Cup Noodle Museum
 

My son wants to know: which Cup Noodle museum is better, Yokohama or Osaka.

Thanks.

I’m impressed that Japan has such a museum, and more than one at that. As only an occasional consumer of instant noodles, I had never even thought to look into museums. Japan does seem to have museums for all kinds of things one would not necessarily expect to find in most other countries!

The exhibits are very similar, but the Yokohama branch wins because 1) it's in the center of Yokohama's waterfront district, rather than off in the middle of nowhere, and 2) they have a much better food court (Noodle Bazaar - World Noodles Road), with eight different booths serving noodle dishes from all over the world.

Also you can go to the Cupnoodles Museum and the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum on the same day, although they're about 30-40 minutes apart.

Agree with lobsterdog, the Osaka one is a pain to get to by train and really hard to find parking nearby if you go by car. While the Yokohama one is really easy to get to.

I believe that the "original" museum is the one in Ikeda (near Osaka) but as long as you get to make your own cup o noodle and buy the momofuku apron, I really see no difference. Your son will love the place.

Why is it a "pain" to get to the Osaka one? Google Maps is telling me it'll take me 45-60 minutes to get to both the Osaka and Yokohama one. The better food court is tempting though. Schedule wise, going while I'm in Osaka is easier to squeeze in.

If you're visiting the Osaka branch, that means you're devoting several hours of your vacation just visiting the Cupnoodles Museum, because, as I said, it's in the middle of nowhere. It's a fun experience, but maybe not worth devoting a half day to it. OTOH there's plenty to see and do in central Yokohama around the museum - it's just a much more interesting area.

From Umeda, you don't even have to change trains, it's easy to get to. But from watching YouTube videos it seems like a so-so museum and really only interesting if you're REALLY into the instant noodles. I would suggest watching some youtube videos before deciding whether to go or not. Mark Wiens was just there recently and included it in a video.

I concur with everybody else in that the Yokohama one is better. For me, it's not so much the location but rather that the Yokohama museum is quite visually stunning whereas the Ikeda one is sort of just standard. FWIW, I didn't find it terribly difficult to get to Ikeda from Namba but obviously YMMV.

thanks all. I usually stay along the yokohama blue line so the yokohama one is easy for me to get to so I'll try that.

also, if you guys check the yokohama one out, you may want to try the Mitsubishi museum. It has some exhibits centered around their MRJ Jet with a simulator which is fun. Mitsubishi Minatomirai Industrial Museum

Oooh, thanks for the tip!

Never been to Osaka Cup of Noodle Museum, but I have been to the one in Yokohama. Personally the place was not really worth it. I thought the kids might enjoy making the cup of noodles, but there really wasn't much to it. If your kids are >6yo, it may not be all that interesting. If they're <6yo, they'll probably enjoy the play area on the top floor (not free) but, for that age group, Anpanman Museum or Kid-o-kid might be more appealing. I don't know that I'd make a trip just for that. Well, I suppose if you're a cup of noodle fanatic, then maybe it is worth it. But I concur that it's in an interesting area. I love taking a stroll through Minatomirai, World Porters, by the red brick complex, down towards Yamashita park and Chinatown. It may be worth checking out the museum if you're in the area to do other things.

I have been to the Osaka branch multiple times but not Yokohama branch, and viewed a video on the Yokohama one.

I will say if both are reasonable easy to access, with the Osaka one have a tiny car park on site (around 24 slots), but there is nothing nearby, however with Yokohama, as other said, can be linked together with other attractions.

If you are going to visit both Pan-Tokyo and Pan-Osaka area, I would say go to the Yokohama one as there's more things to do along the way and with a kids area / better food court.