Editing Ramen (section)

==History==
===Origin===
[[File:Rairaiken.jpg|thumb|''Rairaiken'' ({{lang|ja|来々軒}}), the first ramen shop, founded in 1910 by Kan'ichi Ozaki in [[Asakusa]], Tokyo. The signs advertise "Chinese [[soba]]" ({{lang|ja|支那蕎麥}}) and "[[Cantonese cuisine]]" ({{lang|ja|廣東料理}}).]]

Ramen is a Japanese adaptation of Chinese wheat [[noodle soup]]s.<ref name="ao2018">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-did-ramen-become-popular|title=How Did Ramen Become Popular?|magazine=Atlas Obscura|year=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rupelle|first=Guy de la|title=Kayak and land journeys in Ainu Mosir: Among the Ainu of Hokkaido|year=2005|publisher=iUniverse|location=Lincoln, NE| isbn=978-0-595-34644-8| page=116| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fx5XqEK9OV8C&pg=PA116}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last=Asakawa| first=Gil| title=Being Japanese American|year=2004|publisher=Stone Bridge Press|location=Berkeley, California| isbn=978-1-880656-85-3| page=[https://archive.org/details/beingjapaneseame0000asak/page/49 49]| url=https://archive.org/details/beingjapaneseame0000asak| url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="nhkworld">NHK World. ''Japanology Plus: Ramen''. 2014. Accessed 2015-03-08.</ref><ref>{{cite book |script-title=ja:ラーメンの誕生 |trans-title=The birth of Ramen |first=Tetsu |last=Okada |publisher=Chikuma Shobō |year=202 |isbn=978-4480059307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB7fPAAACAAJ |language=ja}}</ref> It is first recorded to have appeared in [[Yokohama Chinatown]] in the early 20th century.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Although ramen takes its name from ''[[lamian]],'' it did not originate from the hand-pulled lamian noodles of northern China, since the noodles used in ramen are cut, not pulled.<ref name=":0" /> Rather, ramen is derived from southern Chinese noodle dishes such as ''[[char siu]] tangmian'' (roast pork noodle soup) from [[Guangdong]], and ''rousi tangmian'' (sliced meat noodle soup) from [[Jiangnan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Japanese Noodles (No. 4) |url=https://www.kikkoman.com/en/foodforum/the-japanese-table/32-4.html |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=Kikkoman Corporation |language=ja}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=榨菜肉丝面的南北差异及制作方法 |website=[[Sohu]] |url=https://www.sohu.com/a/321290259_120158353}}</ref> This is reflective of Yokohama Chinatown's demographics, as most Chinese settlers there were Cantonese or Shanghainese.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yokohama Chinatown Part 2 – Yokohama, Kanagawa |url=https://en.japantravel.com/kanagawa/yokohama-chinatown-part-2/64618 |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=JapanTravel |date=14 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Yokohama Chinatown |url=https://thegate12.com/spot/517 |access-date=2022-07-20 |website=THE GATE}}</ref>

[[Sōmen]] is another type of noodle of Chinese origin made from wheat flour, but in Japan it is distinguished from the noodles used in ramen. The noodles used for ramen today are called {{Nihongo||中華麺|chūkamen|{{lit|Chinese noodles}}}} and are made with ''kansui'' ({{lang|ja|鹹水}}, alkaline salt water).

The official diary of [[Shōkoku-ji]] Temple in Kyoto, {{Nihongo||蔭涼軒日録|Inryōken Nichiroku}}, mentions eating {{Nihongo||経帯麪|jīngdàimiàn}}, noodles with ''kansui'', in 1488.<ref>{{Cite book|editor =  Bussho Publishing Society |title = 大日本仏教全書 |trans-title = Complete works of Buddhism in Japan |publisher = Bussho Publishing Society |date = 1913 |page = 1174 |url = https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/952839 |doi = 10.11501/952839 |doi-access = free |language = ja |author1 = 仏書刊行会 }}</ref><ref name = "Okumura">{{Cite book |last = Okumura |first = Ayao |title = 麺の歴史 ラーメンはどこから来たか |trans-title =  The History of Noodles: Where Did Ramen Come From |series = Kadokawa Sophia Bunko |publisher =  KADOKAWA / Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan |date = 2017-11-25 |isbn = 978-4044002923 |language = ja}}</ref> ''Jīngdàimiàn'' is the noodle of the [[Yuan dynasty]]. This is the earliest record of ''kansui'' noodles being eaten in Japan.

