Tonkotsu Ramen at Lunch, Yakitori After Dark: Give Kurume the Whole Day

Kurume runs on two clocks. The ramen said to have started tonkotsu ramen, first served from a street stall here in 1937, is now sold at the Nankin Senryo Honke shop only around lunchtime, while all but two of the yakitori places on the city’s lists open only in the evening. So if you come from Fukuoka, stay past dark instead of heading back after lunch. Picture that hand-over at dusk, one kind of shop closing for the day as the other opens.

Lunch: the bowl said to have started it

The Kurume Chamber of Commerce tells the story this way: in 1937, a street stall called Nankin Senryo lit its lamp on Meiji-dori and began selling what was then called shina soba. It is said to be the first place in Kyushu to serve ramen, which is why Kurume calls itself the birthplace of tonkotsu ramen.

You can eat it today at Ganso Nankin Senryo Honke’s Kokubu shop in Nonaka-machi, but only for a few hours around midday. The tourism site lists the Kurume velodrome and Yunosaka onsen as its neighbours, so check the map and allow time to get there. It is also closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so if the first bowl is the reason you came, keep those days free of Kurume.

If you arrive at JR Kurume Station, Raifukuken is right in front of it. If I had one lunch at the station, it would be here: the tourism site calls its soup light yet deep, topped up since the shop opened. It closes on Sundays, and when the noodles run out, it stops for the day.

Try two more in town. Daiei Ramen’s main shop, whose 100% pork-bone soup has also been topped up since it opened, opens in the morning, skips its afternoon break on Fridays and Saturdays, and closes early if the soup runs out. The tourism site describes Taiho Ramen’s old-style bowl as a rich, matured soup with pork belly.

Between the two: yakitori inside the station

You will find one of only two yakitori places on the lists that open at lunch upstairs in JR Kurume Station. Rokkakudo is run by a farm that raises Kurume Sazanamidori, a local chicken, and it serves lunch as well as dinner. It is the easy choice if your train home leaves before dark. It closes on Mondays.

After dark: the yakitori places open

Stay into the evening for the rest. Yakitori Teppo’s main shop, in Hiyoshi-machi, is described by the city tourism site as the birthplace of makimono-kushi, rolled skewers, and it stays open past midnight with no fixed day off.

Toriki, in Ichibangai, Higashi-machi, puts fish from the Ariake Sea and dishes of the Chikugo region alongside its yakitori. Shinkichi, in Mutsumon-machi, has morning-fresh chicken and herb skewers, and then, to my delight, names its dandan noodles as the dish it is proudest of, with French toast as a popular dessert.

Pick a Friday or a Saturday

Here is how the days off fall. On a Wednesday you lose both Nankin Senryo and Shinkichi; on a Sunday, Raifukuken and Toriki, and Shinkichi too on the third Sunday; on a Monday, Rokkakudo, and Raifukuken too on the third Monday. On a Friday or a Saturday none of them has its weekly day off, and Daiei serves straight through the afternoon, though holidays and sold-out soup can still close a door.

Before you go

Checked 16 October 2026.

What I would do

I would come on a Friday, eat the first bowl at Nankin Senryo before it closes for the day, and then wait in Hiyoshi-machi for Teppo to open; the rolled skewers would be my first order, since this is where they are said to have started. Shinkichi’s French toast would be the excuse for a second stop.