The History of Somen Noodles

The History of Somen Noodles

By Hiroko Shimbo in Travel Advice

Look up in the southern sky on July 7, several hours before and after midnight.

You can see a faint Milky Way, visible in the dark spot in the Northern hemisphere. In olden times, when the pollution and humidity were low, I presume spotting the Milky Way was easy. There is a drama up there. 

A star, Vega (Orihime), and a star, Altair (Hikoboshi), meet once a year in the Milky Way.

A mythological story that originated in China describes that Orihime, a weaver and a daughter of the King of the Heavens, fell in love with Hikoboshi, a cowherd. They were deeply in love and neglected their work. The King of the Heavens became angry and separated them with one permission. They can meet only on July 7.  


Pictured above: This ukiyo-e woodblock print depicts the Tanabata festival.
Courtesy of the Harvard Art Museum.

This is called the Tanabata festival, one of Japan's five annual big festivals. 

When you visit Japan around this time, you see strips of colorful paper written with wishes hanging on bamboo poles across the towns. 

During the Tanabata festival, we enjoy somen, 素麺, the thin wheat noodles (1.3 mm in diameter). Thin noodles symbolize Orihime's weaving threads. Let us enjoy a cold somen noodle dish before attempting to find the Milky Way and two stars.

Somen is a definitive summer noodle. 

Cooked noodles are served cold in a proper amount of ice-cube added water in a serving bowl with a dipping sauce; otherwise, the cooked and drained noodles stick together when served drained. 

When you visit a famous somen noodle region, you can enjoy Nagashi somen. The noodle shop set up long chutes made from a halved bamboo stalk, where clean water continuously runs down from a higher elevation to the lower one. 

The chairs are arranged along (and across) this aqueduct. Following an announcement, the shop staffs drop a portion of cooked noodles into the flowing water at the top of the chute one after another. Diners must catch the noodles before they pass them. It is a fun, excitement-building, and body-cooling dining experience.

See the Nagashi somen experience on TikTok

Somen noodle production is different from that of udon noodles.

The dough, made of flour and water, is repeatedly stretched until thin. A little oil is used for the smooth stretching of the dough. The origin of somen noodles goes back to the 9th century in Miwa City, Nara Prefecture.

During the Edo period (1600-1868), the production spread to other regions such as Hyogo, Kagawa, and Nagasaki Prefectures, and the production technology significantly improved. Miwa Yamamoto Tenobe Noodle Company, founded in 1717 in Nara Prefecture, continues producing one of the finest somen noodles. 

Masugi Tenobe Noodle Factory is a relatively new comer in this industry, established in 1974 in Aichi Prefecture. The owner and his family produce somen noodles using over 200-year-old artisan techniques.

This website shows a video of the art of somen noodle making at Masugi Company. Old and new somen noodle companies across the country continue to preserve the traditional crafts and food culture.

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The History of Somen Noodles

The History of Somen Noodles

Look up in the southern sky on July 7, several hours before and after midnight. You can see a faint Milky Way, visible in the dark spot in the Northern hemisphere. In olden times, when the pollution and humidity were low, I presume spotting the Milky Way was easy. There is a drama up there.  A star, Vega (Orihime), and a star, Altair (Hikoboshi), meet once a year in the Milky Way. A mythological story that originated in China describes that Orihime, a weaver and a daughter of the King of the Heavens, fell in love with Hikoboshi, a cowherd. They were deeply in love and neglected their work. The King of the Heavens became angry and separated them with one permission. They can meet only on July 7.   Pictured above: This ukiyo-e woodblock print depicts the Tanabata festival. Courtesy of the Harvard Art Museum. This is called the Tanabata festival, one of Japan's five annual big festivals.  When you visit Japan around this time, you see strips of colorful paper written with wishes hanging on bamboo poles across the towns.  During the Tanabata festival, we enjoy somen, 素麺, the thin wheat noodles (1.3 mm in diameter). Thin noodles symbolize Orihime's weaving threads. Let us enjoy a cold somen noodle dish before attempting to find the Milky Way and two stars. Somen is a definitive summer noodle.  Cooked noodles are served cold in a proper amount of ice-cube added water in a serving bowl with a dipping sauce; otherwise, the cooked and drained noodles stick together when served drained.  When you visit a famous somen noodle region, you can enjoy Nagashi somen. The noodle shop set up long chutes made from a halved bamboo stalk, where clean water continuously runs down from a higher elevation to the lower one.  The chairs are arranged along (and across) this aqueduct. Following an announcement, the shop staffs drop a portion of cooked noodles into the flowing water at the top of the chute one after another. Diners must catch the noodles before they pass them. It is a fun, excitement-building, and body-cooling dining experience. See the Nagashi somen experience on TikTok Somen noodle production is different from that of udon noodles. The dough, made of flour and water, is repeatedly stretched until thin. A little oil is used for the smooth stretching of the dough. The origin of somen noodles goes back to the 9th century in Miwa City, Nara Prefecture. During the Edo period (1600-1868), the production spread to other regions such as Hyogo, Kagawa, and Nagasaki Prefectures, and the production technology significantly improved. Miwa Yamamoto Tenobe Noodle Company, founded in 1717 in Nara Prefecture, continues producing one of the finest somen noodles.  Masugi Tenobe Noodle Factory is a relatively new comer in this industry, established in 1974 in Aichi Prefecture. The owner and his family produce somen noodles using over 200-year-old artisan techniques. This website shows a video of the art of somen noodle making at Masugi Company. Old and new somen noodle companies across the country continue to preserve the traditional crafts and food culture.

