Within about four hours, the Ramen Nagi restaurant had sold out of the 100 bowls of "insect tsukemen" noodles it had prepared for Sunday's single-day event.

The noodles were topped with about a dozen small crickets and mealworms, which customers then dipped into soups flavored with crickets, grasshoppers or silkworm powder.

People line up Sunday in front of Ramen Nagi in Tokyo for a one-day event that featured
People line up Sunday in front of Ramen Nagi in Tokyo for a one-day event that featured 'insect tsukemen' noodles. | REUTERS
"It's deep-fried, so it's really crispy, and it doesn't have a bad taste," said 22-year-old student Anri Nakatani. "It's almost like a deep-fried shrimp."