Naruto’s Biggest Inspiration Was a Real-Life Ramen Restaurant

Naruto’s creator Masashi Kishimoto drew inspiration for his iconic manga story from a popular eating spot he frequented as a college student.

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It’s no secret that Naruto Uzumaki loves ramen, a dish whose versatility of flavors is only matched by the creativity of the chef making it. From his days running the streets as an orphan to his time as the Seventh Hokage, throughout the series, Naruto never missed a chance to eat ramen at his favorite noodle shop, the small, family-owned restaurant called Ramen Ichiraku. While in the manga, Naruto’s love of ramen might have come from his mother, his preference for it was inspired by real-life events.

Years before Naruto’s creator, Masashi Kishimoto, came up with the idea of the iconic manga character, he was a college student in the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka. In a nation famous for its ramen, Fukuoka is the home of the widely popular tonkotsu, style of ramen which features noodles served in a rich broth made from pork bones boiled for hours on end. During his time in Fukuoka, Kishimoto developed a taste for the local tonkotsu ramen style, and his ramen restaurant of choice was a small, family-owned restaurant known as Ramen Ichiraku.

In a 2014 interview with Japanese network Sora News, Kishimoto revealed that he was a frequent diner at Ramen Ichiraku, so much so that over time he became friends with the owner and staff, much like Naruto befriended Teuchi, the owner of the manga version of Ramen Ichiraku, and his daughter Ayame. The similarities between the stories of the two restaurants are striking. Like in the manga, the real-world Ramen Ichiraku where Kishimoto ate was eventually closed. However, a newer, larger location was opened shortly after. Where the original might have served as a way for art to imitate life, the new location is all about life imitating art, as it is modeled after the manga version of Ramen Ichiraku. Just as the manga version seemed to benefit from Naruto’s rise in power and importance, so has the real-world version benefited from the popularity of Kishimoto’s manga.

Indeed, with Kishimoto making no secret of how his personal experiences such as the birth of his children have influenced what he did with Naruto, it is not hard to imagine how many of the scenes featuring Naruto at the Ramen Ichiraku were in actuality, re-imaginations of similar experiences that Kishimoto had at the real-world Ramen Ichiraku. Judging from the fact that a popular topping for ramen is a slice of fishcake called “naruto” whose white and pink spiraled design resembles the rinneegan dojutsu, Kishimoto got some inspiration for the manga from his ramen eating experiences at Ramen Ichiraku.

While the real-world Ramen Ichiraku’s go-to dish is the local pork-bone-based tonkotsu broth ramen specialty, it also has a develop a special miso broth ramen just the way Naruto likes it. Both in the real world, and virtually Ramen Ichiraku serves as a hub for creative activity and Naruto homage.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/narutos-biggest-inspiration-was-a-real-life-ramen-restaurant/