On my way back from my parents' cemetery visiting in Hayashida town, we dropped in Soumen Museum annexed to the noodle factory in Kamioka town in Tatsuno city.
People can see the whole manufacturing procedure of the noodle and understand all about it.
Wheat, together with rotary mortar, was brought to China around 300 B.C. through the Silk Road. The rice cake technology was brought to Japan through the Japanese envoys to Tang Dynasty China. Wheat civilization has spread all around the world, but what is interesting is, noodle civilization has developed in Italy and Asian countries. It was around in 1750 of Edo period when Somen was produced in a large scale here in Banshu-an old name of this area. The feudal lord of Tatsuno gave license and encouraged the production of Soumen.