Cupnoodles Museum by Kwan

One of my impressions about Japanese people is that everyone seems to love museum. In almost every town that I have visited, there are always several museums about all kinds of things imaginable, ranging from comic characters to railways and (of course) food. For this blog entry, I will present to you all about my recent visit to one of the most interesting museums I have seen so far, the Yokohama CUPNOODLES MUSEUM.



The museum entrance. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture when we entered the place during the day so this nighttime photo will be used instead.



This museum is located in the middle of Yokohama, less than 10 minutes from Minato Mirai and Sakuragicho stations. The details regarding how to get there will be included at the end of this blog entry anyway, so let us skip right to the part when I entered the museum itself.



Upon entering, visitors will be greeted by the bright and vast entrance hall. From this point onward, there are 3 floor-worth of various cup noodles-related exhibitions for you to enjoy.

As expected from Japanese cup noodles, they can transform into robots.

Since we arrive there right before lunchtime (due to our usual tendency to be late for everything), the first place we visited is "Noodles Bazar", the food attraction where many types of international noodles are sold. This place features eight varieties of noodles that Momofuku Ando, the inventor of cup noodles, encountered during his travels in search of ramen's origin (must be quite a delicious trip indeed).



The exotic car from my country. In the eyes of Japanese kids, this probably looks like ones of Doraemon's gadgets.

The first surprise I saw here is how the three wheelers "traditional" Thai taxi (aka "Tuk Tuk") from my country is displayed at the entrance, with tons of tourists taking photo of  this vehicle. While the car may be viewed as just another exotic stuff from southeast Asia, I can't help but feel a little bit proud that so many Japanese people seem very interested in Thai culture.

While I am Thai, I must admit that I have not eaten a noodle like this before.....



Moving on to the inside of this attraction, we can see how it is set up like a real Asian night market ( and I must say they did quite an authentic job, as the chairs used here are exactly the same as the ones I sat on while eating at roadside noodle shops in Thailand).

The noodles sold here are from Italy (basically pasta), Kazakhstan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Naturally, I have to taste the "Tom Yum Goong Noodle" from Thailand first. While the taste is not completely authentic (the real Tom Yum Goong soup in my country has a much stronger taste) but I can still say that it wasn't disappointing  at all. In fact, it was pretty good indeed.

The Thai posters that decorate the food stalls. Really did feel at home here.



The next one I tasted is the Mie Goreng from Indonesia, and while I have no idea if the taste is truly Indonesian or not, I can guarantee here that it tasted very, very good. I definitely recommend this one for anyone who's going to visit this place.

Must eat!!



The scenery you can enjoy from the second floor of this museum.

After lunch, we proceeded to the Instant Noodles History Cube, where over 3,000 of all types of instant noodles packages, dating back to the days this type of food was invented (around 1971), are put on display.  A great place to walk around looking for interesting packaging and brands. I'd also like to mention that the instant noodles from my country have the honor of being exhibited here as well.



The noodles most Thai people grow up with.

The next attraction on the list is the Momofuku theatre, where the history of instant ramen is told through the use of creative animations. It also presents the core concepts behind Mr.Ando's creative thinking in a fun and easy to understand way.



Next is the Momofuku work shed, which is a recreation of the place where the world's first instant ramen was invented.

But for me, the highlight here is the Momofuku Ando story, where the life and work of Mr. Ando are told through various use of creative medias and art forms. The main emphasize here is the six key ideas he used when developing new products. It was inspiring to read how much he valued creativity and persistence in following one's goal.

In the afternoon (around 15.30 pm) onward, we also had a chance to participate in one of the famous activities offered here, the "My Cupnoodles Factory" activity, where you can actually create your own cupnoodles package. They even allow you to paint the cup, choose the soup and 4 toppings, and observe closely how the instant noodles were packaged. Definitely one of the best attractions here.

Actually, this alone makes the visit worth the ticket price (please note that, in order to participate in this activity, it is important to book your place right when you arrived at the  museum as there will be tons of people waiting to participate as well).

Step 1: Buy a cup

Step 2: Paint it



I won't tell you which one is mine. Though if you know me then it's pretty obvious.



Step 3: Choose toppings (although I'm not going to dare open my precious cup later anyway)

Step 4: Seal the cup

Step 5: Wrap the cup with plastic and drive out the air

Finished goods



Step 6: Add safety packaging (air bag)





FINISHED





On the same floor, there is also a "Chicken Ramen Factory", where you can learn how to "cook" instant noodles from the real raw materials. Looking at these activities, it really impressed me how the museums in Japan do not simply display things to audiences and hope that they would gain some knowledge, but actually allow people to participate and learn through actual practices.


Before coming to Japan, I used to view most museums as something a bit boring and academic. However, the Japanese museums have managed to change my opinion considerably. The problem isn't that museums (or the knowledge exhibited) are boring by themselves; it's just that many of them don't know how to present things to audiences in an interesting way. Most museums I have visited in Japan, however, know exactly how to make themselves entertaining as well as knowledgable. The use of media, creative designs and various activites at this Cupnoodles Musuem succeed not only in giving visitors enjoyment, but also manage to slip some useful information and historical facts into their brains as well.

We left the museum after dark. It was a rather exhausting day but the fun was definitely worth all the time and money it took to visit this place. I would recommend this Cupnoodles Museum to you all, not just because it has fun activities and exhibitions, but also because it truly shows how creative the museums in Japan can be and how astoundingly complex the cupnoodles-making process really is.

If you finish touring the museum in the evening, then you can enjoy the fantastic night view of Yokohama right after leaving the museum.

ACCESS

・(By train) 8 minute walk from the Minatomirai line Minatomirai Station ・8 minute walk from the Minatomirai line Bashamichi Station ・12 minute walk from the JR/Shieichikatetsu Sakuragicho Station


For more details about other means of transportation (bus and car), visit:

http://www.cupnoodles-museum.jp/english/map/index.html