Japan's Koizumi praises noodles at "Ramen Summit"
Wed Apr 9, 2008 4:52am EDT


TOKYO (Reuters) - Junichiro Koizumi never hosted a G8 summit while in
office, but this week the popular former Japanese prime minister
popped up at a "World Ramen Summit", where he touted the tasty
noodles as a universal treat.

"Ramen is not just for Japan, but it is also for the world and the
universe," Koizumi, whose colorful ways made him one of Japan's most
popular leaders ever, told business people from about 20 countries in
Osaka, western Japan, on Wednesday.

Koizumi, prime minister from 2001 to 2006, was attending a biannual
gathering organized 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.

"Mr Ando's ... spirit of treasuring social and public service will be
passed onto people of the world," former Prime Minister Yasuhiro
Nakasone told the same gathering on Tuesday.

Ramen has Chinese roots but no one knows when it arrived in Japan.
Some claim it was eaten by samurai in the 17th century.

(Reporting by Teruaki Ueno, Editing by Linda Sieg and Sanjeev Miglani)


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