How Ramen Put a Small Hokkaido Town on the Global Map

Teshikaga, a town in Hokkaido, serves as a gateway to Shiretoko National Park, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, as well as Akan-Mashu and Kushiro National Parks. People from around the world come here for a single bowl of ramen at the flagship restaurant of Teshikaga Ramen, named after the town. Each year, about 115,000 visitors — roughly 20 times the town's population — make the trip. Ramen has become a catalyst for regional revitalization.

A Packed Parking Lot

Located along National Route 391, the flagship Teshikaga Ramen restaurant is well known in the area. Although November is the off-season for tourism, long lines still form at lunchtime, and the restaurant buzzes with energy.

"During the summer tourist season, especially around the Obon holidays, all 40 seats are full, and as many as 800 customers visit in a single day," said founder Kenichi Sugawara.

*Long lines form outside the restaurant during tourist season. (Courtesy of Kenichi Sugawara)*

Teshikaga Ramen now operates nine locations nationwide, including in Susukino, Hokkaido's largest entertainment district. While it is easy to imagine tourists crowding the Susukino and airport locations, a steady stream of overseas visitors also makes the journey to this rural town for ramen.

A firefighter from Barcelona, Spain, Karlos Ruiz-Jimenez, visited the restaurant with his wife, Tomoko, for the second time during their stay in Hokkaido. "You can eat Japanese ramen in Spain, but it's expensive," Tomoko said with a smile. "Here, it's affordable, and the flavor is something special."

A woman from Taiwan who visited with her family of six said they came after a YouTuber praised the ramen. They drove to the town in a rental car — and returned the next day as well.

The restaurant has been selected for Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice Awards for two consecutive years, in 2024 and 2025.

How Teshikaga Ramen Began

Because of the name, many people assume that Teshikaga Ramen's founder, Kenichi Sugawara, is from Teshikaga. In fact, he hails from Rumoi, a coastal city about 330 kilometers away, also in Hokkaido.

After graduating from a design school in Tokyo, Sugawara worked at an advertising agency in the capital before moving to Sapporo, where he was involved in advertising production.

His work included producing ramen-related publications and creating a food hall that brought together famous ramen shops from across Japan. Over time, he began to feel that he wanted to "stand on the stage myself rather than remain in the audience."

*The Teshikaga flagship store, easily visible from a distance along National Route 391. (©JAPAN Forward by Mika Sugiura)*

Although he had no experience as a ramen chef, Sugawara was confident in his palate. Drawing on marketing theory, he set out to put his accumulated knowledge into practice. He knew this would require expanding as a chain and establishing a central kitchen to standardize part of the cooking process.

Sugawara decided to locate both the flagship restaurant and the central kitchen in Teshikaga. He came to know the town well through repeated visits while producing tourism brochures and was drawn to its natural setting and food culture.

"Teshikaga is rich in nature and has great potential," Sugawara explained. "Investment such as hotel development tended to flow elsewhere, but I believed a low-priced business like a ramen shop could succeed here."

*Flames leaping from the wok give the miso ramen its signature flavor. (©JAPAN Forward by Mika Sugiura)*

Betting on Soy Sauce Ramen

Opening a restaurant in Teshikaga from the outset would have been risky, particularly in terms of hiring staff, so Sugawara chose to begin in Sapporo. Although the city is best known for miso ramen, he decided to compete with soy sauce ramen instead.

"There were already many well-established miso ramen shops," he said. "I felt that soy sauce was the only way to stand out in Sapporo."

For about three months, Sugawara and a chef traveled around Hokkaido, tasting ramen in search of inspiration.

In 2003, Sugawara opened his first shop near Nijuyon-Ken subway station. The ramen featured a rich soy sauce broth made by slowly simmering pork bones, chicken carcasses, and vegetables at a low temperature, then letting the soup rest in a refrigerator for 24 hours. Rendered fat released during cooking was added at the final stage.

Located near the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market, the shop quickly gained popularity among professional chefs who came to source ingredients. Two years later, Sugawara opened a second location in Susukino's famous Ramen Yokocho. He also took on the challenge of miso ramen, which soon earned high praise. In one of Japan's most competitive ramen districts, the shop became known for long lines.

