The majority of this 2008 film starring the late Brittany Murphy was made in the studios but there were a few short scenes filmed in Shibuya-ku as well as the city of Yokohama.
Many, many thanks to Troy Swezey and Kat D. Grant for their information in the comments on this original post (which has been heavily edited since!) about the Ramen shop and Abby’s apartment which are actual real locales. I originally just assumed they were filmed in the studio but they were indeed shot on the streets of Shibuya in Maruyama-cho.
Let’s start with the ramen restaurant (below) itself which is run by chef Maezumi (Toshiyuki Nishida) and his wife Reiko and is where Abby (Brittany Murphy) learns how to make ramen. It should be no real surprise that it’s not a ramen restaurant and looks a lot different these days. It was dry when I went there unlike when Abby stumbled upon the place that wet night after she’d just broken up with her boyfriend. Best seen around the 27 minute mark, this place can be found at 25-7 Maruyama-cho in Shibuya-ku and it’s about 10 minutes on foot from JR Shibuya station. The closest station is actually Shinsen on the Keio Inokashira Line as it’s only a two minute walk from there but unless you’re using that line it’s probably easier to just reach there from Shibuya station.
Abby’s apartment (below) is just a stone’s throw up the road from there (less than a minutes walk) at 28-8 Maruyama-cho. It is first seen on 6 minutes when Abby’s boyfriend leaves her standing in the street in just a towel.
The exterior of the apartment (below) is seen again around the 66 minute mark when new boyfriend Toshi says goodbye to her as he leaves to go to Shanghai for three years. The cream coloured building with the red frontage at the bottom of the road in my pictures is Melrose Avenue shop which is next to the place which portrayed the restaurant.
Just before that scene outside the apartment the camera homes in on the street from above and we see the overpass (below) that leads you back to Shibuya station.
On 87 minutes Abby is greeted by half a dozen people outside her apartment (with the highway visible in their background below) and walks the short distance down the road to where some kind of matsuri (festival) is taking place in her honour.
Abby is hoisted aloft a portable shrine outside Argos (below) which is opposite the location used for the ramen restaurant. This is where Chef Maezumi hands her the lantern that’s hung outside his shop for 45 years. She takes it to America with her and a year later it’s seen outside her own New York City restaurant which is appropriately named The Ramen Girl.
“There’s a ramen museum in Yokohama?! You’re kidding me!” are Abby’s words on 52 mins when her Japanese love interest Toshi asks her whether she’s been there. Yokohama is actually Japan’s second largest city and just a short train ride south of Tokyo. The full name of the museum is the Shin Yokohama Raumen Museum and it appears about five minutes later (57 mins) as we first see the exterior (below) of the place.
We then get the overview (below) of the Showa 33 (1958?) re-production inside the place which claims to be the first food amusement park to be created anywhere in the world. The address is 2-14-21 Shin-yokohama and the museum has a 300 yen admission fee.
Abby and Toshi eat at Komurasaki (below) ramen restaurant which is where I have eaten every time I’ve visited the place.
They soon exit that place and cross the floor before ducking into the Ryusyanhai (below) ramen shop.
They’re then out on the harbour front (below) with the beautiful Yokohama skyline in the background as they kiss. The large ferris wheel of Cosmo World as well as the sail-shaped building can clearly be seen in the background as they walk along the area at Yamashita Park.
The big ship above is seen and Toshi even refers to it when he says he wanted to run away from his kid mates and sneak onto it and escape Japan.
You can read my review of ‘The Ramen Girl‘ here.
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We just watched this movie again last night. I wonder if you know where the ramen shop and her apartment balcony are?
Toward the end when she rides the shrine, there is a sign for a company called Argos and I may have found them but checking on Google Earth street view it does not look like the same place. argos consulting dot net Sakai Bldg. 7F; 4-27-10 Shimbashi, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 105-0004, Japón
Thank you for this post. Nicely done and I look forward to exploring the rest. Especially the James Bond parts.
Wow! thanks Troy! I am fairly sure the ramen shop and apartment/balcony scenes were just filmed in the studio. Tried to work out where the street scenes were filmed but gave up on that after a while. Will check out the address you’ve given in your comment. Lets hope it is!
Yes, the street scenes for the exterior of the ramen shop is what I am interested in. Do you think those outside scenes where done in studio? Like when she sat on the doorstep smoking? If we could work out the location of the shop then the apartment would be easy…or vice versa.
I have a friend who is a film director living in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan so maybe he can help. Will let you know.
yeah please please let me know but as I have said before i guess its all a studio job
I notice in the scene where Toshi is getting in the taxi, you can see the billboard showing what looks to be the expressway for Shibuya & Nipponbashi (possibly) on the sign. I don’t have a good copy to see the sign any more clearer.
awesome spot! Will have a look at the dvd when I get time and see if I can work it out. Thanks a lot
So I wonder if anyone can tell me than I can see where it is on the map for the connections easier.
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I found the rest of the locations for Ramen Girl! The Apartment and Ramen Shop,
which has changed of course. Lots of flowers thou!
Really?? They’re just in Shibuya?! I work in Shibuya so if I have time I’ll check them out tomorrow but I’m fairly sure they’re not on Dogenzaka! Well they might be if I continue going up the road or one of the side streets coming off it. Really appreciate your help. Would be great to locate these places
Yes, it is next to Dogenzaki in Maruyamacho.
It maybe easier to get off at Shinsen Station!
Only a few minutes from there!! I miss Japan, need to go there myself!!
Good job you two!
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It seems Maezumis shop front was actually some sort of garage or car repair shop around the time of filming from what I can tell from an old google earth photo. On the other side of the road was a little corner coffee shop that’s gone today.
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