Ezawa

Published: Aug 11, 2026

Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Katsuura tantanmenEzawachilli oilsince 1954Katsuura

Representative image — not a photograph of this location.

Katsuura tantanmen is not Sichuan tantanmen and does not pretend to be. There is no sesame paste and no peanut. It is a soy-based chicken, pork and seafood broth with a thick layer of house-made chilli oil on top, minced pork, and — the detail that makes it — chopped onion cooked down until sweet. It was invented at this shop in the 1950s by a cook who took the idea of Sichuan dry tantanmen and put it into his own shoyu ramen, and it caught on because fishermen and ama divers coming out of cold water wanted something that would warm them from the inside.

Ezawa opened in 1954 and is the origin shop. The chilli oil is red enough to be startling and the heat is real but not punishing; the onion is why. It is out in the hills above the town rather than in the port, opens at half past eleven, closes when the soup runs out, and takes Mondays off. There is normally a queue.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

11:30 AM – 6:00 PM (closes when the soup runs out)

Closed: Closed Mondays

Entrance Fee

Tantanmen around ¥880 | Jo-tantanmen around ¥990 | Chashu tantanmen around ¥1,210

Best Season

Year-round | Winter, which is what the dish was invented for

Visit Duration

45–60 minutes including the queue

Getting There

Access Information

Shirai-kubo, Katsuura. Car recommended — it is inland from the town, not at the port. Open 11:30 AM – 6:00 PM, closing when the soup runs out. Closed Mondays. Tantanmen around ¥880, jo-tantanmen around ¥990, chashu tantanmen around ¥1,210. A numbered-ticket system operates at busy times.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Get there for opening.** It opens at 11:30 AM, runs a numbered-ticket system when busy, and stops when the soup is gone. Arriving at two on a Saturday is a gamble. **Order the standard first.** The plain tantanmen at around ¥880 is the original. The chashu and jo versions add meat but not information. **The onion is the reason it works.** Chopped onion cooked down and stirred into the chilli oil is what distinguishes Katsuura tantanmen from every other spicy ramen in Japan. Look for it before you eat. **It is not in the port.** Shirai-kubo is in the hills inland. People who plan to walk from Katsuura Station after the morning market will be disappointed; this needs a car or a taxi. **Dozens of shops make it now.** Katsuura tantanmen is a registered local dish with a promotion association and versions across the town. If Ezawa is closed or queued out, the dish is not.

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