Japanese Racism Is The Cause Of Immigration Detainee Abuse

 

Aichi Police Patrol Near Nagoya Immigration Center

There is an explanation as to why detainees are abused by officers at immigration detention centers．It is obvious but nobody wishes to speak it. It is the hatred and contempt that many Japanese feel toward people who are not Japanese. Japanese xenophobia and racism is well known. That secret was let out of the bottle decades ago. There are three significant problems in the political sphere that hinder the public’s ability to acknowledge racism.

First, the Japanese government’s official position denies the very existence of racial discrimination. Despite recommendations from the United Nations and other countries to take adequate measures against racial discrimination, the Japanese government has stated that they “do not recognize that the present situation of Japan is one in which discriminating acts cannot be effectively restrained by the existing legal system and in which explicit racial discriminating acts, which cannot be restrained by measures other than legislation, are conducted. Therefore, penalization of these acts is not considered necessary.” Even if local governments highlight the reality of discrimination in their municipalities, the federal government’s attitude of complete denial strongly influences society’s overall stance on the existence—or absence—of racism in Japan. Although these issues exist, the denial of racism by the Japanese government undermines its reality.

The second problem lies in the methods that the Japanese government uses to conduct its census. In the US and the UK, census data does not merely record nationality, but ethnic and racial background as well. This is because nationality is not equated with ethnicity or race. However, since Japanese population statistics are only based on nationality, the racial diversity among Japanese nationals is left unexplored by the census. Therefore, this statistic reinforces the idea that the category of “Japanese” refers to a single ethnic group, and that Japan’s population only consists of monoracial Japanese people and non-Japanese people. Yet when we consider the actual racial and ethnic makeup of people living in Japan, we quickly realize that the reality is far more complex. Given that demographic statistics mask the racially diverse reality, it leads to the idea that “Japan is not racially diverse, so there is no such thing as racism in the first place.”

The third issue is the “single ethnicity myth” propagated by Japanese politicians. Those in positions of political power have continuously asserted that the Japanese are a monoethnic group. However, Japan has always been a country with various cultures and customs that vary across each region, with a rich linguistic diversity (such as Ainu, Uchinaguchi [Okinawan], and Japanese Sign Language) and a long history of migratory movement and nomadism. However, when influential politicians repeatedly contradict this reality—by asserting that Japan is a monoethnic society with one language and one culture that has existed for two thousand years—it reinforces the aforementioned single ethnicity myth. This myth of racial and ethnic homogeneity is used to justify the idea that racism has never occurred in Japan.

To move past this fiction, we must accept that Japan is racially diverse, and acknowledge that Japanese people engage in discrimination against foreigners and other Japanese people. That Japan is built in its institutions with a strong racist regard for keeping non-Japanese from achieving any real power. Non-Japanese, even when they naturalize, will never be allowed to work in police, legal, or military spheres. From here, we as a society must establish laws and regulations combating racial discrimination. In addition, we must pay attention to the lived experiences of each individual to understand how racial discrimination affects their daily lives and resist the urge to minimize or silence their experiences.

The Japanese government has been reluctant to open the country to large-scale immigration, especially to those engaging in unskilled labor. But as the population grays and dwindles, and a labor shortage looms larger, many people from abroad have already been allowed to enter under several different programs. The government has no official statistics, but the number of immigrants in Japan is estimated to be around 1.5 million-2.5 million people, some 1.2% to 2% of the entire population.

Dallas Brincrest, Editor

Former Nagoya Immigration Detention Officer Speaks

 

Nagoya Immigration Center

It was a scorching afternoon in Nagoya. A storm began to rage just before I reached Kanayama Station's entrance. Dripping with sweat and rain I made my way upstairs to a coffee shop to meet a gentleman. As I entered a man stood and waved. Being the only foreigner it was a sure assumption I was the one he was there to talk to.

A former employee of an immigration detention center in Japan, Sato (name changed for protection), revealed that he felt like staff members "looked down on" foreign detainees by calling them by dehumanizing jargon referring to "bodies" taken under custody. “They used the term gara from migara, a term used in law enforcement to refer to a body under custody. I felt this dehumanized the people in our custody and care.”

