Ramen (/ˈrɑːmən/) (拉麺, ラーメン or らあめん, rāmen; [ɾaꜜːmeɴ] ) is a Japanese noodle dish. It is a part of Japanese Chinese cuisine. It includes Chinese-style alkaline wheat noodles (中華麺, chūkamen) served in several flavors of hot broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including sliced pork (chāshū), nori (dried seaweed), lacto-fermented bamboo shoots (menma), naruto, and scallions. Nearly every region in Japan has its own variation of ramen, such as the tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen of Kyushu and the miso ramen of Hokkaido.
The origins of ramen can be traced back to Yokohama Chinatown in the late 19th century. While the word "ramen" is a Japanese borrowing of the Chinese word lāmiàn (拉麵), meaning "pulled noodles", the ramen does not actually derive from any lamian dishes. Lamian is a part of northern Chinese cuisine, whereas the ramen evolved from southern Chinese noodle dishes from regions such as Guangdong, reflecting the demographics of Chinese immigrants in Yokohama. Ramen was largely confined to the Chinese community in Japan and was never popular nationwide until after World War II (specifically the Second Sino-Japanese War), following increased wheat consumption due to rice shortages and the return of millions of Japanese colonial settlers from China. In 1958, instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Ando, further popularizing the dish.