Namco is best-known as a game company, but in fact its business buttons up over a number of other interests. Another part of the company is also involved in the theme-park business, and it's picking some interesting themes for its parks.
Today, Namco announced plans to open a ramen noodle theme park in the southern Japanese city of Nagoya. The "Nagoya Noodle Shop Alley," due to open for business on February 25, is meant to introduce visitors to the history of ramen noodles and the different types of ramen available around Japan.
While Americans generally regard ramen noodles as a cheap source of carbohydrates for students and the otherwise impecuniously embarassed, the art of noodle-craft flourishes in Japan, with many regional variations on the basic concept of long, thin noodles in broth. Namco's park will feature seven different ramen establishments featuring the styles of different regions and urban neighborhoods, from the roast-pork ramen of Tokyo's Shinjuku district to the salty ramen of Osaka.
The visual theme of the park is intended to reflect Japan in the pre-war 1930s, but the ramen on offer are to represent the "new wave" of noodle development around the nation.
Surprisingly, this isn't even Namco's first effort at a food-focused theme park. Earlier this fall, the company announced a partnership to develop the "Tokyo Baker's Street" in Chiba, a theme park built around introducing visitors to many different varieties of bread.
cooooooool i want to go there <3