Sushi, tempura and teriyaki were the trailblazers of Japanese cuisine around the world.

However, it is now ramen, and other Japanese noodles like soba and udon, that are gaining in international interest.

Like Colonel Sanders’ fried chicken recipe or Coke’s secret formula, the ingredients of the soup and the know-how for making ramen are closely-guarded secrets among Japan’s Ramen restaurants.

It is said that you need to go through a long period of training to get to know the secret and to finally become a ramen chef. However, even if you become a ramen chef and open your own restaurant, it will be very difficult to survive the competition. People, especially those who live in Tokyo, are very picky about their ramen. According to some estimates, there are about 40,000 ramen restaurants in Japan. 3,500 restaurants open every year and 3,500 restaurants close down.

Now, you too can see if you have what it takes to make ramen. We’d like to introduce you to Yamato Noodle School. They offer a 7-day intensive course to learn the art of ramen-making. It doesn’t come cheap – 385,000 yen for the full course. But the basics and CEO Kaoru Fujii’s ramen expertise will be hammered into you. You will learn the technique of mixing and developing broth for the soup, the proper process of making and preparing noodles and combining both to develop a proper bowl of ramen.

Since the opening of the school, 600 students from 18 countries have graduated. This includes Ivan Orkin, famous in Japan as owner of Ivan Ramen in Tokyo.

Yamato Noodle also offers classes in making udon and soba, 2 very different kinds of Japanese noodles.

Parent company, Yamato Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is a maker of noodle-making machines.

Find out what some students had to say: