Momofuku Ando
The ramen creator

Momofuku Ando (March 5, 1910 – January 5, 2007), was born in a wealthy family in Gô Pek-hok, Taiwan. After World War II, he moved to Japan where he founded a small merchandising company. Later on, in 1948, Momofuku Ando founded a company producing salt, that he called Nissin Food.

At this time the japanese governement was buying a lot of bread from the United-States. Momofuku Ando asked to the Ministry of Health why it was not buying noodles from the local merchants, since it was closer to the japanese culture and would help the national economy. As an answer, the governement told him that the noodle companies were too small and the production not stable enough. That gave him an idea!

On august 25, 1958, after months of trial and error experiments, Momofuku Ando created the first instant noodles. At the age of 48 years old, the soon to be national hero, had invented what would feed million and million of people. What was called the "chikin ramen" (chicken ramen flavor) was then a bit more expensive and was considered a luxury food. In 1964, he founded the Instant Food Industry Association, as a way of promoting the instant noodle industry. In 1971, Momofuku Ando, the ramen creator, made an important innovation to the already very popular product and invented the cup noodles. The idea really helped instant noodles become popular worldwide.

Momofuku Ando, the instant ramen noodles creator, received several award including the "second class", which is the second most prestigious award for a japanese civilian. Named the greatest “made in Japan” invention of the 20th century, in front of the karaoke and headphone stereos, in a Japanese poll made by the The Fuji Research Institute Corporation, instant ramen became a Japanese cultural icon. The ramen creator, Momofuku Ando, became a hero and his invention is now served in over 85 billion meals every year. Momofuku Ando died on January 5, 2007, at the age 96. On august 25, 2008, the instant noodles, will be 50 years old. We can thank this Japan national hero for making it easier for tons of people, all over the world, to eat delicious ramen soup, ready in minutes.