If you love cup noodles or instant ramen, I’ve got the perfect experience for you. Did you know there is an entire museum dedicated to Cup Noodles? Did you know that you can even make your own custom cup noodles to take home as a souvenir?
There are two cup noodle museums in Japan, one in Yokohama and the other in Osaka. I’ve been to both, but the Yokohama location is bigger and has more to see and do. I recommend checking it out while you’re staying in Tokyo.
When you enter, you will learn about the evolution of Cup noodles and see a really colorful display of the noodle development. They have packaging from all of the eras of cup noodles so that you can see how it has changed over time. It also makes an excellent backdrop for photos.
Then, you’ll learn more about the origins. They have an exhibit about the founding of cup noodles for you to explore.
Let’s get to the fun stuff. One really cool element of the Yokohama location is a tasting room. It’s an old fashioned city scape with ramen shops surrounding a food court. This is very similar to the Shin Yokohama Ramen Museum, which you can read about in my other post here.
My favorite part was actually creating my own custom cup noodle. You enter a large room where you get an empty cup noodle cup. Then, you sit down and decorate it however you like with markers. This is a great activity for kids or adults. Each time I’ve done this, it was with other adults, and we all had a great time. Next, you take it up to the noodle station. You move your cup through a noodle-filling machine by turning a lever. Then, a cup noodle staff member will add whatever dehydrated toppings you want as well as the soup base flavor of your choice. There are so many options to choose from! I chose seafood base with shrimp, crab, green onions, and corn. My friend picked curry base with shrimp, corn, kimchi, and green onion. You can really customize it however you like! At the end, you package it up in a nice little protective bubble for your cup noodles and take it home.
We ended our museum tour with an excellent view. They have a balcony where you can look out over the harbor in Yokohama and take in the beautiful sights.
This was a wonderful experience. At the Yokohama location, be prepared to spend several hours and come hungry and ready to eat. The Osaka location can be toured in about an hour, as it is smaller and does not have the tasting room. It does still have the create-your-own cup noodles, though. If you’re planning your trip to Japan, I definitely recommend checking this place out!