Message from victoriachan

[Anonymous]

This article was fascinating because I didn’t know that ramen started as a mean for the working class. I just thought it was ubiquitous throughout Japan for centuries. I think this quote sums it up for me how ramen is seen in Japan: “Its preeminent role in the postwar Japanese diet can perhaps be understood as similar to the role of pizza in American food practices.” Pizza is ubiquitous in the U.S., and by comparing ramen to pizza in this way helps to solidify exactly how ramen has influenced Japanese cuisine.

I think students would benefit from learning about how there are different types of ramen. I eat Japanese ramen often (specifically from Shin Sen Gumi), and sometimes when I talk to my students about eating it, they think I’m eating Cup O Noodles most of the time. Only the students who are consumers of Japanese culture understand what I am talking about, but it’s not many of them. It’s sad, too, because my students live so close to Little Tokyo so it’s a short bus ride away. I would think about using ramen as a way to get them out of their bubbles.