Sato continued, “There have been cases of foreign nationals being driven to death while detained at facilities, due to poor living conditions as well as an insufficient system for providing medical services. I felt something was wrong in the way detainees were treated at the immigration facility and how medical services were provided there. I felt that colleagues were always being cruel toward the detainees. Mocking their pain, laughing at them being sick, and always teasing them as foreign trash their own country did not want. Staff would make monkey noises as detainees would tell them about their symptoms. They would say the women would die alone as no man would ever want them.”

Sato recalls one old Vietnamese man, “The man in the best Japanese he could speak told an officer about severe pain in his chest. The officer shrugged and told him everyone dies. The old man ended up dying that night. But what if an ambulance had been called right then? It pains me to think about it.”

There has also been a number of cases where detainees at immigration detention centers were subjected to violence by a group of numerous staff members. In January 2019, a video was revealed showing immigration officials restraining Deniz, a 42-year-old Kurd, at the Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center. The footage showed at least seven officials had pinned Deniz to the floor, although he showed resistance by saying "it hurts," and, "please stop." The officials handcuffed him with his arms twisted behind his back while straddling him, and yelled at him while poking his neck with their fingers. Deniz filed a lawsuit in August 2019 seeking compensation from the Japanese government, and the case is still in litigation.

Sato says, “One day, I saw employees at the guard station watching and laughing over a video capturing the moment an Iranian detainee was being subdued with choke hold and chest pressure. An official involved in the act had said proudly, 'I got this one. Look he goes limp.' As he showed himself using a choke hold with a baton. The other staff present seemed to be amused too. There was no way I could agree with what was happening. Although it wasn't everyone at the immigration center, there were people who looked down on the detainees and were cruel to them.”

There were no full-time doctors at the six immigration detention facilities across Japan, according to documents by the Immigration Services Agency. Doctors visit the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau, which can accommodate 414 detainees, the highest number in Japan, four days a week for four hours at a time. Medical professionals visit the Higashi-Nihon Immigration Center with 253, or the second greatest number of detainees, five days a week for four hours each.

Sato shakes his head and says, “When detainees complained of feeling sick, there were many cases where they couldn't be examined right away by a doctor, to me showing inadequate handling of cases. In order to receive medical examinations, detainees must submit application papers containing descriptions of their symptoms to responsible officials, but there were apparently many instances where officials did not respond immediately, saying to bring it in tomorrow I don't have time today.”

Wishma Sandamali, a Sri Lankan woman who died on March 6, 2021 at age 33 while being kept in detention at the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau, also told a supporter, "I want to go to a hospital outside and get an IV drip, but the immigration officials won't bring me to one." The woman had only been able to receive an examination at an external hospital two days prior to her death.

However, she had been brought to a psychiatrist, and she was suspected of feigning her illness. The psychiatrist who examined her wrote in a patient referral document that "it can be expected that her condition will get better if she is temporarily released." However, such facts were not revealed in the interim reports, and only made mention of "feigned illness."

Sato wells with tears and says, “Since the detention facility accommodates such a large number of people 24 hours a day, isn't it necessary to either permanently station staff capable of making medical decisions, or have a system allowing detainees to be examined immediately by a large external hospital. The more people are kept detained the more hopeless they see their future. They give up and become overly compliant hoping it helps staff treat them better. It doesn't because the cruel staff see them becoming weak and useless for anything. It is a cruel cycle.”

Thomas Mann, lecturer of criminal policy theory at Nagoya University and an expert on detention centers, raised a structural problem and said, “It is stipulated in the law that for prisons and other facilities under the jurisdiction of the justice ministry, directors in charge at the facilities are also responsible for medical services. Jails and prisons have a codified process that must be followed for citizens and foreigners alike. Meanwhile, there are no clear provisions for immigration facilities, and in practice, medical decisions are made under the director's discretion. Most of these people don't hold medical licenses, and decisions on medical work requiring specialized knowledge are being made by those outside the profession.”

