This way of thinking is the starting point of the World Noodle Culture Institute
HELLO eVERYONE!
I am Rocky Fujii, founder of Yamato Manufacturing. Starting today, this blog is taking a new step forward.
For the past 50 years, I have continued manufacturing noodle-making machines.
During that time, I have met customers in more than 70 countries and have been exposed to noodle cultures from around the world, including udon, ramen, soba, pasta, pho, Chinese noodles, and many others.
When the country changes, the shape of the noodles changes as well. The way they are eaten changes. The soup, the broth, the texture, and even the way they are served all change.
However, after continuing to observe noodles from all over the world, I arrived at one conclusion.
Noodles are a staple food created by humankind approximately 4,000 years ago, and they continue to evolve even today.
The World Noodle Culture Institute’s first hypothesis
I believe that the essence of noodles lies in evolution. That is – in Evolution.
Noodles, which were born approximately 4,000 years ago, spread from China to the rest of the world and underwent unique development in each region.
- In Japan, they became Udon and Ramen.
- In Italy, they became Pasta.
- In Vietnam, they became Pho.
- In Thailand, they became Kuaitiao.
Noodles have changed their form while embracing the climate, culture, religion, ingredients, and lifestyles of each region.
Changing their shape, changing their texture, changing their flavor, and changing the occasions on which they are eaten, they have survived throughout the world.
Noodles did not survive because they were a completed or perfected food. They survived precisely because they continued to evolve.
I believe that this is where the true essence of noodles lies.
The future cannot be created by evolution alone
However, evolution alone does not produce major leaps forward. Looking back through history, noodle culture has experienced major innovations time and again.
- Milling technology
- Noodle-making technology
- Instant ramen
- Frozen noodles
- Vacuum mixers
And AI, whose practical utilization will continue to expand in the years ahead. These are all Innovations – that is, development and change.
Through daily improvements and continual accumulation of progress, Evolution takes place, and beyond that, Innovation, which occasionally changes the world, is born.
I believe that both noodle culture and companies have developed through these two forces.
Yamato Manufacturing has walked the same path
Looking back, Yamato Manufacturing has also pursued these two forces throughout the past 50 years.
- Daily improvements
- Research into texture
- Advancements in noodle-making technology
- Improvements based on customers’ feedback
This is Evolution
On the other hand, developing new noodle-making technologies, creating new machines, introducing new business models, and taking on the challenge of global expansion are Innovation.
However, beneath all of these, there has always been something that has never changed.
- The deliciousness of noodles
- The culture of texture
- The success of our customers
This is Yamato Manufacturing’s Root
Our objective is not to manufacture machines. It is to create delicious noodles.
To reproduce that deliciousness through texture. And for our customers to achieve business success with those noodles.
It is precisely because this Root exists that both Evolution and Innovation have meaning
Root × Evolution × Innovation
I believe that the future of the noodle business can be explained by the following three elements.
Root
The essential nature that must never be changed
Evolution
Continuing to evolve while preserving that essential nature
Innovation
Creating new value and opening up the future
Without Root, evolution becomes nothing more than change. Without Evolution, Root is left behind by the times. Without Innovation, no new markets are created.
These three principles are not limited to noodle culture alone. I believe they are principles common to businesses, to life itself, and to the history of humankind.
The Mission of the World Noodle Culture Institute
The World Noodle Culture Institute is not simply a place to introduce noodle cultures from around the world. It is an institute that studies examples from around the world, develops new hypotheses and theories from those studies, and advances the global noodle business one step forward.
Every Monday, we will study noodle cultures around the world and present new hypotheses.
Every Wednesday, we will study successful companies around the world and consider management theories that can be applied to the noodle business.
Every Friday, we will forecast what the noodle business will look like five and ten years from now and propose strategies for the future.
We will not view noodles merely as food. We will study them as culture, as an industry, as a management resource, and as a source of possibilities for creating the future.
We would like to conduct this research together with you
This blog are not places where I simply transmit information one-sidedly. I would like them to become places where we can study the future of noodle culture together with people from all over the world.
- I would like you to study the noodle culture of this country.
- I would like you to cover this topic.
- I would like to learn about overseas expansion.
- I would like to gain a deeper understanding of texture and noodle making.
- I would like to think about the future direction of the noodle business.
If you have requests such as these, I sincerely invite you to send them to us. Whenever possible, I would like to take them up as future research topics.
It is precisely because we have the voices of those working in the field that our research does not end as mere academic theory. By thinking together with all of you, I believe the World Noodle Culture Institute will become an even more practical and valuable place..
I believe that the essence of noodles is evolution. And the future is opened not only through evolution, but also through innovation.
The World Noodle Culture Institute will study the future of global noodle culture and the noodle business based on the following three pillars.
Root | Nekko* (根っ子) : The essential nature that must never be changed.
Evolution | Shinka* （進化）: Continuing to evolve in step with the times while preserving that essential nature.
Innovation | Kakushin* （革新）: Creating new value and opening up the future.
To study these three concepts in depth and create new value from them. That is the mission of the World Noodle Culture Institute.
Fujii ‘Rocky’ Kaoru
