Sapporo ramen is among the best ramen in Japan and is known for its thick miso soup and yellow, wavy noodles – a creation of Nishiyama Seimen. For over 70 years, the company has evolved from a noodle manufacturer to a promoter of ramen culture and is a driving force behind the worldwide spread of the dish. In Europe, it is committed to establishing ramen as an integral part of the food culture. The J-BIG editorial team spoke to Seiji Higuchi, head of the German branch Sapporo Nishiyama, about the company’s history, global expansion and challenges on the European market – always with the aim of not only growing economically, but also promoting ramen culture in the long term.
J-BIG: Can you tell us about the founding of your company and its early days?
Seiji Higuchi: Nishiyama Seimen began in 1947 as a small ramen stall in Sapporo, Hokkaido, under the name “Darumaken”. During the post-war reconstruction period, there were many food stalls in Sapporo as there was still no space for stores. Although Sapporo was not razed to the ground by the war like other Japanese cities, it was in a very difficult situation. There was not enough food and the economy was at rock bottom.
Under these circumstances, ramen was not a food culture as it is today, but was necessary for people primarily as nourishment and a meal of the day. “Darumaken” was one of the ramen stalls that offered homemade noodles and quickly became part of Sapporo’s post-war food culture.
The homemade noodles were so well received that the surrounding ramen stores asked to be allowed to use the same noodles, which led to the further development of noodle production. In 1953, the noodle-making department became independent and was officially established as “Nishiyama Seimen-jo”, or “Nishiyama Noodle Factory”.
J-BIG: How did you come to work for Nishiyama Seimen and how has your career progressed so far?
Seiji Higuchi: I originally worked for the food manufacturer Nisshin Seifun Group in Japan. When I got married, I left Nisshin Seifun Group and moved to Nishiyama Seimen. At the same time as this career change, I moved to Germany in 2016 and joined the current German branch. This was founded in 2014, but I was still in Japan at the time and not directly involved in its establishment.
When I think back to my school days, I was a student who loved ramen and ate it almost every day. Especially when I played in the baseball club in high school, ramen was part of my daily routine after practice. This fondness for ramen had a significant influence on my career today.
J-BIG: How big is Nishiyama Seimen as a company?
Seiji Higuchi: The company employs around 225 people and generates annual sales of around 5.2 billion yen. Around 45 percent of total sales come from Hokkaido, 35 percent from the rest of the Japanese market and the remaining 20 percent from foreign markets. The main product is fresh ramen for commercial use, which accounts for around 55 percent of total sales. The remaining 45 percent is generated from retail products and souvenirs in ramen stores, such as the sumire souvenir ramen sold at airports.
As for our position within the industry, there is no clear ranking as the noodle industry is very diversified. Our business focuses on fresh ramen for commercial use and we supply noodles to more than 8 .000 restaurants in Japan, more than 3,000 of which are specialized in ramen. We also cater to food service establishments. Outside of Japan we supply more than 360 restaurants (more than 150 in Europe) and focus on ramen restaurants.
Currently, our products are sold in 35 countries and regions and we have international branches in Germany and the USA. We export directly from Japan to the Asian market and also supply countries in the Middle East and Oceania, as well as the remote Japanese research station Showa in Antarctica, directly from our headquarters.
Most of the 3,000 ramen stores in Japan are privately owned – large chains are in the minority. There are some chains, such as Takumi, but basically the company mainly deals with individual stores.
J-BIG: How has Nishiyama Seimen developed since its independence in 1953?
Seiji Higuchi: The growth of Nishiyama Seimen was originally triggered by a request from a ramen restaurant called “Aji no Sanpei”. The restaurant wanted to develop noodles that would go well with the miso ramen they served. This is how the “yellow wavy noodles” were created, which are still very popular today. The first ramen with these noodles was served at “Aji no Sanpei” and became the prototype for Sapporo miso ramen. The noodles are characterized by their high water content and the maturing process that gives them their unique texture and firmness. They go perfectly with the thick soup and have become a symbol of Sapporo miso ramen.
Miso ramen from Sapporo became popular with Japanese tourists and spread throughout the country, including Honshu. Tourists visiting Sapporo considered it a must to try miso ramen. The emergence of instant ramen such as “Sapporo Ichiban” and chain ramen restaurants such as “Dosanko” also helped to increase its popularity.
In line with these developments, we at Nishiyama Seimen have also increased our scale. Rather than actively pursuing growth, our company has grown naturally with the increasing popularity of Sapporo miso ramen. As a result, Nishiyama Seimen has grown with the spread of Sapporo ramen culture throughout Japan to reach its current size.
J-BIG: How did Nishiyama Seimen expand into the international market?
Seiji Higuchi: Nishiyama Seimen expanded abroad for the first time 42 years ago. In 1983, a Hokkaido fair was held in Hawaii, USA, where Sapporo ramen was served. Nishiyama Seimen employees traveled to Hawaii to prepare our ramen for the occasion and served it to customers. Although this was a temporary activity and not the establishment of a permanent location, this experience was the beginning of our exports.
Since then, the company has selectively exported to various countries, but it first set up shop in Europe. In 2014, we established a local office in Düsseldorf, thereby entering the European market even before the American one.
To improve the quality of their outcomes, we provide our customers both in Japan and internationally with instructions and recipes for making ramen noodles. We offer continuous support and suggestions tailored to local needs, not only for the use of the noodles, but also for preparing the soup and the overall recipe. In this way, Nishiyama Seimen contributes to the spread of ramen culture throughout the world.
