Ryu Ishihara will soon be raising prices on his inexpensive bowls of soba noodles for the first time in nearly a decade, as rising costs and Russia's invasion of Ukraine take an unlikely toll on Japan's beloved buckwheat noodles.
Though seen as one of the most quintessential of Japanese foods — and eaten on New Year's Eve for good luck — a good part of the buckwheat that goes into the noodles comes from Russia, globally the top buckwheat producer.
Russian buckwheat can still be imported, but instability and shipping disruptions have hampered and delayed procurement. That has added to the pain for soba shop owners such as Ishihara who are already suffering as a global surge in commodity prices, coupled with the yen's plunge, has sent prices climbing.