The Capital of Ramen , Kitakata City

Kitakata City in Fukushima is now famous as one of the most popular ramen towns in the nation.  There are a lot of good ramen shops and restaurants in the city and they attract many tourists from all over the country. 

But what I heard about Kitakata is different than what people think about this city.  It was originally not a ramen town before. The city was a town of old beautiful warehouses and they attracted many tourists.  

And those tourists found out most of the ramen shops in the city were very tasty.　 The reputation of those good ramen shops spread out by word-of-mouth and thru the media.

That has transformed the city from a warehouse town to the capital of ramen. 

Kitakata skyline, no skyscraper though,.

This is a warehouse of sake brewery. 

The main gate of the sake brewery. 

They open the inside as a museum to the public. 

Dried rice straws used for brewing sake. 

Their old-to-latest product bottles. 

Their old-to-latest product bottles. 

warehouse shrine of sake. 

The 2nd flr is a small gallery for artists. 

Empty sake bottles are used between the wooden bars. 

Hallway of the brewery. 

The water of this small well directly comes from Mt. Iide,
which is kind of a mother mountain of the area.

Back st of Kitaka.
Back to 70s.

Back st of Kitakata
Back to 70s

Back st of Kitakata. 

 

Closed pachinko (Japanese pinball game) hall.
It's retrospect atmosphere. 

Cute cats.

A st. of the city.

this old warehouse is now a clothes store.
Their items were still old fashioned though. 

@ Kitakata stn.

Sake barrels @ the stn.

@ Kitakata stn.