One theory says that ramen was introduced to Japan during the 1660s by the [[Neo-Confucianism|neo-Confucian]] scholar [[Zhu Shunsui]], who served as an advisor to [[Tokugawa Mitsukuni]] after he became a refugee in Japan to escape [[Qing dynasty|Manchu rule]]. Mitsukuni became the first Japanese person to eat ramen. However, the noodles Mitsukuni ate were a mixture of starch made from [[lotus root]] and wheat flour, which is different from ''chūkamen'' with ''kansui''.<ref name = "Okumura" />

According to historians, the more plausible theory is that ramen was introduced to Japan in the late 19th<ref name="ao2018" /><ref name="yrm">[[Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum]]</ref> or early 20th centuries by [[Chinese people in Japan|Chinese immigrants]] living in [[Yokohama Chinatown]].<ref name=":3">{{cite book |script-title=ja:文化麺類学・ラーメン篇 |trans-title=Cultural Noodle-logy;Ramen |first=Tadamasa |last=Okuyama |publisher=Akashi Shoten |year=2003 |isbn=978-4750317922 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-B6OPQAACAAJ |language=ja}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite book |script-title=ja:にっぽんラーメン物語 |trans-title=Japanese Ramen Story |first=Keiko |last=Kosuge |publisher=Kodansha |year=1998 |language=ja |isbn=978-4062563024 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b1mbAAAACAAJ }}</ref> By 1884, lamian noodles had grown popular in Yokohama, [[Kobe]], [[Nagasaki]], and [[Hakodate]], however, this popularity was mostly concentrated among Chinese immigrants and was called ''Nankin soba ('[[Nanjing]] noodles')''.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Solt |first=George |title=The Untold History of Ramen: How Political Crisis in Japan Spawned a Global Food Craze |date=2014 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-27756-4 |series=California Studies in Food and Culture |location=Berkeley, CA}}</ref> The Japanese government passed a law in 1899 allowing resident aliens to own businesses outside their designated settlements. This development, in addition to the increased labor demands led to a spread of Chinese immigrants throughout Japan.<ref name=":6" /> By 1900, restaurants serving Chinese cuisine from [[Guangzhou]] and Shanghai offered a simple dish of noodles, a few toppings, and a broth flavored with salt and pork bones. Many Chinese living in Japan also pulled portable food stalls, selling ramen and [[Jiaozi|gyōza]] [[dumpling]]s to workers. By the mid-1900s, these stalls used a type of a musical horn called a ''[[charumera]]'' ({{lang|ja|チャルメラ}}, from the Portuguese {{lang|pt|charamela}}) to advertise their presence, a practice some vendors still retain via a loudspeaker and a looped recording. By the early [[Shōwa period]], ramen had become a popular dish when eating out.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

====First store====
[[File:The Japanese-style Chinese noodle RAMEN of the restaurant RAIRAIKEN at Yutenji Tokyo.jpg|thumb|A bowl of ramen from the second ''Rairaiken'' in Yūtenji, opened in 1933 by Fu Xinglei ({{lang|zh-Hant|傅興雷}}), one of the twelve Chinese cooks from the first ''Rairaiken'' store in Asakusa]]

According to ramen expert Hiroshi Osaki, the first specialized ramen shop was ''{{ill|Rairaiken|ja|来々軒}}'' ({{lang|ja|来々軒}}), which opened in 1910 in [[Asakusa]], Tokyo. The Japanese founder, Kan'ichi Ozaki (尾崎貫一), employed twelve [[Cantonese people|Cantonese]] cooks from [[Yokohama]]'s [[Chinatown]] and served the ramen arranged for Japanese customers.<ref>Japanese ramen secret history "Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun premium series, (in Japanese). 『日本ラーメン秘史』日経プレミアムシリーズ、2011</ref><ref name="hakutukan2">[http://www.raumen.co.jp/home/study_history.html 新横浜ラーメン博物館「日本のラーメンの歴史」]</ref> Early versions were wheat noodles in broth topped with [[char siu]].<ref name="ao2018" /> The store also served standard Chinese fare like [[wontons]] and [[shumai]], and is sometimes regarded as the origin of Japanese-Chinese fusion dishes like ''[[chūkadon]]'' and ''[[tenshindon]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=横田文良|title=中国の食文化研究＜天津編＞|chapter=『天津飯』のルーツを探る|page=10|publisher=辻学園調理・製菓専門学校、ジャパンクッキングセンター|year=2009|isbn=978-4-88046-409-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=日本史総合辞典|editor=林陸朗、高橋正彦、村上直、他 |publisher=[[Tokyo Shoseki]]|year=1991|isbn=978-4487731756|page=947}}</ref>

''Rairaiken'''s original store closed in 1976, but related stores with the same name currently exist in other places, and have connections to the first store.