Sato thinks and says, “I believe the problem is institutional. It affects all the immigration detention centers When you see the detainees as bodies and not humans then it begins to devalue those people. It makes the people seem they just want to complain and not that they have real illness that needs attention. It then makes it easy to imitate officers above you in mocking those people. The detainees have no voice. Many cannot communicate in Japanese and 99% of the detainment staff only speak Japanese. If they are abused who can the detainees tell? These detention staff are not the smiling, helpful immigration desk attendants. The detention staff are security officers with police power. They know mistakes will be covered to protect the blue shirt club. It made me sick so I left.”

Chris Hollingsworth

Nagoya Priest Abuse Victim Speaks

 

Fr. Michael Walsh

The Priests of the Sacred Heart have operated as a religious order in the Catholic Church in Japan since 1952. Japan is part of the order’s mission territory of the Province of Australia. The order also sponsors priests and brothers from the USA and Canada as well. The Province of Australia is the largest of the Sacred Heart. They also have missions in New Guinea, Saipan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and South Korea. All of their mission territories have had allegations of abuse going back to 1984. The Sacred Heart Provincialate in Sydney refused any comment or to validate the following.

Michael Walsh was unlike other priests. He spoke fluent Japanese, he had been studying since high school. He was 36, relatively younger than most priests in Japan. He is an outgoing Canadian who was handsome to girls and a big brother to the guys. Walsh rarely wore clerical collar. He had a magnetic personality who showed the young people around him he cared about their issues and their troubles. They responded with love and acceptance. Something very few foreigners will have in Japan from a vast majority of Japanese – young or older.

Satoshi Tanaka (name changed as requested), then 16, was surprised when Walsh walked up to him during his first visit to Mikokoro in March 2006, a youth center and church run by the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Nagoya, Japan. During other visits Walsh always held conversations with Satoshi. One day, Walsh offered Satoshi to go to a coffee shop. Satoshi agreed and there in the toilet room as Satoshi washed his hands before ordering, Walsh showed Satoshi his penis, and in Satoshi's horror Walsh grabbed Satoshi's pants, pulled them down and held his penis and masturbated him. Satoshi sat stunned with Walsh as they had their coffee. When they left, Satoshi ran to the subway for home. Satoshi never spoke a word of this to anyone.

He said Walsh would fondle him and give him money repeatedly over a two-year period. One day Satoshi told a Sacred Heart Priest about the abuse. The next day Satoshi was met at Mikokoro by an unidentified priest in collar and a lawyer. The lawyer did all the talking. They took a taxi to Satoshi's home to talk to his parents. 

In Japan, if the victim has not gone to the police yet, but to church clergy or representative the fist action is a nondisclosure agreement presented by church lawyers. The victim is barred going to police until the church diocese or religious order completes its investigation. 

As the church authorities and lawyers carried out the investigation, he described the process as "extremely distressing" for a survivor of institutional abuse. A clerical representative of the Nagoya Diocese, the Vice-provincial of Sacred Heart Priests, and a lawyer for the order were the sole people Satoshi spoke to. “Their whole attitude was that I bore proving I was abused without any doubt. I had to satisfy their standard. I was offered no sympathy or even a chance to express my pain.” 

Oddly to Satoshi, the police were not involved. The lawyers reminded him of the NDA he signed with his parents. Satoshi and his parents did not know how the legal system works. Why would they? They are not lawyers and had never been in trouble. The lawyers know this. The ignorance is preyed upon by lawyers and the NDAs are pulled out. With an inkan seal they gave away their legal rights. Every victim who went to church authorities, instead of the police first, tell the same story.

Satoshi later went to the police. The first action police took was to call the Nagoya Diocese office. 30 minutes later the detective told Satoshi there was nothing they could do. His parents had an NDA. The police and prosecutors left the church and Sacred Heart Fathers to investigate itself. In normal circumstances when victims first go to the police, the police receive a complaint and then talk to the accused. Then the prosecutor must have the complaint from the victim in order to indict and try a rape or indecent assault case. Usually the accused and the diocese/religious order make a settlement with the victim and ask him/her to withdraw the complaint, the prosecutor then will not indict the accused. 

