I received an e-mail from Ms. Mariko Daicho of TV Tokyo. Let’s help Ms. Daicho out!
Hello. I am a producer at TV Tokyo, a Japanese television network. We are producing a special program about ramen in America, and I am searching for things that show how deeply ramen has penetrated into American life. In reading your blog, I see there are many recipes, poems and haiku related to ramen. I would like to discuss with you other ways in which ramen is used or appreciated
here in the U.S. For example, is ramen available at sporting events along with hot dogs, etc.? Is instant ramen stocked in vending machines alongside other snacks? Whatever is out there, I’d like to learn about it. Please feel free to post this letter on your blog. Readers and you can feel free to contact me at daicho at tv-tokyo-america.com .
Thanks for your help. I look forward to hearing from you.
Mariko Daicho
Producer, TV Tokyo America
New York, NY
we have cup o’noodle ramen in the vending machine at my job.
I was raised with Sapporo Ichiban being the go-to thing I went with when I was staying home alone during summer vacation, starting from when I was about 10 years old. My parents and I called it “sapporo” and we all loved it, even downing the stuff (along with crackers) when we wanted a quick, fast, and easy dinner. As a result it became quite commonplace for us to drop on in to the local Japanese grocery store, pick up a box of Sapporo Ichiban, and store it wherever we could find room for it in the kitchen. To this day I prefer sapporo to chicken noodle soup, crave it when I have a cold, and will buy the occasional dozen or so whenever I come across it.