Meet your expert guide in Tenri and embark on a ramen showdown. Visit both rival shops, Tenri Stamina Ramen and Saika Ramen, and enjoy a ¥1,000 tasting credit at each stop.

Savour the garlic-charged “stamina” style ramen, born in the college town of Tenri, central Nara. Enjoy ladles of shoyu-based soup spiked with fistfuls of fresh garlic, thick, wavy noodles, and a mountain of sautéed cabbage and juicy pork strips.

Crown your personal champion before the garlic afterglow fades. The route is seamless, the bowls are colossal, and the conversation is pure noodle geekery. Just a warning: this tour is for true ramen romantics. Arrive hungry—or forever regret it.