"The year I was a student at International Christian University . . . Japan's automated-teller machines were open only during regular bank hours — weekdays from nine to five," writes Andy Raskin. "I would often forget to make pre-weekend withdrawals, but thanks to instant ramen I survived many Saturdays and Sundays on just the few hundred yen in my pocket."
The late Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin Foods, became a wealthy man because he understood the concepts of convenience and affordability. Born Wu Baifu in southern Taiwan in 1910, Ando — so the legend goes — happened by a black market area near Osaka's Umeda Station, where he noticed long queues of people waiting to buy bowls of ramen noodles in soup. "In a line," he later wrote, "you can see the desires of the world."
Through persistent experimentation in a wooden shack in his back yard, Ando succeeded in developing instant ramen, and parlayed his creation into one of the world's most popular snack foods. Along with the Honda Cub motorbike and Sony transistor radio, Ando's instant ramen — a cheap, tasty and quick means of sustenance — is one of the great success stories of postwar Japan.