In 2006, three years after opening his first shop, Sugawara fulfilled his long-held goal of opening a flagship restaurant in Teshikaga. The restaurant covers about 132 square meters (1,421 square feet), seats 40 people — nearly three times the size of the original shop — and includes an on-site central kitchen.

The Final Piece

Sugawara was uncompromising in his choice of ingredients, placing a strong emphasis on local sourcing. Scallop adductor muscles from the Okhotsk Sea, dried shrimp, and several kinds of powdered fish are used to make a seafood-based soy sauce kaeshi (sauce base). This is combined with a broth made from onions, Napa cabbage, pork bones, and other ingredients to create the restaurant's signature Gyokai Shibori Shoyu (seafood-squeezed soy sauce) ramen.

"By the fourth year, I was finally able to create the ramen I had envisioned," Sugawara said. "It was in Teshikaga that the final piece fell into place."

For the miso ramen, he added pressed powder left over from the soy sauce-making process, along with wine, creating a rich flavor balanced by natural sweetness and a gentle dashi note.

"Teshikaga is blessed with excellent water," he added, "thanks to underground springs flowing from Lake Mashu and Lake Kussharo."

Word of the restaurant spread among motorcyclists touring Hokkaido, and television coverage soon followed. Despite limited transportation options, an increasing number of visitors began making ramen "pilgrimages" to Teshikaga.

Expanding Into Soba

The business extends beyond ramen. In 2015, Sugawara launched a soba venture, opening Ezo-mae Soba and Butadon Hokudo in Sapporo. "Ezo" is the historical name for Hokkaido, Japan's largest producer of buckwheat. The restaurant became popular for its "Ezo-mae" style, featuring locally grown buckwheat flour and other Hokkaido ingredients.

*Sugawara smiling in front of Ezo-mae Soba and Butadon Hokudo. (©JAPAN Forward by Mika Sugiura)*

In May 2025, the brand expanded to New Chitose Airport, Hokkaido's main gateway. In addition to soba, the shop serves Hokkaido-style pork bowls and small dishes that pair well with alcoholic drinks. A standing counter allows travelers to enjoy a quick bowl even when pressed for time.

*Pork bowls and soba, eaten with grated horseradish in the Ezo-mae style. (©JAPAN Forward by Mika Sugiura)*

The shop also offers a selection of Japanese sake chosen by Sugawara, along with seasonal bottles of Akkeshi whisky from eastern Hokkaido.

Together with the ramen shop opened at New Chitose Airport in 2015, the two brands form what Sugawara calls his "Sugawara World."

Local Commitment and Global Appeal

"Flavor shouldn't be decided based on what you think the average person would like," Sugawara said. "You have to trust your own tastes and stick to them."

Recently, he developed new menu items using Hakodate's famous salt-fermented squid (shiokara). Not being a ramen craftsman by training, he listens carefully to others and continues to experiment with new ideas.

The chain has expanded beyond Hokkaido to areas such as Fukuoka, Koshien in Hyogo, and Nagashima in Mie. All of its core soup is prepared at a central kitchen in Teshikaga and shipped to each location to maintain consistent taste.

While the company has not actively marketed itself overseas, its long-standing commitment to its local roots in Teshikaga has helped drive its popularity with inbound tourists.

*Lake Mashu in Teshikaga, known as one of the clearest lakes in the world. (©JAPAN Forward by Mika Sugiura)*

"There's the slogan, 'Think globally, act locally,'" Sugawara said. "But for me, it's 'Think locally, act globally.' Staying true to the local is what opened the door to the world."

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Teshikaga Ramen flagship restaurant. To celebrate, the restaurant is undergoing a major renovation, including a new private room for up to eight guests, additional seating, and expanded restroom facilities. The renovation is scheduled for completion in May.

Through Sugawara's vision, a single bowl of ramen has become a spark connecting a small town in Hokkaido to the world.

*Founder Kenichi Sugawara with the team behind the Teshikaga Ramen flagship store. (©JAPAN Forward by Mika Sugiura)*

*The restaurant also provides EV charging. (©JAPAN Forward by Mika Sugiura)*

This report is published in cooperation with Teshikaga Ramen, a logo partner of the JAPAN Forward website Japan 2 Earth focused on initiatives to achieve the SDGs.