Fujitoraya Asakusa: Shoyu Ramen From a Soy Sauce Brewery Founded in 1804
Fujitoraya (富士虎屋) in Asakusa is a ramen shop run by a soy sauce brewery, and its whole menu is built around one ingredient. Otaka Shoyu, the Chiba company behind it, has been making soy sauce since 1804. The banner out front sums up the pitch: shoyu ramen made seriously by a soy sauce maker.
The location makes sense too. Asakusa is where shoyu ramen got its start. Rairaiken, widely credited as Japan's first ramen shop, opened here in 1910, and its soy sauce broth became the template for Tokyo ramen.
By then, Otaka Shoyu had already been brewing for more than a century, so when it opened its first Tokyo ramen shop, Asakusa was the obvious pick. I tried all three of Fujitoraya's bowls, and the soy sauce really is the main event here.
A soy sauce brewery that makes ramen
Otaka Shoyu is based in Sammu, Chiba, and for most of its history it has made soy sauce, tsuyu and tare for restaurants rather than for supermarket shelves. Fujitoraya flips that around, since this time the restaurant is theirs too.
The Asakusa shop opened on Kototoi-dori in February 2026, and the whole menu is built to show what different soy sauces do in a bowl.
Three bowls, named by color
The menu is built around three bowls, and each one shows off soy sauce in a different way.
Kuro: the bold one
The kuro (black) uses koikuchi, the dark soy sauce most people picture when they think of shoyu. This is the bowl that shows off what Otaka Shoyu is known for. The broth is dark, deep and bold, with a bit of tang from the soy sauce. If you only order one bowl here, make it this one.
Shiro: lighter in color, not in flavor
The shiro (white) uses usukuchi, or light soy sauce. The name throws a lot of people off, because usukuchi is lighter in color than koikuchi but actually saltier. The shiro isn't as tangy as the kuro, and with the soy sauce stepping back a little, you taste more of the seafood in the broth. If you like a seafood-forward bowl, start here.
Aka: the spicy one
The aka (red) adds rayu, or chili oil, and doubanjiang, a fermented chili bean paste, to the soy sauce soup. They don't hold back on the heat. If you want something hot, this is your bowl, but on a first visit I'd try the kuro or shiro first to taste the soy sauce on its own terms.
Don't skip dessert
Fujitoraya puts soy sauce into dessert too, and both are worth saving room for.
The kogashi shoyu ice cream (with berries) uses uses soy sauce that's been toasted over heat until it caramelizes. It tastes like caramel and soy sauce together, sweet and salty in the same way salted caramel works.
There's also soy sauce dorayaki: two small, fluffy pancakes sandwiching anko, or sweet red bean paste, with soy sauce worked in. After three bowls built on soy sauce, it's a fun way to end the meal on the same ingredient.
Fujitoraya Asakusa - Which bowl should you order?
First visit: the kuro. It's the clearest showcase of the brewery's soy sauce.
You like lighter, seafood-forward bowls: the shiro.
You want heat: the aka.
Going with a friend: split the kuro and shiro. Tasting koikuchi and usukuchi side by side is the best way to see what this shop is about.
Asakusa has no shortage of classic shoyu ramen, but Fujitoraya stands out because the soy sauce maker is the one behind the counter. Three bowls that each use soy sauce differently make it one of the more interesting shoyu stops in the neighborhood.
