Bed Time Story 27

Once upon a time there was a man named Momofuku Ando and he was a Japanese inventor and businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd.. He is known as one of the inventors of instant noodles, instant ramen, and Cup Noodles. Ando was born Go Pek-Hok (Chinese: 吳百福; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Gô Pek-hok) in 1910 into a wealthy Taiwanese family in Kagi-chō (嘉義廳^?) (modern-day Chiayi), Japanese-era Taiwan, and raised by his grandparents within the city walls of Tainan-chō (臺南廳^?) (modern-day Tainan) following the deaths of his parents. His grandparents owned a small textiles store, which inspired him, at the age of 22, to start his own textiles company, using 190,000 yen, in Eiraku-chō (永樂町^?), Daitōtei, Taihoku-shi (modern-day Taipei). In 1933, Ando traveled to Osaka where he established a clothing company while studying economics at Ritsumeikan University. After World War II, Ando became a Japanese citizen and moved to Japan, where he entered Ritsumeikan University and at the same time founded a small merchandising firm in Osaka with the inheritance from his family. "Momofuku" is the Japanese reading of his Chinese given name (百福; Pek-hok), while Andō (安藤) is a common Japanese surname. He was convicted of tax evasion in 1948 and served two years in jail. In his biography, Ando said he had provided scholarships for students, which at the time was a form of tax evasion. After he lost his company due to a chain reaction bankruptcy, Ando founded what was to become Nissin in Ikeda, Osaka, Japan, starting off as a small family-run company producing salt. In 1964, seeking a way to promote the instant noodle industry, Ando founded the Instant Food Industry Association, which set guidelines for fair competition and product quality, introducing several industry standards such as the inclusion of production dates on packaging and the "fill to" line. He was also the chairman of the International Ramen Manufacturers' Association. The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum is named after him. Ando died of heart failure on January 5, 2007 at a hospital in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture at the age of 96. With this being so and so much more to learn about Momofuku Ando i would say he is on my list for one of the most interesting inventors in history.



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