A visit to Osaka is all about enjoyment, entertainment and indulgence — particularly in the fine fare to be found everywhere around its historic sites and along the buzzing neon streets of Japan's food-fueled second city.
And so it was that a class of 8-year-olds arrived, on what would surely be their most exciting school trip ever, at the Instant Ramen Museum in the city's Ikeda district.
There, standing proudly atop an enormous granite Cup Noodle, is Momofuku Ando, the revered inventor of instant ramen whose legacy they've come to "study." He holds aloft a bag of Chikin Ramen, whose educational value in spelling terms is hopefully less than its nutritional benefits.