“I hope everybody will put aside any fear of hardship and try to make something new.”
January 9th, 2007
wee update: Continental Airlines loves Momofuku Ando, too! Here is a short piece I wrote about the Instant Ramen Museum, published in Continental’s April issue.
Momofuku Ando, father of instant noodles, died a couple of days ago
Momofuku Ando invented instant noodles after World War II
when people in Japan were hungry and
had to wait in long lines for fresh hot noodles
here is a good story about how and why instant noodles were invented
***
Two years ago, my friend Dianne and I went to Momofuku Ando’s museum
The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum
It is a wonderful place just outside Osaka
The museum is free and it has a replica of
Momofuku Ando’s workshop
where he actually figured out how to make instant ramen work.
It’s also got film clips and mementos relating to instant noodles,
a chicken noodle workshop where you can make your own instant noodles,
and an “Instant Ramen Tunnel”
which is a wall covered with every kind of instant noodle from around the world
But the best thing in the museum is a short film
all about how and why Momofuku Ando invented instant noodles
(it wasn’t an easy process, inventing instant noodles
there were technical limitations
- like how to get the dried noodles into the cup without them breaking -
that took a long time to overcome)
This film is great because it is basically a love letter to invention
In it, Momofuku Ando talks (talked?) passionately and honestly
about how hard and how rewarding it is
to create something new
when no one in the world - besides you - cares if you do it at all
Dianne and I stayed and watched the film five or six times
because we loved it so much
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the the film
(I wrote them down in a notebook
that I just dug up when I heard that Momofuku Ando had died):
“Always remember that imagination and the passion to make one’s visions come true are what makes things possible. I hope everybody will put aside any fear of hardship and try to make something new. Because discovery and invention are fun.”
and
“In order to make something new,
it’s important not to be tied down by preconceptions.”
and
“If you want to be successful with your own inventions,
you’ll have to be prepared to overcome difficulties.”
Sayonara, Momofuku Ando.