People in Tohoku love instant noodles — that’s the latest finding from a government survey on household spending on the products, in which all six prefectural capitals in the region made it onto a nationwide top 10 instant noodle consumption ranking in 2023.

This is the seventh time in the past 10 years that all the region's capitals have made the nationwide top 10, and the spending for instant noodles in Tohoku cities far exceeds the national average, according to the annual survey released in February by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.

The ministry conducts monthly and annual surveys on about 9,000 households with two or more people in the 52 prefectural capitals and ordinance-designated cities. The surveys include household income and expenditure by item.

In 2023, the city of Aomori topped the list of household expenditure for instant noodles, with an average ¥8,361 in annual spending, followed by Sendai with ¥7,864 — figures much higher than the national average of ¥5,611. The city of Fukushima ranked fourth, while the Iwate Prefecture capital Morioka placed sixth, with Yamagata in seventh and Akita in ninth.

Spending for instant noodles has consistently been high in Tohoku cities, with Aomori taking the top spot for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017, while Yamagata and Fukushima have also taken first place in the past 10 years.

One possible factor behind the popularity of instant noodles is Tohoku's traditional food culture. According to Yuka Kamada, head of the Department of Food and Nutritional Science at Miyagi Gakuin Women's University, households in Tohoku have traditionally used wheat, buckwheat and rice flour in their dishes, which may explain their craving for noodle products.

Winters in the Tohoku region are extremely cold, so many local dishes use grains that have a long shelf life.

Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures have traditional foods called hatto and hittsumi — types of dumplings that are made by kneading wheat flour — while soba kakke, a dish made by kneading buckwheat flour and stretching it thin, is still popular today in the northern Tohoku region.

“Many people in Tohoku like noodles,” Kamada said. In fact, Tohoku’s noodle culture is used for tourism. Yamagata Prefecture, for example, calls itself “a ramen prefecture and a kingdom of soba noodles” and actively uses its food culture to attract tourists.

Retailers are also cashing in on the popularity of instant noodles in the region. “Many customers buy them in boxes instead of single items,” said an official at a supermarket operator with multiple stores in the city of Aomori. “Busy farmers may be eating them during their breaks."

At Miyagi Co-op Saiwaicho Store in Sendai, the shelves are always stocked with 60 to 80 different kinds of instant noodles.

“Limited-time products are particularly popular. They sell so well that we sometimes have a hard time replenishing our supply,” a store manager said. “We believe that people want to try products with local flavors.”

Major instant noodle manufacturers are also promoting sales of “local products” in the Tohoku region.

Tokyo-based Toyo Suisan, which markets Maruchan noodles, is selling Miso Curry Milk Ramen cups that are based on a dish that is said to have originated in the city of Aomori. Another popular local product, Yakisoba Bagoooon — sold in Tohoku and in Niigata and Nagano prefectures — has been on the market for 45 years.

“In Tohoku, in addition to our nationwide product lineup, Yakisoba Bagoooon and other limited local products are very popular,” a company official said.

While the ready-to-eat convenience of instant noodles and their long shelf life has advantages, excessive salt intake and nutritional imbalances are a concern.

Miyagi Gakuin's Kamada urges people not to drink the soup, and to balance the instant noodles with vegetables, fruit and dairy products.

This section features topics and issues from the Tohoku region covered by the Kahoku Shimpo, the largest newspaper in Tohoku. The original article was published May 27.