one roof.
Before you go
Do not treat it as one meal. Every shop sells a mini bowl (小さいサイズ) precisely so you can eat four or five regional styles in a sitting: Yamagata miso, Rishiri Island shōyu, Kumamoto tonkotsu, Okinawa shio, Hakata tonkotsu, and Rokkakuya 1994+ for the local iekei. Budget about three hours.
Go on a weekday around 11:00. After an event at Yokohama Arena or the stadium the waits pass an hour. Shops stop taking orders 30 minutes before closing.