Ramen is culture.

Widely told as starting in 1974 at Yoshimuraya in Yokohama, Iekei ramen flows in more than one way — authorized direct lines, apprenticeships, spin-offs, independent reinterpretations, and brand-driven chains.

We treat Iekei not as a 'style' but as a culture that flows between people. We place currents side by side — no hierarchy.

Rankings and scores hide the flow. Where someone trained, where they branched off, what they left behind — that is where the culture lives.

We make no definitive history. Everything is attributed. We record 'who said what, how' — alongside sources and confidence statuses.