When you think Japanese cuisine, the first thing that comes to an Indian’s mind is sushi. But in recent times, Japanese Ramen, home-made noodle dipped in vegetable and seafood broth and topped with vegetables, is picking up.

What dosa and idly are for South Indians, Ramen is for Japanese. Though Ramen noodle is of Chinese origin, it is one of the most popular foods in Japan.

There are around 35,000 Ramen shops in Japan and 4,000 shops open and close every year. For Japanese, it is a comfort food.

Manga to Ramen Though there are many Japanese restaurants in Chennai, they serve limited Ramen options along with other Japanese specialities.

So, when Japanese come to India for business, it is Ramen they miss the most.

This was one of the reasons why Satoshi Akimoto and Vishant Vibhaker started AKI BAY and GOGO Ramen respectively in the city.

Vibhaker, proprietor of GOGO Ramen, said, “When we started the shop in 2013, visitors were mostly Japanese and we did not see much local crowd. But now, the scenario is slowly changing.”

According to Akimoto, owner of AKI BAY Ramen shop, it is because of increasing interest in Japanese culture thanks to influence manga and anime.

“Most of the local crowd we get are youngsters, who were drawn to Ramen by anime Naruto that follows the story of a teenage ninja.

“We have seen kids who bring their parents to our shop because they came to know about Ramen from anime and wanted to try them,” Akimoto said. “So our clientele is now almost 50-50,” he added.

Where expats go Another reason for the shift was that there was decline in Japanese expats in Chennai as many have shifted operations to Sri City, an industrial hub 55 km from Chennai. “In 2013-14 there were 3000 Japanese nationals in the city as opposed to 800 odd expats now. Our Japanese clientele is down by 60 per cent in the last one year and it hit our business.”

The restaurant used to serve 50 bowls of Ramen per day but now it has come down to 30. The drop in business is especially prominent in Ramen shops, as many locals prefer to try sushi and other Japanese cuisine since Ramen is not a very well-known. “We are trying to attract more local crowd to compensate for the decline of Japanese customers through Facebook page and we are already seeing results,” he added.

Now that the Ramen business is improving, Akimoto and Vibhaker are looking to expand to new locations.

He said the company has plans to open an outlet in Sri City, given significant Japanese population there.

“We have Bengaluru on the cards as well,” he said. “I’m planning to open another restaurant in Chennai in next few weeks.”

Aki Bay will open new restaurants in Bengaluru by franchise model and through joint ventures in Sri Lanka and Dubai in coming months. There are new menus on the anvil too.

“Other noodle variety like udon and soba, dishes like tempura and Japanese curry will be added to the menu. Tempura and curry especially will suit the Indian palette as they are spicier,” Akimoto said.

Correction

There are around 35,000 Ramen shops in Japan, and not 75,000 as an earlier version of the story said.

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