ABOUT | IPPUDO LONDON

ABOUT IPPUDO

To constantly change so as to never change.
A phrase packed with feelings.

STATEMENT
HISTORY
AWARDS
FOUNDER

STATEMENT

Japanese Wonder to the World.

Since it was first founded,
IPPUDO has been focused on creating a new ramen culture in Japan.
And now, starting with ramen,
IPPUDO plans to introduce Japan’s beloved gastronomic culture to the world.
In the hopes that people all over the world will enjoy Japanese food,
and will also come to understand and love Japanese culture.
And with the wish of bringing smiles to the children of the world who represent our future.
Continuing to thrill the world with Japanese food.

Feelings towards
“Keep changing to remain unchanged.”

Feelings towards “constantly changing”

IPPUDO still needs to prove itself for many more years before it can claim to be a long-established shop. The year 2035 will be its 50th anniversary. The year 2085 will be its 100th anniversary. It’s not easy to predict the future, but there is one thing that will “never change”. That is IPPUDO’s firm resolve in the way it serves each single bowl of ramen to each individual customer. IPPUDO’s future aim is to become a long-established shop. In order for IPPUDO to be recognized as a respectable long-established company in the years to come, IPPUDO is committed to focusing on “what will never change”, and achieving this requires constant change.
Feelings towards the food

IPPUDO has always believed that taste is not only experienced with the tongue. Naturally ingenuity is needed, which incorporates all five senses including sight and sound, but the elements of comfort and safety are also essential in taste. IPPUDO carefully selects the ingredients, prepares the water, and maintains its cooking environment in perfect condition to ensure thorough cleanliness and organization. And then, these are brought to life through the hands of a master craftsperson. That’s why we do not grudge a single minute of time spent on developing our staff. IPPUDO’s food, and naturally its ramen, was born on this unique foundation of “primary standards”.

Feelings towards the design

The wooden signs and hand-dyed fabric dividers reminiscent of Kyoto’s long-established stores. The woody interior such as found in a wood sculptor’s studio. The original bowls specially ordered from a pottery. The sound of jazz flowing in the background. Young men and women dressed in samue robes welcoming you in a breezy tone. Everything about this “IPPUDO – Hakata” design born in 1985 is so inventive. This spirit of the company has now been passed on to create even more innovative stores. What’s more, underlying the design is the theory of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water (moku, ka, do, gon, sui). So please come and experience the harmony of each of the elements for yourself.
Feelings towards hospitality

IPPUDO aims to have staff who are able to “notice attentively, think attentively and act attentively”. In other words, people who carefully observe what the customers want, surmise their needs using their past experience and make predictions when taking action. These are people who are able to evoke feelings which exceed the expectations of our customers. Reading the human mind is not something that can be explained in an instructions manual. This is the source of IPPUDO’s omotenashi (hospitality). Another is the spirit of gratitude. For us at IPPUDO, every steaming bowl is an “arigato” – a thank you, which we serve to our customers all around the world together with a smile.

HISTORY

1985.10.16: Established “HAKATA IPPUDO” in Daimyo, Chuo-ku,
Fukuoka city
1994: Opened its first Kanto-region IPPUDO ramen shop
in the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum
1995: Opened “IPPUDO Ebisu”, its first Tokyo IPPUDO ramen shop
in Hiroo, Tokyo

1996: Launched its signature dishes,
“Shiromaru Classic” and
“Akamaru Modern”

1997: Became Champion of the “TV Champion –
Ramen Master Chef Championships” aired by TV TOKYO
1999: Defended its Champion title to become a two-time winner
of the “All-Time Best! Ramen King Finals II” aired by TV Tokyo
2000: Elected to the Hall of Fame for three consecutive wins
in the “Look at That Queue!
Ramen Master Chef Championships” aired by TV TOKYO.
Launched the industry’s first ramen shop brand
“cup noodles” in joint development with Nissin Foods

2002: Held an event called Shiki no ramen (Four Seasons
Ramen) at the Daimyo Headquarters,
which served a one-day only “original ramen creation”
2005: Won the “World’s Greatest Ramen King Finals” aired
by TBS to be crowned the first “Ramen King”

2007: Launched the Kiwami shinaji (Ultimate Modern)
at 1,300 yen per bowl
2008: Started its global expansion by opening “IPPUDO NY”,
its first overseas IPPUDO ramen shop in New York
2010: Remodeled the Daimyo Headquarters on IPPUDO’s 25th
anniversary and opened its first IPPUDO sub-brand shop,
“SHIROMARU BASE” in Omori, Tokyo
2010-2011: Won first place in best overall at the Tokyo
Ramen of the Year Grand Prix

2011: IPPUDO NY ranked No. 1 in the 2010 “Yelp”,
the US coast-to-coast restaurant review site
Opened its first IPPUDO ramen shops in Hong Kong
2012: Hosted the “First Ramen General Election”,
an “original ramen creation” contest Opened its
first food-court geared ramen shop “IPPUDO RAMEN EXPRESS”
Opened its first IPPUDO ramen shops in Taiwan,
China and Australia
2013: Opened its first IPPUDO ramen shop in Malaysia
Held an event called Shiki no ramen dai ni sho
(Four Seasons Ramen Part 2) which served
a one-day-only “original ramen creation”
Ramen supervised by IPPUDO selected by
All Nippon Airways (ANA) for ANA international
inflight meals

2014: “PARIS RAMEN WEEK Zuzutto” held in Paris, France as part of
the 2014 COOL JAPAN Project gaining much acclaim
Opened its first IPPUDO ramen shops in Thailand,
the Philippines and Indonesia
First overseas expansion into Europe with the opening of
its shop in London, U.K.

