Cup Noodles Museum Trip

A few weeks ago, we made plans to drive to Yokohama. This Japanese port city is a little over an hour away from us, if you take toll roads. Although we’ve done our fair share of local road trips, this was our first time on the highway! We debated taking the longer route to save some money, but we were too excited to get there. Tolls here are crazy! It cost us $40 to take the highway down to Yokohama. Our must sees for Yokohama included Chinatown (arguably the largest Chinatown in the world), the Cup Noodles Museum (make your own Instant Ramen?!) and Yamashita Park (I like plants).

Cup Noodles Museum

The weather was rainy on and off, so the Cup Noodles Museum was one of our top choices. Plus, it’s not your typical quiet museum–it’s very kid oriented! Our first priority in the museum was making our own instant ramen cups! We did this first, in case our baby had a meltdown and we had to cut our trip short.

How Instant Ramen Changed the World

I know what you’re thinking. Instant noodles are great and all, but did they really change the world? Before we visited this museum, I would’ve said no. But now, I’m convinced otherwise. Let’s take a trip back and learn how this all started.

We walked along the Momofuku Ando wall, where there were brief English descriptions and lengthy Japanese ones. We got the gist of it, but I ended up researching more later that night to get the whole story.

Momofuku Ando tried his hand at many things before he invented instant noodles. As a young entrepreneur, he started a merchandising company which went bankrupt before long. Success eluded him until he was already in his 40s.

Inspiration struck one cold rainy day on his way home from work. Passing a line of shivering people wrapped around the block waiting for a bowl of hot ramen, Momofuku realized how he could help the hungry and desolate people of postwar Japan. Due to extreme food shortages, the Japanese government recommended eating bread made from US-supplied flour. Momofuku couldn’t figure out why they would recommend this! Noodles were much more familiar to the Japanese and locally sourced too. However, there weren’t enough noodle companies in Japan to supply the entire country’s demand.

Peace will come to the world when the people have enough noodles to eat. -Momofuku Ando

Momofuku made it his mission to make inexpensive, tasty, nonperishable and convenient noodles.  He believed that solving world hunger would bring world peace. Building a work shed in his backyard, he spent an entire year experimenting with different processes. He worked every day, sleeping only four hours a night. He stumbled across the answer accidentally, when his wife was making tempura. Flash frying noodles was the answer! Momofuku’s work shed was replicated in the museum for us to walk inside and explore.

Success at Last!

He founded Nissin Foods, where these instant noodles were initially considered a luxury item. Even with high prices, instant ramen was met with a certain level of success. But the real success came when these noodles came to international markets. On a trip to the United States, Momofuku observed an American businessman take the noodles out of the packet, place them in a cup, fill it with hot water and then eat it with a fork. This observation of cultural differences helped Momofuku bridge the gap between countries. It’s more convenient in a cup? We’ll put it in a cup. Westerners use forks instead of chopsticks? Let them!

Cup Noodles’ business took off on a massive global scale. The flavors available were adapted depending on the country. As demand increased, prices dropped lower and lower.

Momofuku never stopped innovating. At the age of 91, he announced that his company would create space food for astronauts. Space ramen was first consumed in outer space when Momofuku was 95. As yet another dream of his was fulfilled, he said “There’s no such thing as too late in life.”

Out of all of the contributions the Japanese have given the world (the digital camera, karaoke and the bullet train to name a few), in a recent poll the Japanese people chose instant noodles as the greatest Japanese innovation of the 20th century. Whether a struggling college student or a family whose home was destroyed by the wrath of Mother Nature, instant noodles have proved themselves invaluable again and again. Cheers to Mr. Noodles!

10/10 Would Recommend!

We loved this museum! It went above and beyond our expectations of a kid friendly museum. Although our daughter is too young for the play section at the Cup Noodles Park, I loved the concept. Children can play their way through the noodles manufacturing process, including climbing through a Noodle Net and jumping into the Seasoning Pool. There was also a cooking studio where you could make ramen from scratch! Cup Noodles Museum was my favorite part of our Yokohama trip, striking the perfect balance between fun, interactive activities and intriguing learning opportunities!