Pasta made with chestnuts

Pasta made with chestnuts

Undated photo shows packs of "Obuse Chestnut Pasta," made with chestnut skin extract and sold by the Sakai Seimen noodle maker in the central Japan city of Nagano.

Zoo, noodle maker release instant noodle

Zoo, noodle maker release instant noodle

FUKUOKA, Japan - A pack of instant noodle dubbed "Yamaneko (wildcat) Ramen," shown in this file photo taken on Nov. 21, 2014, is a product jointly developed by the Fukuoka City Zoological Garden in southwestern Japan and Fujisawa Seimen Co., a noodle maker in Asahikawa on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido. The new product is priced at 117 yen, including 2 yen to be donated to cover feed for the endangered Tsushima Yamaneko leopard cat species raised at the zoo.

Japanese No. 1 "udon" noodle chain's secrets of success in Russia

Japanese No. 1 "udon" noodle chain's secrets of success in Russia

Satoshi Suga, manager of the International Business Development Division of Toridoll Holdings Corp., operator of Japan's biggest "udon" noodle restaurant chain, Marugame Seimen, gives an interview to Kyodo News in Tokyo on Dec. 8, 2016. The firm has shown the way forward for Japanese food service firms in the promising but difficult-to-crack market as Tokyo and Moscow seek to strengthen private-sector ties. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese No. 1 "udon" noodle chain's secrets of success in Russia

Japanese No. 1 "udon" noodle chain's secrets of success in Russia

Satoshi Suga, manager of the International Business Development Division of Toridoll Holdings Corp., operator of Japan's biggest "udon" noodle restaurant chain, Marugame Seimen, gives an interview to Kyodo News in Tokyo on Dec. 8, 2016. The firm has shown the way forward for Japanese food service firms in the promising but difficult-to-crack market as Tokyo and Moscow seek to strengthen private-sector ties. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese "udon" noodle attracting customers in Russia

Japanese "udon" noodle attracting customers in Russia

Photo taken in January 2013 shows an "udon" Japanese noodle-tasting event in Moscow, prior to the opening of the first Moscow restaurant of Japan's biggest udon chain, Marugame Seimen. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Zoo, noodle maker release instant noodle

Zoo, noodle maker release instant noodle

FUKUOKA, Japan - A pack of instant noodle dubbed "Yamaneko (wildcat) Ramen," shown in this file photo taken on Nov. 21, 2014, is a product jointly developed by the Fukuoka City Zoological Garden in southwestern Japan and Fujisawa Seimen Co., a noodle maker in Asahikawa on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido. The new product is priced at 117 yen, including 2 yen to be donated to cover feed for the endangered Tsushima Yamaneko leopard cat species raised at the zoo. (Kyodo)