Ramen Girl

[emperor]

The Ramen Girl

The film is the story of an American woman (Murphy) who's stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a ramen noodle chef under a tyrannical Japanese master (Nishida)...

[Greji]

Huh? How do you train to make ramen? My nephew went to work in a ramenya parttime while going to school. He was slinging noodles in about five minutes.

The film is the story of an American woman (Murphy) who's stranded in Tokyo -Searching for direction in life, --she trains to be a ramen noodle chef

Oh, wait a minute Emp, I get it. The girl is a Murphy, dumped her old man, going a make it on her own in Tokyo. Okay, it's an Irish thing right? Set in Paddy Foleys or Mad Mulligans right? Ah well it'll be worth a pint to see.

[emperor]

..I get it. The girl - dumped her old man - going a make it on her own in Tokyo. - it's an Irish thing right? Set in Paddy Foleys or Mad Mulligans right?..

I think that would be called 'The Guinness Girl':
and its about how she manages to overcome her conservative sexual hangups after an all-girl school-convent education from nuns in rural Ireland - by drinking loads of beer in Tokyo and becoming a big lush with absolutely no inhibitions... flashbacks to convent communal showers galore!

[Greji]

I think that would be called 'The Guinness Girl'---becoming a big lush with absolutely no inhibitions...

Ah, a good lass after me own heart! I've ordered me front row seat in advance!

[GuyJean]

The inspiration for 'Ramen Girl':

from here: http://www.northarc.com/~ke6isf/convention/ax/1999/cosplay/2/

GJ

[IkemenTommy]

Huh? How do you train to make ramen? My nephew went to work in a ramenya parttime while going to school. He was slinging noodles in about five minutes.

Just add water and stir the sauce in.

[kamome]

I wonder if this movie is somehow inspired by Tampopo, which had a food theme with lots of ramen and was quite a funny movie. That movie certainly made it seem like making the perfect bowl of ramen is an art and not just about pouring some sauce over hot noodles!

[Choeki]

I wonder if the movie ends with her being picked up on an immigration sweep by the Tokyo police?

[den4]

I wonder if this movie is somehow inspired by Tampopo, which had a food theme with lots of ramen and was quite a funny movie. That movie certainly made it seem like making the perfect bowl of ramen is an art and not just about pouring some sauce over hot noodles!

I was thinking the same thing, then I noticed the theme kinda sounded like Rost in Tlansration as well.....where the main character goes through various places in Tokyo, kinda aimlessly, just to give the rest of the stay at home and never will visit Japan crowd a preview of what the heck Tokyo really is like---as well as a taste of what Japan considers "real" ramen is like, and not what they get at their local grocery market in the styrofoam cup...

Then again, if it is following the current trend of Hollywood movies, they'll probably just focus on the wandering aimlessly in Tokyo and the title is just there to get the crowd in the theaters for the first week before word of mouth gets to the rest of the local population....

[Kanchou]

Seems like sushi would have been a MUCH better theme, since it takes a bit more skill, plus it's a job that probably still has some sort of heirarchy...

Not to mention all sushiya seem to be men

[Greji]

Seems like sushi would have been a MUCH better theme, since it takes a bit more skill, plus it's a job that probably still has some sort of heirarchy...

Not to mention all sushiya seem to be men

There is an actual belief by some sushi advocates that a woman's hand should never touch the sushi. There are a lot of Japanese men who adhere to this, however, with the advent of PC and "sekuhara" they won't publically advocate this fact. This is why, other than family run sushiya's, you do not see women slapping the flounder on the rice!

I have long suspected Mulboyne as a closet male dominant sushi advocate. But now that I think about it, I don't think he cares, just as long as the sushi is served and has not turned too green yet!

[GomiGirl]

I think the superstition is something about how women's core temperature is different to mens and so is the wrong temperature for handling the rice... or something like that.

Here is a little article that I googled..

