History of Ramen!!!

Whether it be from the Cup of Noodles you see on the store shelves or from our blonde Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, I'm sure that everyone on this site has heard of what ramen is. If you don't, then you might need to re-evaluate your life.

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Most people take this convenient and tasty food item for granted without thinking about its origins. And who am I to blame them? Who besides a boring guy who has nothing to do with his life would want to actually spend time researching the history of noodles and what not?

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Well lucky for you, I'm just that type of boring guy!!! And I'm going to do just that!!!

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The true origin of ramen remains unclear to this day. Some sources say that it is of Chinese origin while other sources dispute that claim and insist that it was a Japanese creation. If you ask me, I think those two are talking more about their own national pride than the actual origin of ramen. But who am I to talk?

The word, ramen, is undoubtedly a Japanese word but it was actually borrowed from the chinese word Iamian (拉麵). In fact, before the 1950s, ramen was called shina soba (支那そば) which means "Chinese noodles." So, does that mean that ramen is actually from China? Well...

Not exactly.

To truly determine the origin of ramen, we must first define what ramen is. Wikipedia defines ramen as a Japanese dish that "consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat or fish broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as sliced pork, dried seaweed, menma, and green onions."
A more specific definition of ramen would be its use of kansui (lye water) which gives the noodles its chewy texture and signature yellowish color. However if that's all that ramen is, then it definitely did not first appear in Japan.

In fact, there are stories that take place between the 17th and 20th centuries that claim that a scholar named Shu Shunsui escaped Manchu rule in China and brought the ramen recipe with him to Japan to serve as an advisor to feudal lord Tokugawa Mitsukuni. There's only one problem with this story: There's no historical record of Shunsui actually cooking ramen for Mitsukuni.

A more likely theory would be that ramen was first sold and popularized in a store named Rai-Rai Ken in Tokyo (Not the one in New York's East Village) by a custom's agent who worked in the Yokohama Chinatown in 1910. The restaurant employed Chinese cooks and they made shina soba popular.

Shina soba was popular with lower class citizens due to being cheap while still satisfying people's hunger.
However, shina soba was also connected to China, a country that Japan defeated right as the noodle dish started to catch on. As a result, shina soba was becoming the main meal for politically radical students and soldiers. For example, a ramen shop named Nankin Senryo was opened in 1937 which was the same year as Japan's invasian of Nanjing. The shop's name translates literally to "flower" but it is also a homonym for the word "occupation."

World War II boosted the popularity of ramen even more. Due to food shortages, the Japanese government placed heavy restrictions on food supplies and also prohibited any restaurants or push carts from making any sort of profit. However, some wheat flower entered the black market, and soon enough many people were illegally selling ramen. That's right, while people in the US were going to jail for bootlegging alcohol, people in Japan were going to jail for making cup of noodles. And you thought you had it tough....

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When 1958 came, instant ramen noodles were invented in Japan and that's where the name ramen was born. Ramen became a major part of Japanese culture thanks to its involvement with the post war economic boom. Many shops and restaurants opened up that specialized in ramen alone. It became a national dish since it was seen as an alternative to the Western dishes that infused its way into Japan due to its rising economy. Also, because of its affiliation with urban workers, its also used to symbolize Japan when it was still rising in power.

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And with that, Ramen became distinctly Japanese. As for the true origin of ramen, it can be argued but I take a semi-neutral stance (with favor towards Japan) and call it a Japanese dish with chinese origins. Hopefully that appeases both sides of the spectrum...

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read this and don't forget to drop a like or comment so that I know if I should do more blogs like this. See you guys around!