In these cases NDAs of priests being accused, the leadership of the diocese or religious order assure the prosecutor that they will investigate fully. If they find new illegal activity then the prosecutor will be notified. This satisfies the police and prosecutor. In the end, Walsh escaped punishment. In all three accusations the Tokyo and Nagoya church authorities together with PSH found the accusations unsubstantiated. A cash settlement was paid to the accusers for their mental anguish, but as no admission of guilt by the religious order and diocese. 

The police refused reporting and prosecution refused indictment accepting the diocese and order’s findings in May 2010, and the cases were closed. Walsh returned to Canada in 2013 a free man and still a practicing priest. From his assignment in Manitoba, Walsh refused any comment and demanded we not contact him again. His superiors in Canada said the same. His name has been removed from the online directory of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Canada.

Address: Mikokoro Center, 3-6-43 Marunouchi, Naka-ku, Nagoya 460-0002 Japan 

 Priests of the Sacred Heart Canada: http://www.scjcanada.org/index.php  

Priests of the Sacred Heart Japan: http://mikokoro.com/

Chiba Child Welfare Admits Mishandling Kurihara Case

Chiba Child Welfare Officials Address The Media

10-year-old Mia Kurihara who died in January after a series of physical and sexual assaults by her father had been released from protective custody despite the father's abuse of her, Noda, Chiba Prefecture government sources said Tuesday.

While 41-year-old Yuichiro Kurihara has already been indicted on assault-related charges after his daughter Mia was found dead in the bathroom of their home in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, the sources said the girl told child welfare center officials in interviews in 2017 that her father had woken her up at night and did sexual things to her.

She said her underwear were pulled down by the father, and when she told him to stop and pulled her pants up, Kurihara told her that other family members "will notice if you say that, so be quiet" and them he would sexually and physcially assault her according to multiple documents during the 3 year investigation.

During the interviews conducted while she was in protective custody at the Kashiwa child welfare center, the girl also gave accounts of her father's physical abuse, such as trying to suffocate her while she slept.

The center ended her protective custody, even though a doctor said she had been subjected to muiltiple assaults as well as many sexual abuses and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. The national and prefectural governments are now admitting the decision at the time was not appropriate.

Mia was taken into protective custody at the center on Nov. 7, 2017 after she reported in a school questionnaire that her father "hurt" her.

But after 2 months she started saying she wanted to go home, the center concluded the abuse was not serious and ended her protection as of Dec. 27 that year so she could stay with relatives. She was allowed to return home on Feb. 28, 2018.

The girl's 32-year-old mother Nagisa Kurihara has also been indicted on a charge of assisting in assault.

The case has revealed an apparent lack of coordination among authorities on the situation and questionable responses.

Officials of local governments apparently failed to share information on the family despite the abuse allegations and a local education board provided a copy of Mia's complaint to her father. Welfare officials also failed to check on the girl's safety after her protective custody ended.

Nikko Hotels To Open Their Largest Hotel In Nagoya

Concept Drawing Of Nikko Style Nagoya

Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hotel Okura Co., Ltd., announced today its conclusion of a contract with Meieki Management LLC to manage Nikko Style Nagoya, the first hotel under the new upscale, select-service Nikko Style brand, which will open in 2020.

Nikko Style Nagoya will be located in Nagoya’s popular Meieki district, which combines offices, retail outlets and other downtown conveniences, including Nagoya Station, within the fast-redeveloping Chukyo metropolis that extends well beyond Nagoya.

Mr. Marcel P. van Aelst, CEO of Okura Nikko Hotel Management, remarked, “We are delighted that we will be opening Nikko Style Nagoya in 2020. This will be our first property branded under Nikko Style, our new lifestyle brand targeting customers who are especially interested in new and creative hotel experiences. We look forward to opening this and other Nikko Style hotels in major locations worldwide to create an all-new customer base.”

