I just saw this (really pricey, but really cool!) toy and had a flashback of a really fond memory.

I spent one Summer in Japan for a study abroad program and I stayed with a wonderful host family (we still keep in touch!). One early evening, my host Dad took me and the kids for a walk in the neighborhood. We came across an weird sight…there was a slighty-slanted several-feet-long bamboo chute with water flowing through it and a bunch of people standing around it, each holding chopsticks and a small bowl. Then, a man at the top end of the sluice grabbed a clump of thin, white noodles from a container and dropped it in the sluice. The noodles slid down the contraption and the people around it scooped up the noodles, dipped their prize in their bowls and slurped it down. We joined in for a few bites before heading home for dinner. What fun!

It’s almost Summer. Maybe it’s time to have a somen party in my back yard…