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Dispatches from the Field:
From Traditional Festivals to Hand-made Instant Noodles
By Young Chun
Aug. 6, 2007
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| Chun mixes batter to make instant noodles at a museum in Osaka. |
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We went to two of Japan’s biggest summer festivals, called Gion Matsuri and Tenjin Matsuri. We spent a whole night having lots of fun, including singing karaoke and playing the latest Japanese arcade games. We even had the chance to create our own hand-made instant noodles at an instant ramen museum.
The past five weeks I spent here thanks to UCSD’s Pacific Rim Undergraduate Experiences (PRIME) research program have been an incredible time for learning, sharing and experiencing both Japanese culture and international collaborative research. More than half of my stay in Osaka has already gone by and since writing last, many more exciting adventures have come our way.
Last month, we attended the Tenjin festival in Osaka and the Gion festival in Kyoto. During Gion on July 16 and 17, Kyoto’s streets are filled with huge crowds, traditional Japanese parade floats, dazzling fireworks and a wide variety of stalls selling delicious food. It was unlike anything I have ever seen and experienced before. The incredible part was the crowds and crowds of people! Our group had to make sure that we didn’t lose each other.
Back in Osaka, we visited the Ando Momofuku Instant Ramen Museum, named after the famous Osaka native Ando Momofuku, who invented instant ramen. We learned how he made the first instant noodles. We even made noodles ourselves. We all had to wear a handkerchief over our head and a red apron. Then we had 10 seconds to mix ramen batter. We rolled out the dough we made and used a rolling machine to flatten it out. We also cut up the dough into noodles and had to weigh them to make sure we were putting in the right amount. Then we handed over our ramen to the museum’s staff, who proceeded to instant-fry them. Meanwhile, we got to customize our ramen bags by decorating them with color markers. Finally, the staff packaged our noodles. I can’t wait to try them! The museum also featured instant ramen vending machines and an instant ramen tunnel, which displayed all the different types of noodles that Momofuku’s company, Nissin, has made since it opened its doors in 1958.
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| Paper lanterns in a temple in Kyoto during Gion. |
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| A traditional float during the Gion festival. |
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The wonderful Japanese graduate students who take care of us also took us to the ‘ultimate fun haven’ called “ Bb.” We went in around 9 p.m. and came out at 7 a.m.! We played games and ping pong. I even rode a rotating bull. It was rotating so fast -- I got scared too quickly. But it was lots of fun.
In the end, just being surrounded by the Japanese people is one of the most exciting experiences I’ve ever had. It has been marvelous to be surrounded by the massive crowds wearing summer kimonos, called yukatas, during festivals or being stuck between four chatty grandmothers, called “obaasans” here, in the backseat of a small Japanese church van. I often felt awe-struck.
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| Chun tries to ride a "rotating bull." |
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| Instant noodle packages in a museum display. |
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Even after five weeks in Japan, the sharp differences between daily life here and in the United States still make me feel that I have moved to another planet instead of another continent. But even so, I feel very thankful and blessed to be where I am, experiencing what I experience each day.
The time when I must return home is drawing nearer every day. Although I will be sad to leave Japan and the friends we have made here, the limited time I have left makes me realize just how important it is to fully appreciate each day and I feel more determined to do just that.
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Young Chun studies in Osaka, Japan. |
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