In 1933, Fu Xinglei (傅興雷), one of the twelve original chefs, opened a second ''Rairaiken'' in Yūtenji, [[Meguro|Meguro Ward]], Tokyo.<ref name="ong">{{cite web| url = https://thesmartlocal.jp/rairaiken-reopening/| title = Rairaiken, Japan's First-Ever Ramen Restaurant, Reopens At Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum After A 44-Year Hiatus| last = Ong| first = Shi Han| date = August 18, 2020}}</ref>

In 1968, one of Kan'ichi Ozaki's apprentices opened a store named ''Shinraiken'' ("New Raiken") in [[Chiba Prefecture]].<ref name="ong" />

In 2020, Ozaki's grandson and great-great-grandson re-opened the original ''Rairaiken'' as a store inside [[Shin-Yokohama Rāmen Museum]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://japantoday.com/category/features/food/japan%E2%80%99s-first-ever-ramen-restaurant-reopens-after-44-years| title = Japan's first-ever ramen restaurant reopens after 44 years| last = McGee| first = Oona| work = Japan Today| date = October 26, 2020}}</ref>

===Popularization and modernization===
[[File:Shina soba yatai.jpg|thumb|Women eating ''shina soba'' at a ''shina soba'' stall, Tokyo, 1956]]
After Japan's defeat in [[World War II]], the [[USFJ|American military]] occupied the country from 1945 to 1952.<ref name="ao2018"/> In December 1945, Japan recorded its worst rice harvest in 42 years,<ref name="ao2018"/><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Need, Greed, and Protest in Japan's Black Market, 1938–1949|journal = Journal of Social History|volume = 35|issue = 4|pages = 825–858|last=Griffiths|first=Owen|date=29 August 2018|jstor = 3790613|doi = 10.1353/jsh.2002.0046|s2cid = 144266555|doi-access = free}}</ref> which caused food shortages as Japan had drastically reduced rice production during the war as production shifted to colonies in China and Formosa island.<ref name="ao2018"/> The US flooded the market with cheap wheat flour to deal with food shortages.<ref name="ao2018"/> From 1948 to 1951, bread consumption in Japan increased from 262,121 tons to 611,784 tons,<ref name="ao2018"/> but wheat also found its way into ramen, which most Japanese ate at [[black market]] food vendors to survive as the government food distribution system ran about 20 days behind schedule.<ref name="ao2018"/> Although the Americans maintained Japan's wartime ban on outdoor food vending,<ref name="ao2018"/> flour was secretly diverted from commercial mills into the black markets,<ref name="ao2018"/> where nearly 90 percent of stalls were under the control of gangsters related to the ''[[yakuza]]'' who extorted vendors for protection money.<ref name="ao2018"/> Thousands of ramen vendors were arrested during the occupation.<ref name="ao2018"/>

[[File:Shinjuku (6969833313).jpg|thumb|A mobile ramen stall (''[[Yatai (food cart)|yatai]]'') in [[Shinjuku]], Tokyo]]
In the same period, millions of Japanese troops returned from China and continental East Asia from their posts in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. Some of them would have been familiar with wheat noodles.<ref name="ao2018" /> By 1950 wheat flour exchange controls were removed and restrictions on food vending loosened, which further boosted the number of ramen vendors: private companies even rented out ''[[Yatai (food cart)|yatai]]'' starter kits consisting of noodles, toppings, bowls, and chopsticks.<ref name="ao2018" /> Ramen {{lang|ja-latn|yatai}} provided a rare opportunity for small-scale postwar entrepreneurship.<ref name="ao2018" /> The Americans also aggressively advertised the nutritional benefits of wheat and animal protein.<ref name="ao2018" /> The combination of these factors caused wheat noodles to gain prominence in Japan's rice-based culture.<ref name="ao2018" /> Gradually, ramen became associated with urban life.<ref name="ao2018" />

[[File:Tonkotsu ramen - tokyo area June 20 2021.webm|thumb|thumbtime=1|A hot bowl of ''tonkotsu'' ramen in Tokyo]]
In 1958, [[instant noodle]]s were invented by [[Momofuku Ando]], the Taiwanese-Japanese founder and chairman of [[Nissin Foods]]. Named the greatest Japanese [[invention]] of the 20th century in a Japanese poll,<ref>{{cite news| title = Japan votes noodle the tops| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1067506.stm| access-date = 2007-04-25 | work=BBC News | date=2000-12-12}} BBC News</ref> instant ramen allowed anyone to make an approximation of this dish simply by adding boiling water.

Beginning in the 1980s, ramen became a Japanese cultural icon and was studied around the world. At the same time, local varieties of ramen were hitting the national market and could even be ordered by their regional names. A [[Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum|ramen museum]] opened in [[Yokohama]] in 1994.<ref>''[[Japanorama]]'', Series 3, Episode 4. ''[[BBC Three (former)|BBC Three]]'', 9 April 2007</ref>

Today ramen is one of Japan's most popular foods, with Tokyo alone containing around 5,000 ramen shops,<ref name="ao2018"/> and more than 24,000 ramen shops across Japan.<ref name="bbc2016">{{cite web|last=Demetriou|first=Danielle|url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160223-is-this-japans-best-ramen|website=BBC Travel|title=The holy grail of ramen dishes|date=23 February 2016|access-date=26 August 2018}}</ref> ''Tsuta'', a ramen restaurant in Tokyo's [[Sugamo]] district, received a [[Michelin star]] in December 2015.<ref name="bbc2016"/>