The Ramen Shops

Afuri in Sendagaya is my favorite ramen shop in Tokyo, and now it’s on a t-shirt. So are Ebisoba Ichigen, Menya Musashi, and Ippudo—all part of a Uniqlo collaboration that just dropped. Around fifteen euros each, which feels almost too cheap for what you’re actually wearing.

I’ve been saying for years that ramen is what sushi was before sushi got completely gutted. Sushi left Japan and became whatever anyone wanted it to be—duck instead of salmon, ground beef instead of tuna, curried sausage where avocado should go. Someone in Tokyo’s probably still angry about it. But ramen, in the places that actually matter, stayed honest. It’s hard to fake a proper bowl. You can’t shortcut the broth.

These shops aren’t tourist traps. They’re packed because the food works. Afuri especially—there’s something about how they balance the acid and fat that makes you finish and immediately want another bowl. It’s not some precious, Instagram-ready experience. It’s just ramen that makes sense.

What gets me is how specific this collab is. They picked actual good shops instead of whatever name was biggest. That suggests someone involved actually knows what they’re talking about, or I’m reading too much into t-shirts. Either way, I’ve got to get my hands on that Afuri shirt before it sells out. I’ll figure out what that says about me later.