The Japanese Ume Plum

The Japanese Ume Plum

Ume, the Japanese plum, plays a significant role in Japanese culture. The Japanese population greatly admires the ume flowers that bloom in February for their humble elegance. The flowers represent resilience and symbolize the arrival of spring. The tree bears green fruits, called ume.  These are ready for harvesting at the end of May and the beginning of June. We use these young fruits to make umeshu, ume-infused liquor.  Continuous rain during the rainy season provides sufficient moisture for the green fruits to mature to an orange-yellow color. We harvest these to make salt-pickled plums, umeboshi. The ume fruits are never eaten raw. The seeds contain amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside that can be converted into cyanide. The fruit itself has just a fraction of this chemical. The Japanese ume plum has many health benefits. Ume plums are very acidic, and their citric acid is essential for breaking down carbohydrates and producing energy in our bodies. Ume has some degree of sterilization and antibacterial properties.  The custom of making salt-pickled plums, umeboshi, goes back to the 8th century. The aristocrat consumed it to maintain and care for their health. During the civil war of the 15th to early 17th century, fighting warriors carried a small amount of umeboshi mixed with rice and other ingredients as part of their essential diet on the battlefields. By the 18th century, it had become common for people to enjoy it. I always keep umeboshi in the refrigerator. I enjoy eating it with plain cooked rice. I add it to vegetable pickling liquid, fish simmering stock, and salad dressing to impart a unique, salty, and sour flavor. The history of making umeshu (Japanese ume plum liquor) goes back to the Edo period (1600-1868). Back then, the fruits were pickled with sugar in sake. Today, we make umeshu with rock sugar and distilled alcohol, known as white liquor. I have an eight-year-old umeshu that remains in a couple of sanitized liquor bottles. It entertains me from time to time. It presents a beautiful amber color, and the flavor is exquisite and mature. The years passed without me making a new batch of umeshu, due to the difficulty in acquiring the right, beautiful fruits at the right time. They are grown on the West Coast. The sales season for these fruits at the East Coast Japanese stores, such as Mitsuwa Marketplace in New Jersey, is very short, and purchasing is highly competitive. This year, I decided to make one and made a special effort to get the fruits at one of the online stores before they were sold out. I ordered rock sugar, too. The fruits arrived, and I was hugely disappointed that they were not Japanese ume, but Janerik (sour green plums). I tasted one and concluded that $90 went down the toilet. When it comes to umeshu, it is delicious, but consumption should be well-managed due to its high sugar and alcohol content. Proper consumption – 1/4 cup daily - promotes increased HDL cholesterol, prevents arteriosclerosis, and aids digestion.

Experiencing May in Japan

Experiencing May in Japan

May is a month with mild days, low humidity, refreshing breezes, and a blue sky. Gorgeous tsutsuji (azalea, pictured) and Satsuki (a different kind of azalea, which blooms a little later than tsutsuji) bloom everywhere in Japan. It is a perfect month for traveling, hiking, and mountain climbing activities.  Luckily, the succession of national holidays – Constitution Memorial Day (May 3), Greenery Day (May 4), and Children’s Day (May 5) falls at the beginning of May. People take a week-long holiday, combining these national holidays with Saturdays and Sundays.  This long vacation week was nicknamed Golden Week by hard-working Japanese businesspeople who couldn’t afford long holidays from work. Trains, hotels, inns, attraction spots, and roads are jammed with happy domestic travelers. If you plan to travel to Japan during this time, make reservations far in advance and enjoy the weather, nature, good food, and crowds! 

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