Changelog
A public record of every update, correction, and addition. Ramen information goes stale fast — we publish all changes here so readers can see exactly what's been verified and when.
v1.7.5
- — Added 3 new shops in the Akihabara area: Menya Honda Akihabara Honten (modern Tokyo shoyu flagship, Tabelog 3.83 + Ramen Hyakusen 2022 + TRY Ramen Award 2024 — a bucket-list pick directly under the JR viaduct at the Showa-dori exit), Aoshima Shokudo Akihabara (the only Nagaoka-style ginger shoyu shop outside Niigata, serving a regional bowl that locals queue an hour for — cash only, no English), and Kyushu Jangara Akihabara Honten (the 1984 Hakata tonkotsu pioneer that put Kyushu pork broth on the Tokyo map — the most payment-friendly shop in the district with credit cards, IC, and QR pay all accepted).
- — Launched a new Area Guide for Akihabara at /area/akihabara — the sixth area guide on the site, covering three distinct ramen schools (modern Tokyo shoyu / Nagaoka ginger-shoyu / Hakata tonkotsu) within a ten-minute walk. Includes station exit guide, payment variation notes (cash-to-cashless split across the three shops), and routing tips for travelers combining an Akihabara ramen day with electronics or anime shopping.
v1.7.3
- — Added 3 new shops in the Asakusa area: Asakusa Ramen Yoroiya (classical Tokyo shoyu with yuzu, 1992 opened, within the Senso-ji visitor flow; also serves a dedicated Vegan Ramen certified by NPO Vege Project Japan), Ramen Benkei Asakusa Honten (tonkotsu-shoyu with heavy back fat, 1973 yatai origin traced back to Hope-ken, open until 4 AM for late-night ramen), and Men Mitsui (Tabelog Ramen Hyakusen 2024 + 2025, hand-massaged noodle shoyu chuka-soba — a bucket-list editorial pick).
- — Launched a new Area Guide for Asakusa at /area/asakusa — the fifth area guide on the site, alongside Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo Station, and Ikebukuro. The page covers the three distinct Asakusa ramen schools (classical shoyu / se-abura chaccha / hand-massaged chuka-soba), station exits, payment norms in the district, and a note for vegan travelers.
- — Expanded /guide/vegan-ramen with Yoroiya as a third verified vegan-friendly shop alongside T's Tantan and AFURI. Yoroiya is the only classical shoyu shop in the guide that runs a true plant-based bowl — useful for travelers mixing Senso-ji sightseeing with vegan eating.
v1.7.2
- — Added three new guide articles. "Ramen styles explained" (/guide/ramen-styles) maps the eleven Tokyo ramen styles — four pillars (shoyu, shio, miso, tonkotsu) and seven Tokyo variants (iekei, jiro, tsukemen, niboshi, tori-paitan, tantanmen, abura-soba) — and links each to a recommended first shop. "Vegan & vegetarian ramen in Tokyo" (/guide/vegan-ramen) covers the verified plant-based bowls at T's Tantan and Afuri plus the hidden dashi problem and the Japanese phrases to confirm your order. "Ramen vocabulary cheatsheet" (/guide/ramen-vocabulary) is a counter-ready reference for noodle firmness, broth strength, toppings, and the two phrases that handle 90% of situations.
v1.7.1
- — Added 3 new shops in Ikebukuro: Mutekiya (tonkotsu, iconic multilingual queue), Tonchin Ikebukuro Honten (tonkotsu, the 1992 pioneer of the "Tokyo tonkotsu" category), and Mendokoro Hanada (miso specialist, Tabelog 3.73 with over 3,500 reviews).
- — Launched a new Area Guide for Ikebukuro at /area/ikebukuro — the fourth area guide on the site, alongside Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Tokyo Station.
v1.7
- — Added a new Guides section with two in-depth guides. "How to use a Japanese ramen ticket machine (券売機)" covers the three types of machines you'll encounter, step-by-step instructions for both classic button machines and touch-panel screens, payment methods, common problems, and the Japanese labels on the buttons. "Iekei vs Jiro: which Tokyo style should you try first?" compares Tokyo's two most iconic ramen phenomena side by side — broth, portion, customization, counter culture, and which one belongs on your trip. Browse at /guides.
