On the Japanese island of Rishiri, off the northwestern tip of Hokkaido, is a small ramen restaurant. It is a family-owned shop and only open for two and a half hours every day. Getting there usually involves some combination of planes, trains and ferries. It’s a good thing, therefore, that Rishiri Ramen Miraku is unbelievably good.
Here they serve a unique kind of ramen with local kelp at the heart of what makes it special. The kelp is matured for three years and the bone and vegetable broth is extracted for eight hours.
The locally harvested kombu seaweed is the not-so-secret ingredient, but would likely be too expensive to serve anywhere else.
Rishiri is only home to a little over 5,000 people, with a beautiful extinct volcano at its center. It is part of the Hokkaido prefecture, and takes its name from the Ainu language. The word Rishiri means “high island” or “island with a high peak”.
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Tourism and fishing make up the majority of Rishiri’s economy, with tourists traveling for its scenic views from challenging hiking trails or scenic bus tours that take you around the edge of the island. Getting there, however, can prove rather more challenging.
The most common route involves a ferry from Wakkanai, a small city at the very tip of the island of Hokkaido. Wakkani is the northernmost part of the entire country of Japan, only 27 miles away from the Russian island of Sakhalin.
Most people traveling to Wakkanai will take the train from Sapporo, the largest city of Hokkaido. It takes over five hours and runs up the west coast of the island. You can also fly or take the bus to the port, from which the seasonal ferry from Wakkanai to Rishiri takes a little over 90 minutes and runs 2-3 times a day.
Here at Great Big Stroy, we love ramen. We’ve got flying ramen, super spicy ramen and, of course, instant ramen. If that’s not enough to keep you going, below you can learn about Japan’s famous black ramen!
