Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from which Unseen Japan receives a commission if you make a purchase. Our views expressed below are based on our unbiased opinion of the product.
Recently, the good folks at Bokksu sent me a sample of their product. Bokksu offers a subscription service where, every month, they send you a Japanese snack box straight from Japan.
Our regular readers know what suckers we at Unseen Japan are for Japanese snacks. And this box definitely didn’t disappoint.
It also contained an interesting treat: a bag of what purported to be a bunch of loose ramen. I didn’t recognize the name, but the moment my wife saw it, she squealed, “Oh, a blast from the past!” We opened and shared the snack with the kids. It was an instant hit.
The snack in question is Baby Star Ramen, and it’s manufactured by the Oyatsu Company in Japan’s Mie Prefecture. After digging around, I discovered it’s been around a while. In fact, its genesis goes all the way back to the invention of instant noodles in Japan.
From Ramen Dregs, a Tasty Japanese Snack
In 1955, the predecessor company to Oyatsu, Matsuda Industries Ltd. ( 松田産業有限会社 ), developed the first packaged ramen for the Japanese market. It was a dud, and the company discontinued the product. It wasn’t until 1958 that Nissin (日清食品) popularized the foodstuff with its wildly successful Chicken Ramen.
But it wasn’t a total loss for Matsuda. The company realized that workers were still using the ramen making equipment, and doling out the detritus as a snack. The inventive snack food was released as Baby Ramen in 1958 and was a huge hit. In 1973, the company, in an attempt to appeal to the aspirations of kids, threw “star” into the name. Thus was “Baby Star Ramen” born.
The Reign of “Bei-Chan”
Matsuda continued in this vein, largely unchanged, for 30 years. In 1988, however, the company began making changes.
The first massive change was to its mascot. For 30 years, Baby Star Ramen’s mascot had been a nameless young girl. (Modern-day fans call her “Baby-chan,” but she originally had no appellation.) In her place came a little boy named Bei-chan, who would be joined a few years later by his younger sister, Bii-chan. (Bei-Bii. Get it?) The two would serve as the snack’s mascots until 2016 when they officially “retired.”
In the 1990s, Matsuda officially changes its names to Oyatsu Company. (oyatsu is Japanese for “between-meal snack.”) The company also continued to experiment with forms and flavors of the snack, including a round disc shape that has since become popular among other brands, such as Nissin.
Baby Star Ramen Today
Today, Baby Star Ramen is as beloved of a Japanese snack as ever. The brand is sold throughout Asia and even in the United States (although the flavors offered in foreign countries differ from the ones back home). The brand frequently releases “special editions,” such as its limited edition “Sumire” release in concert with famous ramen chain Santoka (山頭火).
Fan enthusiasm for the brand hasn’t waned, either. Mie Prefecture, home to Oyatsu Company, even sports a baby Star Ramen theme park called “Oyatsu Town” that opened in July 2019. The park touts itself as “The Town Where Baby Star Lovers Live.”
I’m a little pissed that I discovered Baby Star Ramen days before returning to Japan. I’ve been telling myself that I’d be careful about what I ate and drank while I was in the country. Now, honestly, all I want to do is curl up with a shou of sake and a mega-bag of Baby Star and kiss my waistline goodbye.
Get Your Own (Wherever You Live)
Want to try this and other unexpected Japanese snacks for yourself? Click below to try out Bokksu and enjoy the best snacks that Japan has to offer via their subscription shipped directly from Osaka!
