Last Monday I visited the Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka. The guy above was waiting outside. He’s standing on a giant cup noodle and holding a packet of instant ramen in his hand Chairman Mao style. He is, of course, Momofuku Ando – the man who invented instant ramen in 1958, a minor legend in Japan, and known all over the world as “Mr Noodle”.
The museum is run by Nissin, the company he founded. I was writing a long feature on instant noodles all last week. Genuinely fascinating stuff, especially the story of Ando’s life. He invented instant noodles after a year of patient trial and errror in a shed in his backyard. The shed has been lovingly reconstructed at the museum.
Actually, I’m quite sure company is exactly the right word for Nissin. It’s as much a cult based on Ando. After writing this story I kind of understood why. He’s the man who invented a foodstuff which was eaten 100 billion times in 2007 (Nissin tell me). He was already 48 when he did that, then invented cup noodles at 61, and died just last year at the age of 96.
One of the little known things about him is that he was born Taiwanese. (Something not mentioned in his English autobiography or at the museum dedicated to him). I guess he had a right to consider himself Japanese after 80 odd years or so here.
Nissin generously sent me a book of 304 Momofuku Ando sayings. (It is printed in Japanese, Chinese and English, and normally only given to full time company employees). It has “Human Beings are Noodle Beings” printed in big letters on the cover.
Some samples
14; “Even a magnificent 200-year-old beech tree grew out of bird droppings.”
75: “If you don’t need something, even a giveaway is too expensive.”
121: “I feel fine because I eat noodles every day.”
One of the more unusual cup noodle products below. Eco-friendly refills for people who want to reuse the cup.
A link to all my instant ramen museum photos
Hi Tony,
I really enjoyed your post about Ando and the museum. I recently wrote a book about Ando — it will be published next may (more info on my website). That’s great that they gave you Ando’s famous sayings — I always translated the main one as “Mankind is Noodlekind.”
–Andy
http://www.andyraskin.com
Hi Andy,
Had a look at your site. The book sounds great. Love the title.
Nissin also sent me a copy of Ando’s autobiography. Its a great read. What a life – I was thinking that it would be a fanstastic subject for a book.
Tony