She Has a Knife And She Knows How to Use It New York Times 06/05/2002

''They say that women cannot make sushi because their hands are too warm and that will ruin the fish,''

But as in most countries in the world, most chefs are men anyway... have no idea why that is but there is a huge difference between a chef and a cook.

[Greji]

I think the superstition is something about how women's core temperature is different to mens and so is the wrong temperature for handling the rice... or something like that.

And there are J-guys that swear by that! It must be that unique since of taste that allows them to tell the difference.

Just like they can spot the difference between domestic koshihikari rice and that crap that is imported from the US and Australia.

We use California rice and have never had a J-guest notice it was not the good old domestic stuff, or maybe their unique taste buds picked it up and they didn't want to embarass us by mentioning it! Ha!

[Mulboyne]

The chefs I know who dismiss the idea of training women mainly do so because they believe that they will get married, have children and so waste those years of training. As Greji says, that's less true for a family run shop. I haven't heard the core temperature theory but have heard customers maintain that cosmetics (perfume, creams etc) would affect the taste. There are virtually no women making the fake sushi you see in window displays either even though none of the other mitigating circumstances apply.

[Mike Oxlong]

Just like they can spot the difference between domestic koshihikari rice and that crap that is imported from the US and Australia.

We use California rice and have never had a J-guest notice it was not the good old domestic stuff, or maybe their unique taste buds picked it up and they didn't want to embarass us by mentioning it! Ha!

Do you often see the "blind taste tests" in Japan on shows and whatnot, where the two (or more) items being compared are sans label until the tasters give them a try and rate them?

I seems most taste tests are done with the food clearly labeled (ie. domestic and foreign rice), and then everybody trys them and claims a huge difference. Expectations maybe playing a large factor...?

[Greji]

Expectations maybe playing a large factor...?

Expectations is a good characterization. Also, they may just be brainwashed by the farm industries propaganda against foreign rice and that only the unique domestic rice can meet the unique J-taste requirement.

I have a seriously ill J-brother-in-law who has a major allergy. He is allergic to any form of employment and breaks out in a rash at the mention of any type of labor. The only time he breaks a sweat is going for unemployment payments.

We have taken him and the wife's sister, rice at certain hard times, and yet this same slob will sit in my house (consuming anything that has alcohol in it) and trash foreign rice and/or any other types of food not falling under the heading of the unique J-diet!

I have considered telling him that all this time he has been stuffing his gullet full of California's finest, but I know his immediate response would be "I thought that tasted strange", and continue eating (and drinking). So let them have their special unique tastes!

[gomichild]

I was watching a silly quiz show the other day and Atsushi from London Boots presented something about one of the most expensive mineral waters in the world - which happens to come from Japan.

He had them bring in glasses of it and got all the other talento to try it. There were ooos and ahhhhs about the freshness, cries of oishii~ etc etc - then he showed them a video clip of him filling the bottle with water from a tap.

Then he brought out the actual expensive water and they had to try and save face and backtrack. No one had guessed it was tap water to begin with. They accepted that it was this expensive water and therefore tasted good.

It was a brilliant piss take on both the whole everything being oishii on Japanese TV and people knowing cheap from expensive just by taste.

[otakuden]

Seems like sushi would have been a MUCH better theme, since it takes a bit more skill, plus it's a job that probably still has some sort of heirarchy...

Not to mention all sushiya seem to be men

this is true. i have never seen a female sushiya, though it dun really matter one way or the other to me. lady or gent, so long as the sushi is good n i get to eat it
mm... good thing i got my sushi fix the other night at Okinawa.

[jingai]

I think the superstition is something about how women's core temperature is different to mens and so is the wrong temperature for handling the rice... or something like that.

Well, I suppose we'll have to replace all of them with nice and cool androids.

[Mulboyne]

"Ramen Girl" opens in Shinjuku today. The Japanese website is here.

[YT]GARRQfJt-bQ[/YT]

[Dragonette]

Just like they can spot the difference between domestic koshihikari rice and that crap that is imported from the US and Australia.

