The founder of Japan's "Taiwan Ramen" Guo Mingjie passed away on the 29th of last month at the age of 82.

(Photo taken from Yaba Akio Facebook)

[Instant News/Comprehensive Report] Guo Mingyou, a Taiwanese chef who created "Taiwanese ramen that does not exist in Taiwan" in Japan and popularized it all over Japan, has recently passed away at the age of 82.

Akio Yatata, the Taipei branch director of Japan's "Sankei Shimbun", revealed that after the news of Guo Ming's death was exposed, major Japanese media reported the news, and many Japanese netizens also expressed regret and reluctance.

According to comprehensive Japanese media reports, Guo Mingyou, the founder of the Taiwanese restaurant "Weixian" in the Chikusa district of Nagoya, passed away last Wednesday (3/29) at the age of 82, as confirmed by his family.

Relevant reports pointed out that Guo Mingyou was the founder of "Taiwan Ramen" which is famous throughout Japan as a Nagoya delicacy. During his lifetime, he worked hard to build a cultural bridge between Taiwan and Japan through cuisine. Express regret.

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Interestingly, the Taiwanese ramen that Guo Mingyou launched in Japan is actually not an authentic Taiwanese delicacy. There has been a discussion in Japanese society because of "Taiwanese ramen that does not exist in Taiwan".

Yaba Akio shared the news of Guo Mingyou's death on Facebook tonight, "Mr. Guo was born in Japan, his father was from Dajia, Taichung, and he went to Japan when he was young. Mr. Guo came to Taiwan in his 20s. When traveling, I ate Tainan Danzai noodles and thought it was delicious. After returning to Japan, I tried to make ramen according to my memory and combined with Japanese ramen. Because I like spicy food, I added more chili, leeks and garlic, and became Taiwan. The prototype of ramen."

Yaba Akio said that Guo Mingyou named this dish Taiwan Ramen for two reasons. One is to miss Taiwan, and the other is to increase the brand effect of ramen. "More than 50 years ago, the personnel exchanges between Taiwan and Japan were not very frequent. , so many Japanese consumers think that "Taiwan Ramen" is a dish that Taiwanese often eat.

In fact, there are many examples in Japan of naming dishes with foreign place names, such as "Tianjin Rice Bowl" and "Cantonese Noodles".

Yaba Akio went on to say that Taiwanese ramen could only be eaten in Nagoya at first. Until the end of the 1980s, it was suddenly popular to eat chili peppers all over Japan. It became popular and even made into instant noodles. "It is said that Taiwanese ramen can be eaten in the cafeterias of Toyota Motor's local branches. Interestingly, Japanese Taiwanese ramen was later spread back to Taiwan, but the name was changed to "Nagoya ramen". After all, for most Taiwanese, the taste of this kind of ramen is Japanese."

Finally, Akio Yata expressed his condolences to Guo Mingyou: "Mr. Guo combined the characteristics of both Japan and Taiwan, invented new cuisine, and also promoted cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Japan. Mr. Guo will last forever!"