"Sapporo Ramen," famous throughout Japan, can be considered the representative of Hokkaido ramen.
While there are various styles, a common type is ramen with a rich, heavy flavor based on deeply savory miso.
The soup, made from a broth simmered with pork bones and chicken bones, is rich and flavorful with plenty of fat, and the noodles are characteristic yellow, medium-thick, wavy noodles that mix well with the soup.
It's topped with stir-fried bean sprouts, onions, menma (fermented bamboo shoots), and other vegetables, offering a pleasant crunchy texture.
Additionally, many shops offer Hokkaido specialty toppings such as corn, butter, and scallops, allowing you to customize your ramen to your liking.
Popular shops are scattered throughout Sapporo, the birthplace of Sapporo Ramen, and you can enjoy delicious Sapporo Ramen everywhere, especially around Sapporo Station.

"Hakodate Ramen," a local ramen representing Hakodate, has a particularly long history and is said to be the origin of salt ramen in Japan.
The distinctive clear soup is made from chicken bones, pork bones, kelp, vegetables, and more, creating a simple yet profound and elegant flavor.
It's not greasy and has minimal impurities, making it light and gentle on the palate, thus highly popular among those with smaller appetites and women.
The standard style features char siu, green onions, and naruto (fish cake) as toppings, along with thin, straight noodles, to enhance the soup's flavor.
Also, shops confident in their soup often top it with "fu" (wheat gluten).
While mainly available in Hakodate City, it is more commonly served in Chinese restaurants than ramen shops and is locally referred to as "ramen" or "shina soba."

"Asahikawa Ramen" is soy sauce-based ramen enjoyed in Asahikawa City, an area known for its particularly harsh winters within Hokkaido.
It typically features a "double soup" that combines a pork bone and chicken bone base with seafood dashi, achieving an exquisite harmony between the richness of animal ingredients and the umami of seafood.
Another significant characteristic is the style of covering the soup's surface with lard to trap heat, keeping it warm until the very last drop.
The charm of the Asahikawa style lies in the coexistence of richness and lightness. When you taste the soup, the deep flavor of soy sauce spreads, while the elegant aroma of seafood wafts through your nose, creating a profound taste.
The noodles are predominantly medium-thin, wavy noodles with a low water content, designed to absorb the soup well, allowing you to enjoy a rich aroma with each bite.
The toppings are very simple, but it's a ramen perfectly suited for cold regions, warming you from the inside out by the time you finish eating.

"Kushiro Ramen," which has gained attention recently, is becoming recognized as the fourth ramen after Hokkaido's three great ramens.
Similar to Asahikawa Ramen, it predominantly features a Japanese-style "double soup" made from a base of chicken bones and pork bones, with added seafood dashi from kelp and bonito flakes.
However, its taste is completely different; Kushiro Ramen is characterized by being extremely light.
The clear soup has a simple and gentle flavor.
Toppings are often simple, consisting of char siu, menma (fermented bamboo shoots), and naruto (fish cake), enhancing the soup's taste.
The thin, wavy noodles are soft yet firm, creating a unique texture and mouthfeel.
Another characteristic is the absence of additives and preservatives, making it perishable and quick to dry, thus difficult to find outside of Kushiro City, the northernmost part of Hokkaido, which is also a reason for its popularity.

"Muroran Curry Ramen" is a local ramen primarily enjoyed in Muroran City in south-central Hokkaido, as well as in Noboribetsu City and Toyako Town.
It's characterized by its addition of curry paste to a rich broth based on pork bones and chicken bones, resulting in a spicy yet mild and very rich flavor.
The noodles are mostly yellow, chewy, thick, wavy noodles, designed to cling well to the soup, creating an exquisite harmony of umami and spiciness in your mouth when eaten together.
Furthermore, despite its thickness, it slurps down smoothly, and its satisfying heartiness is also a charm.
Toppings often include char siu and green onions, along with a generous serving of wakame seaweed.
It's a unique dish that differs from both regular ramen and curry rice, attracting attention as a unique local ramen that becomes addictive once you try it.

"Menya Saimi" was opened in 2000 by a master chef who was deeply moved by the taste of Sapporo's famous "Sumire" and trained there for about 7 years.
Here, you can enjoy Sapporo ramen that has evolved with the chef's sensibility, based on Sumire's flavors.
The soup is made primarily from pork knuckle, fragrant vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, and kelp. This carefully simmered soup, prepared daily from 5 AM, transforms into a clear,濁り (nigori - cloudy) -free chintan soup.

