Tora Shokudo

**Ring before you go.** Opening hours and rest days for this shop are not reliably listed online and it has been known to close for extended periods. It is a country road twenty minutes out of town; arriving on spec is a real risk. **Queue before opening.** The line forms in advance and the shop is small. Arriving at opening time means waiting behind the people who arrived earlier. **The noodles are hand-cut.** Flat, irregular and wavy because of it. That texture against the clear soy broth is the whole of Shirakawa ramen. **Its apprentices are everywhere.** Shops in the Tokyo area openly identify as Tora lineage. Eating the original is the point of coming to Shirakawa for it. **Combine with Komine Castle.** The restored castle in the town centre is fifteen minutes away and is the other reason to stop in Shirakawa.