Eating blue ramen at the sort of Hatsune Miku ramen shop

The virtual pop star Hatsune Miku is an entity that appears in almost any medium you can think of. Her imprint stretches beyond music and is an influential character that even big companies want to have a piece of, appearing in commercials, anime, concerts, a glass tube in people’s homes, and now, even in ramen? Well, sort of.

We visited the ramen shop “Ramen Kippōshi”, known for its (unofficial) ties to Hatsune Miku and its many Hatsune Miku figurines decorating the place. However, what’s peculiar about this ramen place is that they never intended for this fame to happen, it sort of, just happened…

Before continuing the story, let’s look into the ramen shop and the unique blue dish they serve.

Hatsune Miku greets you as soon as you enter.

Miku standing next to Moeno “MoeAzu” Azuki’s sign (@moeazukitty), an idol from the group Bakusute Sotokanda Icchome. The other sign is from Kouri Arisa (@arisa_kori), an anime voice actress who goes on ramen adventures on the show “Ari Men Dan” (@Ari_Men_Dan).

The ramen shop we visited is called Ramen Kippoushi, located in central Shibuya, and their specialty, blue ramen! Its unique color might look both beautiful and scary at the same time, but after having tried it ourselves, I can ensure you there’s nothing to worry about.

There’s more than just blue ramen, there’s also red ramen which is called “Pink Ginger”.

Two servings of blue ramen!

And the third serving! Topped with chicken, welsh onions, garlic, and chicken oil.

Since this is a shio ramen (salt-based ramen), just like the clean and fresh color it gives off, the flavoring itself is very delicate too—a very light salty taste. The thin ramen offers a great texture that plays well with the rest of the toppings: the soft boiled egg, vegetables, and the sliced chicken. Having all these ingredients in a bowl filled with blue broth made a quite interesting sight, “Very instagramable!”, an observation made by my table companions. The only thing that made me doubtful was the chicken soaked in blue, almost as if the meat was feeling unwell, but that, of course, did not affect the taste negatively in any way.

If you like ramen with a very clean and fresh taste, give it a go! Our opinion on this is similar to John Daub‘s from the YouTube channel ONLY in JAPAN, we were actually enticed to try it out ourselves after watching his video.

A rack full of alcohol bottles and evenly spaced out Miku figurines, and plushies.

But wait! So how does the blue ramen tie in with Hatsune Miku? The first thing you might notice is that the color of the broth is similar to Hatsune Miku’s signature color. This is indeed one of the reasons. When we asked the shop owner and creator of the blue ramen, Koizumi Takao, he explained that all the Miku figurines and plushies in the shop were gifts from customers.

We were intrigued to know if Koizumi himself was invested in Miku, his reply to our question was very simple.

Well, not in particular.

The blue color is actually inspired by things such as the ocean and the sky, invented out of Koizumi’s urge to create something beautiful. The cherry on top of it all is that his beautiful creation is fun and also capable of putting a smile on people’s faces.

Judging by Koizumi’s down to earth and honest personality, the fame he received from Miku isn’t something he’s delighted or displeased about, nor will he take advantage of its momentum (maybe a little) as the photos on his Instagram focus on the food before anything else. The decoration appears to be more of an appreciation of his customers and the blue ramen was essentially created for his own enjoyment.

Miku at the register, in close proximity to you until the very moment you pay and leave.

While Koizumi’s blue ramen gained a reputation for being a dish associated with Hatsune Miku, that is mainly an effect created by the Miku fans who visit the shop. But regardless, considering how Miku can be seen in almost any direction in the shop, it looks like Koizumi himself doesn’t seem to mind how things turned out.