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"Slurping Noodles Is Japanese Culture": Is It Rude to Slurp Noodles in Japan?

「麺をすするのは日本人の文化だよ」 日本で麺をすするのは失礼か（ヌーハラ論争へのコメント欄）

By Rakutaro · Tokyo, Japan

Japan Etiquette (What Japanese People Actually Do)Nationwide
"Slurping Noodles Is Japanese Culture": Is It Rude to Slurp Noodles in Japan?

No. Japanese commenters treat slurping as the normal way to eat ramen, soba and udon, and the most-liked reply (82 likes) says that if the sound bothers you, you shouldn't eat out. The 150-comment thread sits under a late-2024 video from the Oudouya ramen channel asking viewers about the "noodle harassment" row over a Marugame Seimen ad with actress Aya Ueto. Defenders give reasons as well as pride: slurping cools the noodles and carries the aroma. Several commenters also draw two lines, though. Slurping is not the same as noisy chewing, and a slurp that is needlessly loud or badly done still grates. For anyone who can't or won't slurp, a couple of them say what they do instead.

“They can just not go to ramen shops, soba shops or udon shops. Slurping noodles is Japanese culture 😊”

ラーメン屋、蕎麦屋、うどん屋さんに行かなければ良いんだよ。 麺をすするのは日本人の文化だよ😊

— @ラーメン三郎-m2r
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What Japanese people said — picked from the top 108 of 150 comments

  • If it bothers you, don't eat out, is what I think.

    気にするなら外で食うなよと思う

    — @kintaheyMost liked82 likes

  • They probably don't know that slurping takes the edge off the heat ( ´∀`) Slurping and noisy chewing are separate issues ( ´∀`)

    すすることによって熱さを軽減させる事を多分知らんやろ( ´∀`) すするとクチャラーは別問題だからね( ´∀`)

    — @frtnkuk8 likes

  • If you don't slurp, the aroma doesn't come through.

    啜らないと香りが立たないだろ

    — @minimini67549 likes

  • Some people make way more noise than they need to, and that really grates.

    必要以上にでかい音を立てるやついるけどマジ耳障り

    — @njdjrjj3 likes

  • If it's really loud, it bothers me a little~ Some people slurp so hard it almost seems deliberate 😅

    あまり、大きい音だと 少し気になる〜 なんか、わざとって 思える程啜る人も いるから😅

    — @龍-p3c1q3 likes

  • If someone's bad at slurping, it just sounds like noise.

    すすり方が下手だと雑音に聞こえるな

    — @でんそん-m8e1 likes

  • It basically doesn't bother me, but once, in a small shop that's usually quiet, someone was eating tsukemen and making a crazy amount of noise, and each slurp went on forever, and that was honestly a bit much. They were drawing looks from everyone around them too 😅

    基本気にならないけど一回だけ基本静かな規模の小さいお店だけどつけ麺をめちゃくちゃ音をたてて更に一回がめちゃくちゃ長くてそれは流石にちょっと嫌だったなぁー 周りの目線も集めてたし😅

    — @NN-wd7qu0 likes

  • The sound of slurping ramen doesn't bother me at all. People who chew noisily, whatever they're eating, I can't help looking up at their face 😅

    ラーメンをすする音は全く気になりません。何を食べてもクチャクチャする人は思わず顔を見てしまいます😅

    — @season-y3s0 likes

  • I think it's fine to ignore a loud minority kicking up a fuss. It's wrecking the culture.

    ゴタゴタいう声のでかい少数意見は無視していいと思う。文化破壊。

    — @茨城ベイ38 likes

  • Even with your own country's culture, people have likes and dislikes. Not being able to accept a culture and attacking it are separate issues, though lol

    自国の文化であろうと好き嫌いはあるよ 文化を受け入れられない事と否定非難するのは別問題なんだけどねw

    — @骨本0 likes

  • In the Marugame ad the sound was added afterward, so it isn't actually Aya Ueto slurping.

    丸亀のCMは音を後から入れてて上戸彩のすする音じゃないんだよね。

    — @セネガルエチオピア9 likes

  • I was eating soba going ZOBABABABA! and the soba shop owner said to me, "Man, you sure eat like it tastes good~" Made me kind of happy.

    蕎麦をゾバババババー！って音立てて食べてたら、蕎麦屋の店主に兄ちゃん美味そうに食うね〜って言われた。 なんか嬉しかった。

    — @bongbongbong4200 likes

What Japanese people do instead

  • Everyone eats their own way and I won't say anything, but personally I don't slurp, because it splashes the soup, and you can eat without making any noise by simply lifting the noodles to your mouth with chopsticks. It's not something to complain about in how other people eat. Everyone should just eat the way they like.

    別に食い方は人それぞれだし、何も言わないけど 自分的にはすするとスープ跳ねるし別に音出さなくても単純に箸で口に運べば食えるからしないかなぁ 人の食い方に文句言うもんでもないな、各自好きな食べ方で食ってればいい

    — @raima.1772 likes

  • In Osaka two women sat down on either side of me at the counter and were eating their ramen without a sound, so partway through I started eating while watching how much noise I made.

    大阪でカウンターの左右に女性二人が座ってきて、ラーメンを無音で食べてたから、途中で音に気をつけながら食べたわ

    — @MA.12370 likes

FAQ

Is it rude to slurp noodles in Japan?
No. For ramen, soba and udon, slurping is the normal way to eat, and most Japanese replies to the 2024 "noodle harassment" row defend it. One reply on 12 likes says that if you start worrying about that, there's no end to it, and if you don't like it, just don't eat out. Another, on 10 likes, simply says slurping has a real purpose.
Why do Japanese people slurp noodles?
To cool hot noodles and to get the aroma. Slurping takes the edge off the heat, one reply says (8 likes), and another says that if you don't slurp, the aroma doesn't come through (9 likes). A soba shop owner once told a noisy eater that they looked like they were really enjoying it.
Do you have to slurp noodles in Japan?
No. One commenter who doesn't slurp says it splashes the soup and that you can eat without any noise by lifting the noodles to your mouth with chopsticks. Another, seated at a ramen counter in Osaka between two women eating silently, started watching how much noise they made. Eating quietly is not treated as rude.
What noodle manners actually bother Japanese people?
Noisy chewing, and slurping far louder than needed. Slurping is kept separate from kuchakucha, chewing with a smacking sound, which one person says makes them look up whatever the food. Others single out a slurp that is all noise because it is done badly, or a very long, loud one in a small, quiet shop that drew looks from everyone.
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