“The spicy, stimulating taste keeps coming back to me”···Following Shin Ramyun, Neoguri, ‘K-ramen’ cements its footing in Japan - 경향신문

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Nongshim’s ‘Shin Ramyun Bunsik’, which opened last June on Takeshita Street in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan. Takeshita Street is known as a hub of Japanese fashion and pop culture, drawing 70,000100,000 local youths and foreign tourists on weekends alone. Provided by Nongshim

At ‘Shin Ramyun Bunsik’ on Takeshita Street in Harajuku, Tokyo, visitors cook ramen themselves using an on-the-spot cooker, experiencing what is nicknamed ‘Hangang ramen’. Provided by Nongshim

At ‘Shin Ramyun Bunsik’ on Takeshita Street in Harajuku, Tokyo, visitors order Korean ramen via a kiosk. Provided by Nongshim

“I like Korean ramen because its texture is chewier than Japanese ramen.”

On the 15th, on Takeshita Street in Harajuku, Tokyo. To introduce a friend who is interested in Korean culture to the taste of K-ramen, 42-year-old Toyama Mami visited ‘Shin Ramyun Bunsik’. Shin Ramyun Bunsik is a pop-up store created by Nongshim to let overseas consumers experience a variety of ramen.

After choosing ‘Shin Ramyun Tumba’ from the store shelf, Mami paid at the kiosk and then cooked the ramen herself using the instant cooker. She put the noodles and soup powder into a bowl, pressed the cooking button, and deftly stirred the ramen with chopsticks as the broth began to boil. About 5,000 Nongshim ramen are sold here each month. Clerk Son Mo (23) said, “People say it’s deliciously spicy. They seem to like it even more because they can experience ‘Hangang ramen’, which you make yourself,” adding, “I once pressed the cooking button for a customer, and after finishing a bowl, they ordered another because they wanted to press the button themselves.”

Korean-ramen enthusiast Shimamura Ayaka (21) was captivated by the taste of ‘Neoguri’ on the 16th at Korea Expo Tokyo. Korea Expo Tokyo is a comprehensive trade show featuring Korean brands in K-food, beauty, and content. This year, Nongshim set up a booth themed around ‘Neoguri’ and offered tastings to consumers. Ayaka, who first tried ‘Shin Ramyun’ at a friend’s house in middle school, said, “It tasted different from Japanese ramen. It was spicy, yet that stimulating taste kept coming to mind.” She added, “I thought I should try other Korean ramen too, and now I stock up on ‘Neoguri’ and ‘Gamja Ramen’ at home and eat them. Thanks to that, I even traveled to Korea, and I’m self-studying Korean.”

“Less spicy? Targeting Japan with a ‘spiciness’ it never had”

Three menu items introduced in collaboration between Nongshim and Fuji-Q Highland in Japan, featuring Shin Ramyun, Shin Ramyun Tumba, and mild Neoguri. Provided by Nongshim

Korean ramen is gaining presence in Japan, the homeland of ramen. After Shin Ramyun became the first Korean ramen in 2015 to enter every store of Japan’s three major convenience store chains (7-Eleven·FamilyMart·Lawson), Shin Ramyun Tumba has also been sold nationwide since last month at roughly 53,000 locations across those three chains. In Japan, where around 1,000 new instant-ramen products are launched every year, it is unusual for a foreign ramen brand to be available year-round in all stores of the major convenience chains.

Shin Ramyun is a steady seller marking its 40th anniversary this year, while Shin Ramyun Tumba has achieved this success just one year after launch. Blending Shin Ramyun’s signature spiciness with a cream sauce, Shin Ramyun Tumba also became the first Korean ramen to be named to Nikkei Trendy’s ‘Best 30 Hit Products of 2025’. Cumulative sales of Shin Ramyun Tumba in Japan have reached 10 million units.

Japan’s instant-ramen market is about 7 trillion won annually, characterized largely by sweet and salty flavors built around miso (miso)·shoyu (soy sauce)·shio (salt)·curry·tonkotsu (pork bone). Spicy ramen accounts for about 6% of the market, essentially led by Shin Ramyun. According to Nongshim on the 19th, Shin Ramyun’s sales in Japan reached 16.5 billion yen last year, taking 40% of the entire spicy-ramen category. Nongshim Japan (Nongshim Japan) posted 10 billion yen in sales in 2021 and 20.9 billion yen last year (about 200 billion won).

As Shin Ramyun has cemented its position in the Japanese market, major local manufacturers such as Nissin and Toyo Suisan are rolling out spicy offerings one after another.

At a press briefing held in Tokyo on the 15th, Vice President Kim Dae-ha, head of Nongshim Japan, said, “The Japanese ramen market was a place where spiciness was zero. At first, there were voices saying ‘We can’t sell something this spicy’ and ‘Let’s make it less spicy,’ but for a long time we have targeted it as a ‘spiciness not found in Japan’.” He added, “Now, everyone knows Shin Ramyun. We have succeeded in planting the Shin Ramyun brandrepresenting Korean spicinessinto Japanese food culture, and it has taken root as a culture of its own.”

At ‘2026 Korea Expo Tokyo’, which opened in Tokyo on the 16th, visitors taste ramen at a booth themed around ‘Neoguri’ run by Nongshim. Provided by Nongshim

Nongshim is now cultivating Neoguri as the ‘second Shin Ramyun’. Targeting Japanese teens and those in their twenties, it has also made the Neoguri character image rounder than before. In response to the question, ‘Since both Shin Ramyun and Neoguri are spicy, don’t the product lines overlap?’, Vice President Kim expressed confidence, saying, “Neoguri is differentiated from Shin Ramyun in its noodles. Though it is ramen, it’s closer to udon,” adding, “In Japan, the sales ratio of spicy to mild Neoguri is 7:3, so mild sells more than in Korea (9:1).”

To establish Shin Ramyun as a ‘brand in everyday life’, Nongshim is broadening consumer touchpoints around major tourist attractions and landmarks worldwide.

Shin Ramyun Bunsik is a prime example. Following the first location at Machu Picchu, Peru, last April, it now operates in four places including Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and New York’s JFK Airport. Nongshim also runs tasting booths at events such as the ‘Sapporo Snow Festival’, one of the world’s top three winter festivals, and has operated the roaming ‘Shin Ramyun Kitchen Car’ since 2013 to meet consumers on the street. At the food court inside the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park, collaboration menu items using Shin Ramyun, Shin Ramyun Tumba, and mild Neoguri are also sold through next month.

Nongshim has set a goal of increasing sales in Japan to 50 billion yen by 2030 and raising its share of the spicy-ramen market to 50%. If achieved, Nongshim, currently around sixth place in Japan’s instant-ramen market, is expected to move into the top five.