We use California rice and have never had a J-guest notice it was not the good old domestic stuff, or maybe their unique taste buds picked it up and they didn't want to embarass us by mentioning it! Ha!

My Resident Ronin does better than that - he swears that he can tell the difference between Botan Rose (California) rice purchased from Jasmart, a Japanese Supermarket and Botan Rose from a non-ethnic Supermarket.

He tried the same BS story with shoyu, too. I get Yamasa Premium, (no preservatives) which tastes much better, from "my" supermarket, and I only after made him do a blind taste test did he choose the Yamasa Premium. Prior to that, he insisted that the regular (Jasmart purchased) shoyu was better.

It's good to have this board - now I can better fathom that he's not totally psychotic, he's just... .

[Iraira]

I get Yamasa Premium, (no preservatives) which tastes much better, from "my" supermarket, and I only after made him do a blind taste test did he choose the Yamasa Premium. Prior to that, he insisted that the regular (Jasmart purchased) shoyu was better.

You poked his eyes out just to confirm a difference in shoyu? I never thought of doing that........

[Dragonette]

You poked his eyes out just to confirm a difference in shoyu? I never thought of doing that........

Nooo... I didn't think of that either - but if I had caught him peeking, it might have been the next step.
Let's see, a pair of ohashi might just do the trick... I can just say that I'm a clumsy gaijin, never learned to use the damn things right... Oh-oh... slipped...

[Iraira]

Nooo... I didn't think of that either - but if I had caught him peeking, it might have been the next step.
Let's see, a pair of ohashi might just do the trick... I can just say that I'm a clumsy gaijin, never learned to use the damn things right... Oh-oh... slipped...

Upon being complimented on my hashi skills, I tell the locals that I studied hashi use intensively at college, in preparation for coming to Japan. Longest that I've been able to spin this yarn is ten minutes, before I had to confess that I was lying and picked up the amazing ability to use the classical utensil, when I was 10, at a Beni Hana in Cleveland. Aunt and Uncle were celebrating their 25 anniversary...they got divorced 4 months later.

[Dragonette]

...Aunt and Uncle were celebrating their 25 anniversary...they got divorced 4 months later.

By any chance did they attempt to use their ohashi against each other in an abusive way? That might have been the basis for their estrangment...

...Or maybe they were just sooo PO'd about little brat nephew using them better than they could...

...Or maybe that cute little guy with the lightning-fast hocho caught your Aunt's interest, leading to the downfall of her until-then happy marriage...

You never know...

[yakitori]

My roommate's sister did the the stunts for Brittney Murphy in this movie. Aparently there is a Kendo scene she was not entirely capable of... due to lack of stamina or something like that...

[Iraira]

By any chance did they attempt to use their ohashi against each other in an abusive way? That might have been the basis for their estrangment...

...Or maybe they were just sooo PO'd about little brat nephew using them better than they could...

...Or maybe that cute little guy with the lightning-fast hocho caught your Aunt's interest, leading to the downfall of her until-then happy marriage...

You never know...

We know...Uncle liked to sit on the couch downing Coors until he passed out.

[GomiGirl]

This movie is showing tonight on cable TV. Kinda fun actually.

[TOKYO JOE]

I know that you TTTokyolios out there loved this film.

So watch my review it's here

http://tinyurl.com/ramen-girl-video-review

[YT]9B7aKcFn6PQ[/YT]

Mod Edit - Fixed your YouTube link for you. You just need the bit after v=.

[Greji]

I know that you TTTokyolios out there loved this film.

So watch my review it's here

http://tinyurl.com/ramen-girl-video-review

Joe-boy, I realize that you know every what and shout there is to know about Japan and Tokyo, but hey! If we want to look at your site, we can easily slip the old browser right over there and plop down. So when ya visits this board, how about leaving your site at home. I mean like talk about anything you want from pussy to pork chops while you're here, but just lay off the hypes for your place and posting your entire pod cast selection. Kinda big waste of bandwidth..

Rant over and out, back to YBF and other such important matters.