The Japanese Tradition

One of my classmates showed me a fabulous video entitled "How to Eat Sushi" at our last class. I vaguely recognized the actors and after more digging, found their identities and more vids in the same style. They are Ramenzu (ラーメンズ）, Kobayashi Kentaro and Katagiri Jin, recently seen in the Japanese version of Apple's "I'm a Mac" commercials. Their recent project, "The Japanese Tradition," is made up of several short episodes poking fun at various Japanese traditions: Tea , Chopsticks , Sushi , Origami , Apology , Onigiri , and Relationships Apparently, the humor is so subtle, that many foreigners have mistaken them as actual instructional videos. Some of these are subtitled, some are not. Enjoy!

Up to that Big Ramen Bowl in the Sky

Sure to be topping every blog about Japan - Momofuku Ando passed away a few days ago at the venerable old age of 96. His secret to longevity? Golf and a steady diet of Chikin Ramen. Inventor of the internationally ubiquitous Cup Noodles, he most recently invented Space Ram - that's right, anti-grav ramen. While living in Japan, I developed a deep appreciation for the obsessive lengths that many Japanese will go to find the perfect bowl of ramen. It seems like most people not only have their favorite kind of ramen, but their favorite hole-in-the-wall as well. There are a few websites that are dedicated to reviewing various ramen joints; this one in So. CA, this one in Japanese, and the World Ramen Database. World Ramen Database also has instructions for people interested in starting a ramen restaurant (will someone in Missoula please do this!). The Ramen Road Scholar has made it his life goal to eat as many different kinds of authentic ramen all over Asia. If you are planning a trip to Tokyo, hop on a train and check out the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, complete with a 50's era "working-class-neighborhood" theme park. This Japanese man has paired his love of ramen with his incredible geekiness. One of my all-time favorite movies is about ramen. And lastly, you can add to your ever-so-cool vest of flair by purchasing this ramen lapel pin.