- — Shop detail pages now show a Related guides section linking to the relevant guides — ticket machine guide for shops with a visual ticket machine (11 shops), and the iekei vs jiro guide for all iekei and jiro style shops.
- — Style pages for iekei (/style/iekei) and jiro (/style/jiro) now cross-link to the new comparison guide.
- — Header navigation updated — the "Ordering Guide" link is replaced with "Guides", which opens the new index listing all current guides. The footer For Travelers column lists each guide individually.
v1.6.1
- — Added 5 new shops: Fuunji (Shinjuku, tsukemen), Tsuta (Yoyogi-Uehara, shoyu/Michelin), Menya Itto (Shin-Koiwa, tsukemen), Karashibi Miso Kikanbo (Kanda, spicy miso), and Chuka Soba Aoba (Nakano, shoyu).
- — Switched all Tabelog shop links to the English version (/en/tokyo/...) so international readers land on the translated page directly.
v1.6
- — Added Area Guides — new dedicated pages for Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Tokyo Station that explain each neighborhood's ramen scene, nearby sights, and station access. Available from the header navigation under "Areas".
- — Added an editorial note on the home page mentioning that Japan Bites is built by a ramen-obsessed Tokyo local.
v1.5
- — Published Shoyu and Abura-soba style pages — both categories are now browsable from the style navigation instead of being marked coming soon.
- — Revised Shoyu and Abura-soba style guides with historical detail: Rai Rai Ken (1910) as the Tokyo shoyu origin, the chan-kei revival, Chinchin-tei (1957) as the abura-soba originator, and the abura-soba vs. mazesoba distinction.
- — Minor factual corrections to other style guides (Jiro origin location, Miso and Tori-paitan dates, Tonkotsu origin point, etc.).
- — Redesigned shop share images — when you share a shop page on X, LINE, or Slack, the preview now shows the shop's hero photo with the shop name, area, and access tier overlaid, instead of a plain editorial card.
- — Redesigned shop cards on the home page — full-bleed food photos with text overlay replace the old split layout. A gallery/detail view toggle lets you switch between the new visual cards and the classic detailed view.
- — Style and area filters are now horizontally scrollable on mobile for a cleaner layout.
v1.3
- — Added dynamic social share images — when a shop or style page URL is posted to X, LINE, Slack, etc., a custom preview image (shop name, area, access tier) is now generated automatically instead of a plain link.
- — Added Google Analytics 4 with an opt-in cookie consent banner. GA4 cookies are only set after you accept. You can change your preference at any time from the Privacy Policy page.
v1.2
- — Added new shops: 鳴龍 (Nakiryu) — Michelin Bib Gourmand tantanmen in Otsuka; 神田ラーメン わいず (Kanda Ramen Waizu) — TRY Newcomer iekei in Kanda; 麺家 たいせい (Menya Taisei) — 2023 TRY New Shop Award chicken-shoyu iekei in Nakano-sakaue.
- — Added Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclosure, and Contact pages for legal transparency and compliance with Japanese APPI and stealth marketing regulations.
- — Added a contact form at /contact for editorial questions, shop removal requests, and business inquiries. Email address is no longer publicly exposed.
- — Added social share buttons (X, LINE, copy link, native share) to shop detail pages.
v1.1
- — Revised editorial concept: Access and Tourist scores are now descriptive, not gatekeeping. Shops with difficult access or no English are listed if they have the recognition to justify the visit.
- — Expanded inclusion criteria: major press features (Ramen Walker, dancyu, Time Out Tokyo, CNN Travel, etc.) now qualify alongside Michelin, Tabelog, TRY Prize, and Ramen Hyakusen.
- — Updated sitewide copy to reflect the new concept — methodology, about, FAQ, hero, and all style pages.
- — Fixed: removed broken Pocket Concierge reservation link for Konjiki Hototogisu (shop uses same-day queuing tickets, not online reservation).
- — Added hero image support on shop detail pages.
- — Added /map to sitemap.
v1.0
- — Initial publication with 10 curated shops across 9 ramen styles.
- — Published scoring methodology at /methodology.
- — Published English ordering guide at /guide/how-to-order.
- — Style pages live for all 11 categories (abura-soba and shoyu marked as coming soon for picks).