This is a long-established famous restaurant in Sapporo that boasts nationwide recognition and has been loved for many years.
The appeal of their signature miso ramen lies in its rich soup, which features deeply flavorful miso, the savory aroma of stir-fried minced pork, the sweetness of lard and vegetables, and a spicy kick from garlic and ginger.
Furthermore, the char siu is topped with grated ginger, ensuring you'll be warmed to the core even in Sapporo's cold winters.

This is the main store of a long-established ramen shop that represents Sapporo ramen and is highly regarded by ramen lovers nationwide, as well as locals.
It is the original shop of the many "Junsusumi-kei" ramen shops in Sapporo and is a popular establishment with lines forming even before opening.
Their signature dish is miso ramen, which has maintained its original recipe and flavor since its establishment. The soup, pork-bone-based with a hint of spice, is renowned for its exceptionally rich taste among Sapporo ramen.

"Hakodate Menchubo Ajisai" is a well-known famous salt ramen restaurant representing Hakodate. Established in 1930, it has been loved by many for over 90 years.
Ajisai's signature dish is, of course, salt ramen. The soup, made with kelp from southern Hokkaido as a base, pork bones, chicken bones, and natural rock salt, is highly transparent and offers a clear yet deeply flavorful taste.

"MEN-EIJI HIRAGISHI BASE" has been a popular Sapporo ramen restaurant since its opening in 2006, with no signs of its popularity waning. It is a famous restaurant that has also been listed in the Michelin Guide's Bib Gourmand.
They offer a wide range of dishes, all based on a deep flavor that harmonizes their homemade chewy noodles made from Hokkaido wheat with the umami of their soup, which uses no chemical seasonings whatsoever.
Among them, the "Seafood Pork Bone Soy Sauce" is a must-try.

This is a long-established ramen shop, loved by locals, located on a corner of the famous tourist spot, Susukino.
The interior is a compact space with only counter seats, exuding the atmosphere of a traditional ramen shop.
The menu mainly features miso ramen. A bowl that combines a rich soup, carefully simmered with pork bones, chicken, vegetables, and shiitake mushrooms, with three types of miso, offers a classic taste of Sapporo miso ramen.

Menya Takahashi is an extremely popular restaurant with people lining up even before it opens. Here, you can enjoy miso ramen in a "tsukemen" style, where you dip the noodles in the soup, offering a unique twist on the classic. The thick, flat noodles are generously dipped into a rich, thick miso soup. The soup is a concentrated blend of pork bone and seafood flavors, with a exquisite balance of miso's richness and sweetness.

"Ramen Sapporo Ichiryuan" is a popular and representative ramen shop in Sapporo. Its location near Sapporo Station makes it easily accessible and convenient to visit during sightseeing. The shop prides itself on using carefully selected ingredients from Hokkaido, emphasizing fresh and aromatic ramen. Their special custom-made noodles use 100% Hokkaido-produced wheat, combined with a painstakingly prepared soup and homemade lard, offering a safe and delicious bowl of ramen.

Santouka was founded when its founder, Mr. Hatanaka, declared that he would make delicious ramen for his family. Through trial and error and repeated improvements, they arrived at their unique pork bone broth, which is finished with a mellow and gentle flavor. Today, the restaurant has branches not only in Japan but also overseas, and is popular with many people regardless of nationality.

Ramen Kobo Uocchi, a renowned Kushiro ramen establishment, is conveniently located just a 5-minute walk from JR Kushiro Station. Their most popular dish is "Gyosho Ramen," which uses fish sauce made in-house. It allows you to fully enjoy the umami of fish without any fishy odor. "Oyster Ramen," a luxurious dish made with seafood including oysters, is also very popular. The milky oysters and the soup pair excellently. It's also great that you can choose between two flavors, "light" and "rich," according to your preference.

Garyu Menbu Hien, located in Toyohira Ward on the outskirts of Sapporo City, is a renowned restaurant featured in the Michelin Guide Hokkaido 2017 Special Edition. Their top specialty is a healthy yet rich tori paitan (chicken bone broth) soup made only from the neck meat of Forest Chickens from Miyagi Prefecture. This unique flavor, which has never quite existed before, is known as "kossari," being both rich and light. With less oil and easy to eat, many people, young and old, find themselves unable to stop spooning the soup, often finishing every last drop. The recommended dish is "Garyu Sapporo Ramen Hien." It's a miraculous ramen that combines their proud soup with vegetables stir-fried in lard, creating a deeply exquisite flavor with subtle variations in taste within its gentle profile. The custom-made chewy, medium-thick straight noodles pair perfectly with the soup, with umami spreading with each bite.

Established in 1947, "Hachiya" is a ramen shop that is sometimes said to have created the prototype of Asahikawa Ramen: double soup with a light soy sauce base. Even today, the restaurant continues to uphold the traditional methods and taste from its founding. Their most popular dish, of course, is the shoyu ramen. Hachiya's shoyu ramen soup is characterized by its very dark appearance, but when you actually taste it, you can fully appreciate the savory aroma of lard and the umami of the double soup made from pork bones and dried horse mackerel.

