The “Ramen Summit” is a biannual gathering organised by the ramen noodle industry aimed at improving noodle quality and boosting consumption.
This year’s summit coincided with the 50th anniversary of the invention of instant noodles by “Cup Noodle” King Momofuku Ando, who died in January 2007 at the age of 96.
Ando, founder of Japan’s No.1 noodle maker Nissin Food Products Co Ltd created his now famous “Chicken ramen” noodles in 1958 to feed the masses in post-World War Two Japan.
About 92 billion packs of instant noodles were consumed in the world in 2006 including about 47 billion in China, 14 billion in Indonesia, 14 billion in the United States, and 5.4 billion in Japan, according to industry figures.
Ramen has Chinese roots but no one knows when it arrived in Japan. Some claim it was eaten by samurai in the 17th century.