インスタントラーメンの父

Do you know 「安藤百福」 (Momofuku Ando)?

He was the inventor of instant ramen.

He was born in Taiwan on 1910 March 5. In the 1940’s, he moved to Osaka, Japan and became a naturalized Japanese citizen.
Soon after, he started his own company called 「日清食品株式会社」 (Nisshin Food Corp.) and he made 「チキンラーメン」 (“Chicken Ramen”).
He sold these packages of instant noodles for ¥35 each.
They’re still popular in Japan today…the price nowadays is only about ¥60 (about US$0.75) for a package.

Chicken Ramen

In the early 1970’s, Momofuku Ando invented 「カップヌードル」 (“Cup Noodle“) which became a worldwide success.
I think “Cup Noodle” is called “Cup Noodles” (plural) outside Japan. Is that what they’re called in your country?

A package of "Cup Noodle" made for outside Japan is called "Cup Noodles".

Mr. Momofuku Ando died on 2007 January 5. Only three years ago, and only two months shy of his 97th birthday.

Well, the day before yesterday (2010 March 5), would have been Momofuku Ando’s 100th birthday…which is all the more special if you know that his interesting first name is written as 「百福」. The characters that spell his first name “Momofuku” translate literally to “One hundred good fortunes”.

So to commemorate the 100th anniversary of their founder’s birth, Nisshin Foods is having a few different campaigns.

First of all, the original instant noodle, 「チキンラーメン」 (“Chicken Ramen“), is being sold in a retro package that looks like the original package…and it’s being sold at the original price for a limited time: only ¥35 each.

Also, a package of original flavor 「カップヌードル」 (Cup Noodle) is now available for only ¥100 each.

And Nisshin is also selling a new product in honor of Momofuku Ando’s 100th birthday…packages of 「百福」 (Momofuku) noodles (either “Chicken salt broth Ramen” or “Duck broth Soba”) for ¥170.
These are in large packages because each noodle is 100 cm long!

And lastly, if you go to the 「ららぽーと豊洲」 (“Toyosu Lalaport” shopping mall) in Tokyo from 2010 March 27 – April 4 between 10:00AM – 6:00PM, you can see a special event for the 100th anniversary of Momofuku Ando’s birth.

They’ll have an exhibit that explains the history of Nissin Foods, instant ramen, and Mr. Ando.
They will also 「わたしのカップヌードル」 (Custom Cup Noodle) in which you can add whatever flavors you choose to your instant ramen for ¥300,
As well as other displays, shows and foods to try…including “Space Ramen”, which is the special package of instant ramen that Nisshin Foods made for astronauts to bring into space with them.

Have you ever tried 「カップヌードル」 (Cup Noodle)? Do you like it?
I like instant ramen. It’s good. But “real” ramen from a ramen restaurant in much better!
Have you ever tried Japanese ramen at a restaurant? I recommend 「坦々麺」 (“Tan-tan-men”)…it’s a spicy flavor of ramen. I like it alot. Have you ever tried it? Do you like spicy food?

ラーメン・ガール

First of all, today is my mother’s birthday. So…Happy birthday, Mom.

Yesterday, I watched the movie 「ラーメン・ガール」 (“The Ramen Girl“).

Have you ever seen this movie?

It’s not bad. It’s much better than that other Tokyo-related but over-rated 「ロスト・イン・トランスレーション」 (“Lost In Translation“)!

A boring movie....

The movie “Lost In Translation” is about an American woman who follows her boyfriend to Tokyo when his work sends him here and he is too busy to spend time with her so meets another American who is working in Tokyo and just as lonely as she is.

If you haven’t seen it…don’t bother. It’s painfully boring.

The movie “The Ramen Girl“, though not great, is a much better movie than “Lost In Translation“.
Ironically, it has some similarities in the story.
An American woman follows her boyfriend to Tokyo when his work sends him here in this story, too. He decides she’s cramping his style and he moves to Osaka without her.
She becomes depressed and lonely and one night has a bowl of ラーメン (Ramen*) at a nearby Ramen shop that are all over Japan.
(* Real ramen. Not the instant type that is cheaply sold in supermarkets. It’s quite different.)

She falls in love with Ramen and decides she wants the Ramen chef to allow her to become his apprentice. Which is grudgingly agrees to…even though she can’t speak any Japanese and he can’t speak English.

It takes her awhile to understand that, in Japan, that a student is expected to take his role seriously and follow everything his teacher says…without question.
(Much the same lesson that “Daniel” learned in the movie 「ベスト・キッド」 (“The Karate Kid“).)

Karate Kid Japanese movie flyer

The movie 「ラーメン・ガール」 (“The Ramen Girl“) definitely wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen. But it was fun. It had parts that over-simplified or stereotyped Japan…but it also showed Tokyo better than alot of other overseas movies do. They even showed the Yokohama Ramen Museum briefly.

(You can also click here to read a review of this movie by “Manmanchi“).