Asahikawa 旭川市

Japan

Asahikawa (旭川市) is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. Asahikawa has a population of more than 350,000. The total area is 747.6 km2 (288.6 sq mi).

Asahikawa does not have a strong tourist trade but the city is well known for the Asahiyama Zoo and Asahikawa ramen. 

What is so special about Asahikawa ramen?
Sapporo is known for its miso based broth and Hakodate for its salt based broth. Asahikawa is however known for its shoyu (soya sauce) based broths. Shops serving shoyu based ramen can be found throughout the city. The broth of Asahikawa Ramen is also known for being quite oily, and there is often a thin layer of oil on top of the soup. Another characteristic of the local ramen is the generally thin, hard and wavy noodles. The range of toppings is quite typical and includes green onions, pork, bamboo shoots and eggs.

This postcard came from Miku (17 July 2014) Swap-bot.