Nagoya’s Meieki district is a principal transportation hub with intersecting JR, Nagoya Railroad and Kintetsu Railway lines. In recent years, Meieki has become the main gateway to the Nagoya metropolitan area and surrounding region. The district’s distinctive atmosphere is defined by its highly regional character, including historic Yanagibashi Central Market, the local “pantry of citizens.” Chubu Centrair International Airport is within easy reach and is expected to bring in many more overseas visitors as Japan’s inbound tourism continues to surge.

Nikko Style Nagoya will offer 191 rooms, a communal lobby, all-day dining and a fitness gym. This will be Okura Nikko Hotels’ first select-service lifestyle hotel targeting at a new customer base. The upscale facility will be specifically geared to satisfying the needs and preferences of millennials interested in culture, health, the environment and creative hotel experiences. It is forged from the brand concept of a hotel that fascinates people by offering them new travel styles and experiences.

One of the hotel’s many appealing features will be its communal lobby, which is designed to facilitate interaction among hotel guests, local people and other visitors. Additionally, a special event area in the lobby will provide a unique space for culinary events featuring tasty local ingredients, workshops on Nagoya’s distinctive cuisine and performances by local musicians, allowing guests to absorb Nagoya culture and experience its charms even before venturing outside.

All-day dining will include a tempting mix of all-round and local Japanese cuisine, including fresh, high-quality produce supplied by local farmers, as well as representative local beers and Japanese sake.

Standard rooms will offer an above-average 30 m² of floor space with 5 meters of frontage, providing spacious living areas and bathrooms allowing enhanced relaxation. Interiors will incorporate motifs inspired by the traditional crafts of Nagoya, imbued with Japan’s world-famous manufacturing culture, and in the same spirit, Nikko Style Nagoya will provide their own original amenity products which are gentle on the skin and environmentally friendly.

The 24-hour fitness gym will invigorate guests with an exhilarating open design enhanced by an extra-large picture window. As a people-friendly and earth-friendly hotel, Nikko Style Nagoya will offer guests environmentally friendly choices such as the option to decline replacement towels or bed linen.

The development of the hotel facilities is being carried out by Support 27 LLC. And ORIX Real Estate Investment Advisors Corporation performs asset management and project management work, which has been commissioned by Support 27.

Location: 5-2011-1 Meieki, Nakamura-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture
Access: JR, Meitetsu, Higashiyama and Sakura Dori Subway, Nagoya City Bus

No. of floors: 13
Total floor area: About 9,542 m²

Mayor Kawamura And Council To Discuss Integrated Resort Bid

Takashi Kawamura, Mayor of Nagoya

A recent survey conducted by the Kyodo news agency revealed that only three locations in Japan had positively confirmed their desire to host an integrated resort (IR). These include Osaka, Wakayama and Nagasaki, while others were either “considering making an application” or had no interest. One of those that was said to be considering vying for an IR was Nagoya, which has now confirmed that it is contemplating whether or not to place a bid, adding that it will make a decision by this summer.

The mayor Nagoya, Takashi Kawamura, has acknowledged that his administration is preparing to hold exploratory discussions May 20 on the subject with consultants and resort operators. GGRAsia states that one of its correspondents learned that Kawamura expects any IR to be located within no more than 30 minutes from Nagoya JR/Meitetsu Station and could possibly cover between 12.4 and 24.8 acres.

If Nagoya waits too long to make its decision, it might be too late. Japanese officials have already indicated that they would start reviewing bids by the summer and a serious amount of schmoozing between casino operators and target cities began more than a year ago. Given the popularity of the three cities that have already confirmed their interest, Nagoya may have a hard time competing unless it can provide a plan that would blow the others away.

For any local government to submit an IR bid, it must first find a gambler partner. This would most likely only occur following a lengthy study into the logistics of hosting an IR, as well as research into suitable partners.

Since the IR Implementation Act stipulates that bids can be submitted from any local government down to the “ordinance level,” GGRAsia points out that it is possible to have two bids appear from Nagoya – one for the prefecture and another for the city.

Should Nagoya choose to enter the race, it reportedly has already picked out an ideal location. It has selected an artificial island on Ise Bay where the Chubu Centrair International Airport is located. That airport services as many as 20 million passengers annually.

