Tokushima Somen Shop Owner to Release "Emma-chan's Somen Jigoku" on December 8, 2025 Emma-chan's Somen Jigoku" to be released on December 8, 2012 (Friday)

2023.12.12 09:30

株式会社ワイヤーオレンジ

Wire Orange Co. (located in Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture) has released a picture book full of impact, "Somen Jigoku," on December 8, 2023 (Friday) throughout Japan.

Cover of the picture book "Somen Jigoku

The author of this picture book, Takeshi Harada, is also the owner of "Awa Sora Soba," a popular somen restaurant in his hometown of Tokushima Prefecture, where people wait in long lines to get their noodles, making this "somen picture book written by a somen store owner" a hot topic.

Ramen-like Somen, Awa Sora Soba

Picture Book Somen Jigoku Chukumen (3)

＜About "Takeshi Harada, picture book author" and "Awa Sora Soba

Takeshi Harada, the owner of Awa Sora Soba, made his debut as a picture book author with "As an elementary school student, I was forced to sell eggplants by my ogre-like mother. He is a popular picture book author who debuted as a picture book author with "I, an elementary school student, was forced to sell eggplant to my ogre-like mother", which was ranked No. 1 on Amazon's overall ranking. She has also appeared on Fuji Television's "Miracle Experience! Anbiribabo" and Nippon Television's "Sekaiichi uketai jugyo" (The class I want to take in the world) as a picture book author who is "gruesome but makes you cry. Despite her face as a picture book author, her ramen noodle eating (2,000 bowls in total) and ramen noodle making hobbies have kept her from working on her picture book, "Awa Sora Soba," which uses local somen noodles, for the Corona Disaster. Awa Sora-soba" looks like ramen at first glance, but the noodles are made from "Handa Somen," a local specialty of Tokushima Prefecture, and unlike ramen, the soup is made from dried bonito flakes and kelp, without using any animal ingredients such as pork or chicken bones, The soup is made from dried bonito flakes and kelp, as well as garlic, ginger, and other herbs.

But why did Mr. Harada publish a "Somen Picture Book"?

According to Mr. Harada, "Around January 2023, there was a spate of nuisances such as drinking soy sauce directly from conveyor-belt sushi restaurants or licking red ginger from beef bowl restaurants and returning it to the bowl and posting a video. As a restaurant owner, I could not tolerate such behavior! I wanted to convey this message to the children of today, so I decided to make an easy-to-understand "picture book" about it. Also, since I am the owner of a somen store, I thought it would be fun to use somen as a motif.

The synopsis of this picture book, which is filled with Harada's thoughts and ideas, is as follows.

There are two rivers flowing in hell and heaven, and every day, ogres under the command of Lord Emma pour out somen. To the people of both hell and heaven, they are given chopsticks as long as they are tall. In hell, people get into fights and everyone ends up starving to death, but in heaven, everyone feeds each other and is happy... This is a Buddhist tale "San Shaku San San Chopsticks," which the author, Harada, has arranged in a way that is easy to understand for modern children, making it a true "2021 picture book on discipline.