The Global Story of Ramen: Trade, War, and Industrialization
Ramen noodles were created and became popular throughout periods of war, famine, international trade, and industrialization. What can a simple dish millions around the world eat everyday tell us about the history of foreign affairs?
Japan and China have long fought over which country can take the credit for ramen. The two nations each lay a claim to the dish as its history was lost in the shuffle of world politics and tragedies. However, the true origins of ramen lie in China.
In 1853, United States Navy Admiral Matthew Perry traveled to Japan in the hopes of establishing a trade relationship between the two nations by showing off the scope of the U.S. military. Japan was previously closed off to international influence due to strict restrictions placed on foreign contact by the Tokugawa regime. This closed trade policy allowed only for select Chinese and Dutch officials to trade with Japan once per year. However, after observing the crushing defeat of China by the British military in the First Opium War, Japan quickly gave into Western demands, signing the “unequal” trade agreement proposed by the US western power in 1858. The forced trade agreement opened up opportunities for other nations across the world to also seek out Japan for trade, and their policy of isolation came to a close. This new open trade policy gave way to a whole new world of commodities for Japanese citizens, including ramen.
In the second half of the 19th century, Chinese immigrants arriving in Japan brought with them one of the earliest forms of ramen, known as “Chinese Soba.” One particular immigrant, a Chinese customs agent from Yokohama, opened Rai-Rai Ken, a ramen shop in Tokyo, Japan. With this, the start of a new ramen market in Japan began to blossom. This was short-lived; not long after the opening of Rai-Rai Ken, ramen noodles were made illegal in both China and Japan as a byproduct of World War II. The start of the war resulted in widespread famine in the two nations, alongside limitations placed on the importation of wheat due to disrupted trade and resource conservation efforts. This led to the inability to produce ramen noodles. While the concept of ramen had reached Japan, neither Japan nor China was producing or consuming the dish during the war due to the lack of available wheat. Because of this, the Chinese origins of the dish were wiped away, opening up the opportunity for disputes as to who may claim credit later on.
A period of industrialization known as the Japanese Economic Miracle followed World War II. This rapid economic expansion lasted from 1945 to 1991 and resulted in Japan becoming the third-largest economy in the world. At this time, “cheap and accessible flour” became available to the Japanese through trade with the U.S. Therefore, Japan regained its ability to make ramen noodles.
During World War II, the Chinese shouldered “the burden of the ground war” in Asia on behalf of the Allies, fighting hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers on Chinese soil. When these Japanese soldiers returned home from China at the end of World War II, they brought with them a craving for Chinese-inspired noodles. A newfound Japanese taste for ramen noodles further compounded with the aforementioned inexpensive flour.
During the Japanese Economic Miracle, the popularity of ramen grew alongside Japan's expanding economy. Yowaen, one ramen innovator, developed the salty broth to go along with the Chinese-inspired noodles, mixing in elements of Japanese culture with the dish. Prior to World War II, rice was a major part of the average Japanese diet — but most of Japan's rice was imported. After the war, the U.S. Navy began cutting off imports, leading Japanese citizens to look for rice replacements. In Japan’s industrializing economy, convenience became an important factor in food due to the rising necessity of a fast-paced lifestyle. The post-war rice shortage and necessity for convenience became major factors in the increasing popularity of instant noodles in Japan.
Instant noodles were first introduced in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin Foods Holdings Co. Ltd. He learned he could preserve noodles by observing his wife as she prepared tempura for the family. The invention of instant noodles was vital to the growth of ramen in Japan, as it accommodated for the popularized rapid lifestyle in the nation. With the development of Momofuku Ando’s instant noodles, customers could take ramen on the go, opening up the market for an even wider ramen audience in Japan and beyond. With the popularity of ramen noodles growing at a rapid pace, Japan having an open trade policy, and the newfound method of preservation, the possibility for ramen’s global consumption arose.
One of the most popular brands of ramen today, Cup of Noodle, was founded in 1971. With this innovation, “the global demand for instant ramen reached one hundred billion servings a year.” The growing influence of ramen reached far and wide across the globe, extending to countries of economic influence such as Germany, France, UK, Australia, and Italy. The United States welcomed ramen a mere four years after the development of instant ramen. Sapporo, the first ramen shop in New York, was established in 1975.
Similar to how ramen’s popularity spread in Japan, college students in the U.S. welcomed instant ramen to accommodate their rapid lifestyles, which were a result of an industrialized society. The rising influence of instant ramen in these different nations alludes to the common theme that when a nation industrializes, its citizens adopt faster paced lifestyles, and develop a need for quicker sustenance.
A cup of instant ramen being packaged at the Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka, Japan.
Photo Credit: Petit Pot
While ramen developed many variations and spread to many nations, China, the home of the dish, stands as the number one consumer of the noodles. With the second largest population in the world, the nation demands access to an accessible food option like these ramen noodles. Natural disasters such as the Ludian earthquake in 2014, exacerbate China’s need for convenient and long-lasting food.
Many people today consume a warm and tasty bowl of ramen without considering where the easily prepared noodles and salty flavorful broth originate, why they were first created, and the historical trade agreements that made it possible for those flavors to reach their bowls. A ramen dish represents hundreds of years of foreign affairs reflecting the impacts of war, famine, natural disasters, and industrialization. With innovations such as instant noodles being born in Japan, many believe the nation invented ramen in its entirety. While Japan may credibly claim to have creatively developed a variety of ramen dishes, China is the home of the original ramen. Furthermore, the global popularity of ramen speaks to the economic and global trade power of China in the world today.