Day Trips from SapporoAji no Daio: The Root of Muroran Curry Ramen
By Chaporo, a Sapporo local Published 
Quick answers
- The shop that brought curry ramen to Muroran in the early 1970s, near Muroran Station
- Medium-hot, slightly thick curry soup on thin curly noodles; 1,000 yen
- Open 11:00–14:30; closed on Tuesdays
- Free shopping-street car park for about 20 cars
Curry ramen is Muroran's signature dish. It was created in 1965 at Aji no Daio in Tomakomai, and a cook who trained there brought it to Muroran in 1971; Aji no Daio's Muroran main store, in the shopping street near Muroran Station, opened in 1972 and is the root of Muroran curry ramen. The soup is a medium-hot curry, slightly thick, on thin curly noodles. A bowl is 1,000 yen; the shop is open from 11:00 to 14:30 and closed on Tuesdays.
Muroran curry ramen
It is a ramen shop, but you smell curry the moment you walk in. The soup has mild-to-medium heat and is slightly thick, so it clings to the thin, curly noodles and fills you up more than it looks. Think curry-flavored ramen with a thick, almost gravy-like broth. The shop closes at 14:30, so arrive by about 13:30.
After lunch, the Eight Views of Muroran, a string of cliff-top lookouts, are just to the south along the cape.
Hours and parking
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Hours | 11:00–14:30 |
| Closed | Tuesdays |
| Curry ramen | 1,000 yen |
| Seats | 8 at the counter, two tables for four, and raised tatami seating for 11 |
| Parking | The shopping street's free customer car park nearby, about 20 cars |
How to get to Aji no Daio
From Sapporo: a little over two hours. Take the Do-o Expressway toward Tomakomai and Muroran (stay on the Muroran side at the fork toward Obihiro), exit at Noboribetsu-Muroran IC and follow Route 235 to the area around Muroran Station. The shop is in the shopping street near the station.
From New Chitose Airport: about an hour and a half on the same expressway.
Near Aji no Daio
Cape Chikyu, the big lookout over the Pacific, is about 10 minutes away by car, and the road up Mt. Sokuryo, which looks over the whole harbor, starts right outside. My Muroran guide puts curry ramen at the middle of a loop around the Eight Views.
Things to Do in Muroran: A Local's One-Day Drive from SapporoA local's one-day drive from Sapporo around Muroran: the cliff lookouts of the Eight Views, Cape Chikyu, Muroran curry ramen at Aji no Daio, the Hakucho Bridge, and a hot spring bath in Noboribetsu on the way home.
Cape Chikyu in Muroran: The Pacific View and the CliffsA local's guide to Cape Chikyu in Muroran, a lookout over the Pacific and the coastal cliffs: what you see, the Eight Views of Muroran, parking (paid since April 2026) and how to drive there from Sapporo or New Chitose Airport.
FAQ about Aji no Daio
Q1. Where did curry ramen start?
In Tomakomai in 1965, at the first Aji no Daio. A cook who trained there brought it to Muroran in 1971, and this main store (1972) is the root of Muroran curry ramen.
Q2. How much is the curry ramen?
1,000 yen.
Q3. When is Aji no Daio open?
11:00 to 14:30; closed on Tuesdays.