Police Bust Nagoya Prostitution Ring

Aichi Prefectural Police have busted a prostitution ring that is believed to have recruited tens of thousands of customers through a smartphone application, reports the Sankei Shimbun

Among those arrested was Kohei Kino, the 27-year-old leader of Akatsuki, which took its name from the famous animated film. Between October, 2016 and this past February, the ring is believed to have collected around 600 million yen from about 30,000 customers.

Thus far, police have accused Kino and eight other men of working together to dispatch women to hotels in the Sakae area of Naka Ward to provide honban, or full sex, to male customers on January 23 and the following day.

Kino, who has been accused of violating the Anti-Prostitution Law, denies the allegations. “Since there is no evidence, I have nothing to say,” the suspect was quoted by police. Meanwhile, the other eight suspects admit to the charges.

After receiving an anonymous tip last February, police launched an investigation.

The members competed with one another in the recruitment of the customers, which was done with them posing as women on a smartphone deai-kei dating app. Streets scouts recruited the women to serve as prostitutes, police said.

Tokyo Reporter

Nagoya Ready For Rugby World Cup

Toyota Stadium, Toyota Shi, Aichi

While the city of Nagoya is not hosting the Rugby World Cup matches, near by Toyota Shi is in the newly built Toyota Stadium.  This means Nagoya will be a destination for hotel stay, shopping, dining, and site seeing.

Throughout the city one can see parks being revitalized, store fronts being remodeled, and  hotels polishing their staff English skills.  Banners wave in the breeze near Nagoya Station announcing Aichi as a sports destination.

Matches at Toyota Stadium
Monday September 23, 7:15pm, Wales vs Georgia
Saturday September 28, 6:45pm, South Africa vs Namibia
Saturday October 5, 7:30pm, Japan vs Play Off Winner
Saturday October 12, 1:45pm, New Zealand vs Italy

 

Assefa Of Ethiopia Takes Nagoya Marathon

Meskerem Assefa of Ethiopia

Meskerem Assefa of Ethiopia pulled ahead of favorite Valary Jemeli of Kenya with four kilometers left to win the Nagoya Women's Marathon on Sunday.

Assefa won in a time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 45 seconds, one minute and three seconds ahead of Jemeli. Japan's Hanami Sekine, making her marathon debut, was third with a time of 2:23:07.

Assefa pulled even with Jemeli at the 38-kilometer mark and was unchallenged over the closing kilometers to take two and a half minutes off her personal best time.

With 21,915 female runners, 2,058 more runners than the previous year, the Nagoya race is the world's largest all-female marathon event.

Undefeated Hakuho Wins Historic Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament

Yokozuna Hakuho Celebrates 1045 Career Victory

 

Hakuho reached yet another milestone by tying late yokozuna Chiyonofuji at 1,045 career victories after beating fourth-ranked maegashira Kagayaki at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday.

Yokozuna Hakuho remained peerless at the 15-day tournament, improving to a perfect 9-0 with an easy win over Kagayaki, whom he slammed to the dirt in their first career meeting.

The victory put him on equal footing with one of sumo’s legends in Chiyonofuji, who passed away in July of 2016. The 32-year-old Hakuho, now the winningest yokozuna ever, is three years younger than Chiyonofuji was at the time of his final victory.

Hakuho also moved within two wins of former ozeki Kaio’s all-time record, which, barring injury or some unforeseen event, will almost certainly be rewritten by the end of the current basho.

Hakuho will face No. 5 maegashira Chiyoshoma (4-5) on Tuesday. Chiyoshoma defeated ozeki Goeido (5-4) on Monday.

“I’m really happy about this,” said Hakuho, who was given a bouquet of flowers and waved to the crowd at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium on his way back to the dressing rooms.

The Miyagino stable wrestler is one win ahead of No. 8 Aoiyama in the title race here and two ahead of a pack of four, including new ozeki Takayasu.

Aoiyama rebounded from his first defeat of the tourney a day earlier, but cut it close as the judges had to convene over his win against No. 11 Chiyonokuni (3-6).