When asked about Sapporo Miso Ramen, many people mention "Yoshiyama Shoten Main Store." The owner, who has eaten at famous ramen shops nationwide, aims to create ramen that delights all five senses. The soup base is made from pork trotters and chicken bones. White miso is then added to this to create the miso ramen soup. Since white miso is used, the basic miso ramen has a gentle and mild soup, but some menu items offer a more powerful and sharp flavor, satisfying even those who want a strong miso ramen experience.

Aji no Daio Main Store in Tomakomai City is a long-established ramen restaurant founded in 1965. It is known as the birthplace of curry ramen, an original dish that combines curry and ramen. The spicy soup is a rich pork bone base mixed with a curry paste containing over ten kinds of spices and fruits. The umami and spiciness are exquisitely balanced, and its thick, curry-like texture makes it quite filling. It pairs perfectly with side dishes like fried rice or regular rice, and many people enjoy them as a set. In addition to the classic "Original Curry Ramen," there are various other options available; for a hearty meal, "Stone Pot Katsu Curry Ramen" is recommended, and for those who prefer less spice, "Cheese Curry Ramen" is also a great choice.

Established in 1947 as a food stall, this Asahikawa ramen shop boasts over 70 years of tradition. It is considered the origin of Asahikawa ramen. Their signature dish is "Shoyu Ramen," which preserves the original recipe created by the first owner. The ramen features a double soup, made from a pork bone and chicken broth simmered for a day, combined with a soup extracted from seafood like Rishiri kelp, bonito flakes, and dried horse mackerel, along with vegetables, and then seasoned with soy sauce. It is characterized by its deep richness and refreshing aftertaste.

Hokkaido Ramen Dojo, located on the 3rd floor of the domestic terminal building of New Chitose Airport, is a ramen theme park featuring famous and long-established shops from various parts of Hokkaido. Its convenient location for travelers coming and going makes it a valuable spot for both domestic and international tourists to easily savor local Hokkaido ramen. Stepping inside, you'll find about 10 ramen shops lined up on both sides, offering a wide variety of authentic ramen from various regions, led by the three major ramen styles. The super popular "Ebisoba Ichigen" is located near the entrance, and "Hakodate Menchubo Ajisai" and "Keyaki" mentioned in this article are also present. Another appeal is the regular events and airport-exclusive menus offered by each shop, allowing for new discoveries with every visit.

"Ganso Sapporo Ramen Yokocho" in Sapporo's Susukino entertainment district is a major tourist attraction representing Sapporo gourmet food. It is a famous alley that spread Sapporo ramen nationwide as the birthplace of miso ramen. It originated as "Koraku Ramen Meitengai" in 1951 and took its current form in 1971. Currently, 17 ramen shops compete fiercely in a narrow alley, where you can enjoy a wide variety of flavors, including miso ramen, as well as soy sauce, salt, and tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen. Each shop has its unique recipe, and while preserving over 70 years of history and tradition, they also offer unique ramen that adapts to changing times. At the same time, the retro neon signs and narrow streets create a nostalgic and extraordinary atmosphere, making visitors feel a sense of familiarity and novelty.

"Shin Ramen Yokocho" is also located in Susukino, Sapporo, just like Ganso Sapporo Ramen Yokocho. These two spots are adjacent across a street, and "Shin Ramen Yokocho" tends to be more noticeable. Established in 1976, both spots are often regarded similarly as places that showcase the old and new charms of Sapporo ramen. However, they are run by different organizations and are independent facilities. It was once called Mogura Yokocho, and "Ganso Sapporo Ramen Mogura," which gave the alley its name, is particularly famous. However, there is no official website, and many aspects remain shrouded in mystery, so we encourage you to visit it in person. By the way, the alley features about 5 to 10 small, counter-centric shops, where you can enjoy a variety of ramen dishes, each with its own unique twist.

Established in 1996, "Asahikawa Ramen Village" is a complex where seven ramen restaurants from Asahikawa have gathered to promote the excellence and culture of Asahikawa ramen.
The exterior wall features a mural by students from Tokai University Hokkaido Asahikawa Campus, depicting animals from Asahiyama Zoo deliciously eating ramen.
Inside the facility, popular Asahikawa ramen shops, including Aoba, a long-established Asahikawa ramen shop, are all gathered.
Additionally, there is an Asahikawa Ramen Village Shrine where visitors can pray for success in love, with the theme of "men-musubi" (noodle-tying) rather than "en-musubi" (relationship-tying), wishing for relationships as hot as soup and as long-lasting as noodles.