J-BIG: So you are involved in the development of the product instead of just selling it?
Seiji Higuchi: That’s right. We don’t just sell our noodles, we also develop flavors together with our customers. So sometimes we refuse to work with customers who don’t value taste or just want any product. Our goal is to work with customers who appreciate the taste so that we can create the best possible product.
In practice, this means that when a restaurant opens, we spend two to three days working with customers on prototypes and making final adjustments. It is not unusual for our employees to visit the restaurant and help with the preparations for the opening. We have always placed great value on this process of co-creation with our customers, and this attitude is still very important to us today.
J-BIG: What specific adjustments do you make when you develop recipes for stores?
Seiji Higuchi: In Japan, customizations mainly concern the noodles. We process around 500 types of noodle dough, which we adjust as a basis for further fine-tuning according to customers’ wishes. We also ask customers which soup they would like, and develop recipes based on that. Sometimes, we even practise cooking with them.
We receive a wide range of feedback from the 3,000 ramen stores we work with. Based on this information and Nishiyama Seimen’s many years of experience and knowledge, we then develop better recipes.
The quality of the flour and an alkaline ingredient, the so-called “brine”, are the main factors behind the different flavors of the noodles. The brine contains sodium and calcium carbonate, which are responsible for the noodles’ unique texture and taste. These also depend on the amount of salt and the type, composition and quantity of the brine used.
The brine is a defining element of ramen, although in Europe, udon noodles are sometimes sold as ramen. This is an indication that the definition of ramen is not properly understood. We believe that improvements are needed in this area. In our view, the use of brine is a requirement for the term ramen to be used. However, this understanding varies from region to region.
J-BIG: Are the noodles you develop in a test kitchen produced in Japan and then imported?
Seiji Higuchi: All products are currently manufactured in Sapporo. We develop the flavor in a test kitchen together with our customers and pass this information on to our factory in Sapporo, where the noodles are then produced and imported to Germany. However, this presents disadvantages in terms of transport costs and time, and to improve this, we are planning local production in Düsseldorf. Specifically, we are developing a small production line that will be set up from 2026 onwards.
Our plan is to start with small-scale production and gradually increase the scale of production in line with demand. The aim of starting local production in Düsseldorf is to reduce costs and improve supply security.
The German operation is currently run by four people. Although we are a small team, we hope to establish local production so that we can serve the European market more efficiently.
J-BIG: How many restaurants in Europe offer Nishiyama Seimen noodles?
Seiji Higuchi: We currently supply around 60 restaurants in Germany and around 150 throughout Europe. Our main customers in Germany include the numerous branches of “Ramen Ippin” and “S’J-Ramen” in Bielefeld and Osnabrück. “AOI” and “Menya Ikko” in Munich also uses our noodles.
Outside of Germany, we also deliver to major cities in Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, with a growing customer base in Italy in particular. There are currently around 15 ramen stores in Italy that work with us a lot. The ramen in Italy is of very high quality, which stands out even compared to Germany. I would recommend giving it a try.
J-BIG: Importing food from Japan to Europe has become more difficult in recent years – does Nishiyama Seimen face similar challenges?
Seiji Higuchi: Currently, all products are made in Sapporo and use ingredients that comply with EU regulations, but this process is very complex and costly. Logistics have been disrupted worldwide, particularly by the pandemic.
When the Chinese ports were closed due to the lockdown, all containers stopped moving. As a result, our merchandise was held up in the port of Rotterdam for a long period of time, and EU import restrictions on food were also introduced, which led to a complete logistical standstill.
The port of Rotterdam switched to remote work, so the local response could not keep up and many containers were queuing. We had about 15 containers that were blocked. On top of that, storage fees were costing us up to 500 euros per day and some containers were standing idle for up to nine months. We suffered huge losses – at a total cost of 220,000 euros. In addition to these logistical disruptions, the scarce stocks had to be brought in urgently by air freight from Japan, which was also a major burden as air transportation is extremely costly.
J-BIG: How do you see the ramen market developing in Germany and Europe in the future?
Seiji Higuchi: The ramen market in Europe currently has enormous growth potential. We are only at the beginning of the ramen boom: If the trends in the US market are any indication, the European ramen market has the potential to grow at least tenfold.
Just as was the case in the US, an established appreciation for sushi and Japanese food culture will help spread the popularity of ramen in Europe.
Ramen is a dish that is very much linked to the local food culture. Just as there are more than 200 local variations of ramen in Japan, Europe has the potential to create its own localized ramen. In Italy, for example, there is “carbonara ramen”, even if it is not yet very widespread. This means that new ramen creations can be created by merging the dish with the local food culture.
J-BIG: What are your visions and goals for the German market?
Seiji Higuchi: Nishiyama Seimen has a very special background: more than 90 percent of Sapporo’s primary school students visit our factory when they are in third grade. During the factory tour, they learn how to make ramen. This is also sometimes relevant for exams as part of social studies lessons. After the tour, the children are asked to take ramen home with them, so everyone who grew up in Sapporo is familiar with Nishiyama Ramen.
As a company, we not only sell noodles but also preserve the ramen culture. We have grown together with our customers in the course of the popularity of Sapporo Ramen and have produced a variety of noodles together with them. Therefore, we feel supported by the consumers of Sapporo and not only strive for sales, but also want to value and establish the ramen culture in Europe. If we were only thinking about business, we would choose to sell our noodles to a larger number of customers. But we want to preserve the culture behind it while developing our business in Germany and Europe.