Chiyonokuni, bloodied after taking a hard slap to the face, appeared to have sent Aoiyama tumbling to his second loss. But the judges caught Chiyonokuni stepping out of the ring before his opponent hit the ground, and declared Aoiyama the winner.

“I was sure I saw his foot go out first, so I’m glad that was confirmed and I was able to win,” Aoiyama said. “The big thing is to stay focused and wrestle well, and keep doing that each and every day.”

Takayasu, who had won seven straight after losing on the first day, failed to put up much of a fight against komusubi Yoshikaze (5-4). After locking horns at the tachiai, Yoshikaze got a firm grip on the belt and simply pushed Takayasu out with minimal resistance from the ozeki.

The other yokozuna in the field, Harumafuji (6-3), was stunned by fourth-ranked Ura (6-3), who earned his first career victory over a yokozuna.

Hakata Ippudo Is Nagoya's Best Ramen

Ippudo's Original Shiromaru Ramen

According to the ramen experts at Hakata Ippudo the secret is in the process of boiling pork bones and then condensing the resulting stock until it is just right to pour right into the ramen bowl. As great as their original White Stock Ramen we would not argue one little bit. Drinking the stock when the noodles have been devoured is like a heavenly dessert. This has been done from day one when Shigemi Kawahara opened the first Ippudo Ramen Shop in the Hakata area of Fukuoka in 1977.

The stock is not salty, not too greasy, nor too heavy. It simply is the best stock of any ramen restaurant in Nagoya (or the world). All Ippudo restaurants in the 150 shop chain located in Japan, the UK, USA, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, France, and Taiwan; demand consistency so that eating their ramen in Osaka or Nagoya or New York City or London will all have the same exact flavor, seasoning, and presentation. Adherence to the Ippudo way is the only way for all outlets. Here Ippudo is a smashing success. Having eaten in the Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima shops, it is the same quality each visit no matter the location.

While Sakae in Nagoya is filled with over 100 ramen joints, Ippudo is clearly the best hands down. The noodles are hand made which is rare in this modern city. The stock is made fresh every day beginning at 6AM. Again, rare for modern ramen shops. Today, the norm is to have prepackaged noodles and broth. Ippudo still hand makes the noodles for both the ramen and soba. The pork is tender, fat trimmed to a finger nail width, and seasoned with only a dash of white ground pepper then steamed for 2 hours until it is falling apart good. There simply is no better ramen restaurant in Nagoya or in Aichi. The original Shiromaru Ramen is simply the best ramen you will ever eat.

Karakamen

The gyoza (or pot stickers) are steamed and seared to perfection. The filling is just right in seasoning and again are not too greasy as many are in chain restaurants. For a different but equally delicious ramen adventure the new Karakamen is topped with their special chili paste and garlic oil. The Tebesaki (chicken wings) are topped with sesame seeds after being cooked and then drenched in the Ippudo homemade Soy-Seame BBQ Sauce.

Gyoza Set - Rice and Tea Included

Tebesaki

The only down side to the perfectly cooked and presented offerings is that the salad offered is no more than shredded cabbage with a few strands of carrot and a splash of bland sesame dressing that is too heavy on the mayo and too light on the sesame. But this can be overlooked as it all about the ramen here.

Also offered is various fried rice dishes, Nagano style soba, and salads from cabbage to creamy potato. Beer is the sole alcoholic offering and then only Kirin Ichiban Shibori. This place gets crazy packed from 12PM to 2PM every day. Folk will wait 45 minutes for a table with no complaint.

Location:

1-1-10 Higashisakura,

B1 Blossa-Urbannet Bldg

Higashi-ku, Nagoya

Phone: 052-950-5251

Website: http://www.ippudo.com/store/nagoyasakaebrossa/

Hours: 11AM to 11PM every day and only closes on January 1.

Price: Super Affordable

Quality: Best Ramen in Aichi

Service: Exceptional

Advice: Come hungry and take your time eating. Rushing this experience will leave you feeling full but empty in your soul.