2015.10.16: Revamped its signature dishes “Shiromaru Classic” and
“Akamaru Modern” on the occasion of its 30th anniversary

2016: Opened its first IPPUDO ramen shop in Paris, France

AWARDS

JAPAN

Three consecutive wins as TV Champion as aired by TV TOKYO: Champion of the “TV Champion - Ramten Master Chef Championships”
Successfully defended its title to become Champion of “All-Time Best! Ramen King Finals II”
Champion of “Look at That Queue! Ramen Master Chef Championships”

Crowned first “Ramen King”: Crowned first “Ramen King” in the “World’s Greatest Ramen King Finals” aired by TBS

“TRY Grand Prix”: Won overall first place in the “Tokyo Ramen of the Year (TRY) Grand Prix” 2010-2011

Trip Advisor: IPPUDO Nishikikoji ranked best overall No. 9 in the “2014 Restaurants Popular with Foreign Visitors”
Ranked No.1 in the ramen shop category

Ramen Walker: Grand prix 2012

Restaurant Industry Press Club: Winner of the Special 10th Anniversary “2013 Restaurant Award”

NY

: Ranked No. 1 in the “TOP 10 Rtestaurants” of 2010
Ranked No. 3 in the “TOP 10 Restaurants” of 2011

: Ranked No. 1 in the 2010 Noodle Category
IPPUDO NY: Ranked No. 1 in 2011; ranked No. 2 in 2012; ranked No. 1 in 2013; ranked No. 2 in 2014

Michelin: “IPPUDO NY” listed for six consecutive years since 2009

The New York Times: Selected as one of the top 10 recommended ramen shops

The 2015 Best Asian NYC Restaurants Contest: The first IPPUDO NY shop won in the ramen category

HONG KONG SAR

Open Rice: Ranked no. 1 for 16 consecutive weeks in the restaurant chart
The first IPPUDO Hong Kong shop won “Best Restaurant in the Tsim Sha Tsui area”

Michelin: Listed in the Hong Kong & Macau restaurant and hotel guide

APAC Sabre: Won the Asia-Pacific region’s largest industry award in the Product Media Relations category

CIPRA: Won an award from the China International Public Relations Association founded in Beijing in 1991 highly rating IPPUDO’s campaign

Weekend Wkly: Selected as one of the top 5 Japanese restaurants “customers definitely want to go to”

U Magazine: Selected as one of the top 5 popular restaurants of "U Magazine"
Won Popular Food Award 2015

SINGAPORE

Epicure’s Top Award: Won Epicure’s Top Award, Ramen TOP10 sponsored by food magazine, Epicure

Epicurean, Hungry Go Where Peoples Choice: The first IPPUDO Singapore shop won “Most Popular Japanese Restaurant”

Women’s Weekly: Won the GolfPlate of women’s magazine, Women’s Weekly, in the ramen category

Trip Advisor: Received the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence

CHINA

The Beijinger: Won the Japanese food category/imported food category of The Beijinger 2015 Restaurant Awards

MALAYSIA

Trip Advisor: Ranked 43rd out of 2,644 restaurants, received the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence

THAILAND

Wongnai: Won “Best Restaurant” on the Wongnai restaurant review site

As well as the abovementioned awards, IPPUDO received recognition with numerous other awards.

FOUNDER

SHIGEMI KAWAHARA

Founder of Chikara no moto (lit. “The Source of Power”) Company
Chair and CEO of Chikara no moto Holdings
Founder of IPPUDO
Born in Fukuoka prefecture in 1952. Opened “After the Rain”, a restaurant & bar in ’79.
After opening “HAKATA IPPUDO” in ’85, Shigemi Kawahara established Chikara no moto (lit. “The Source of Power”) Company in ’86. It was through Shigemi Kawahara opening a ramen shop in the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum in ’94 that tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen gained popularity throughout all of Japan. Then, starting with IPPUDO’s foray into the New York gastronomic scene in 2008, IPPUDO has since been acting as a global leader to convey the appeal of both ramen and Japanese food throughout the world.
In addition, winner of the 10th Anniversary Restaurant Award in 2014 for IPPUDO’s achievements in expanding the restaurant industry and contributions in developing a restaurant culture.
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in ’97 as a three-time winner of the popular TV TOKYO program, “TV Champion – Ramen Master Chef Championships” and recognized with awards from numerous contests featuring “original ramen creations”. Author of books including Ippudo gorin no sho (“IPPUDO – The Book of Five Rings” (Chichi Publishing) and Anata no mise o tsubusanai hosoku (“The Principles Behind Not Bankrupting Your Shop” (PHP Institute)), Nanatsu no shuukan to ippudo (The Seven Habits and IPPUDO),