OSAKA, Sept. 11 — A tasting event to enjoy animal-free ramen was held at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka.
The ramen dish uses noodles made from soybeans developed by Toyota Motor Corp., which is working on expanding consumption of domestically-grown soybeans, coupled with plant-based dashi soup created by Fuji Oil Co.
The firms hope to contribute to boosting exports of Japanese food and consumption of domestic farm produce through providing products that meet the needs of people with diverse dietary habits such as vegetarians.
Only 20 percent of the total amount of soybeans consumed by the people in Japan are produced domestically.
Toyota has been cooperating with food manufacturers, the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives and universities under the Domestic Soybean Production Support Project, growing a new soybean variety and developing processed products to expand production and consumption.
The noodles served at the event was produced by Yubasho Corp., a yuba tofu skin processing shop in the city of Kyoto, using soybeans produced domestically by Toyota.
The broth is also made entirely from plant-based ingredients including soybeans.
Visitors to the event who tasted the dish were impressed by the ramen, saying the noodles don’t taste like they were made from soybeans and the soup is rich in flavor although it is entirely plant-based.
Roughly 700 portions of soybean noodles were served in ramen or soba dishes at the event.
Ramen with soybean noodles and plant-based soup is served at the Osaka Expo.