Soba and its cultural implication in Japan

Comparing Tokyo and Osaka, it is said that Tokyoites prefer soba or buckwheat noodles, while Osakans prefer udon or flour noodles. However, if we’re just talking about the last day of the year, both Tokyoites and Osakans are likely to opt for toshikoshi soba over udon. This custom of eating soba on New Year’s Eve is said to have started in the middle of the Edo period (1600 to 1867).

There are many theories as to why soba is eaten on New Year’s Eve. According to one theory, this is because soba is easy to cut and is believed to be a good way to get rid of hardships and bad luck from the previous year.

Another theory is that the long, thin shape of soba is associated with long life, often explained as “eating soba will give you long life” and “New Year’s Eve soba are a prayer for long life.” Be that as it may, if the long and thin shape of soba is associated with a long life, it should be the same even if udon is eaten instead. There are probably other reasons why soba is eaten on New Year’s Eve.

There are several explanations for the origin of the New Year’s Eve soba. Among them, the idea that “eating soba will increase your luck with money” is well known. At first glance, it may seem that there is no special relationship between soba and money. However, during the Edo period, when the custom of eating soba on New Year’s Eve began, there was a close connection between soba and gold.

During the Edo period, goldsmiths cleaned their workbenches with soba flour when hammering gold to make gold leaf. Cleaning the workbenches with soba flour would make them more slippery and make it easier for the gold to spread. From this, the soba flour “spreads gold” changed to “makes gold”.

In addition, water was added to the soba flour and a dough was made which was then used to collect the gold dust that had been loosened during the gold making process. The kneaded soba flour was sticky, so when it was pushed against the gold dust, the gold dust would stick to the soba flour. Then by putting the soba flour containing the gold dust into water, the soba flour would dissolve allowing the heavier gold dust to sink to the bottom. This collection method using soba flour made it possible to collect even the smallest gold dust that fell off during the gold working process without any problem. Soba flour, thus recognized as an item that “collects gold dust,” eventually became a lucky item that “accumulates money.”

Hikkoshi soba (tradition of giving buckwheat noodles to new neighbors after moving house) is also said to have its origins in the superstition that soba increases luck with money. That is, soba as a lucky element to increase luck with money was ideal for creating a favorable impression when meeting someone for the first time.

Soba is considered one of the most popular Japanese foods, but in fact it is eaten in other countries as well. In Slovenia, the annual consumption of soba is higher than in Japan and it is eaten every day.