Search｜Photos & Images & Videos｜KYODO NEWS IMAGES INC

Japan-bound tourism promotion event in New York

Waitresses serve a small portion of soba noodles into contestants' bowls during an all-you-can-eat soba-eating contest at Japan Village in New York on Aug. 31, 2024. The contest was part of a Japan tourism promotion event, with Morioka in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Iwate, home of the popular "wanko soba" noodles, and Yamaguchi in western Japan, taking part. Morioka was listed second on the New York Times' list of "52 Places to Go in 2023" and Yamaguchi third on the list of "52 Places to Go in 2024."

E

Bowl with face of mascot of Iwate Pref.

MORIOKA, Japan - A woman holds a bowl with the face of one of the five "Wanko Kyodai" (wanko siblings), which are mascots of Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, at a noodle restaurant in Morioka in this undated photo. Wanko soba, or buckwheat noodles served in small bowls, is a specialty of Iwate.

E

Speed-eating contest of Japanese noodles at Milan Expo

Visitors take part in a speed-eating contest of "wanko soba" Japanese noodles at the Japan Pavilion at the Expo Milano, a food-themed international fair, in Milan, Italy, on July 24, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo