A noise-cancelling ramen fork now exists

Noodle harassment: it’s real, and it’s ruining people’s ramen enjoyment in Japan, we guess. That’s why Nissin – a Japanese ramen noodle giant – created a noise-canceling ramen fork. It’s utterly pointless (no pun intended) and it’s selling for US$130 (roughly HK$1,000).

Walk into any ramen shop in Japan, and the joyous sound of enthusiastic slurping is par for the course. Shunned by western countries as a repugnant sign of poor manners, in Japan, the slurp is an art: it cools the boiling-hot noodles and enhances the flavour. For many, especially those who moved to Japan from elsewhere, this sound is a plague upon their blissful existence. It’s been dubbed ‘nuudoru harasumento’, or ‘muuhara’ for short, and Nissin is out to end it (for at least 5,000 people, the number of forks that will be available for purchase).

It doesn’t negate the noise of slurping rather, but covers it – in a way. When the offending action beings, the fork triggers an app in a nearby smartphone. The phone then emits a noise not unlike a flushing toilet to cover the slurp. Because as everyone knows, the sound of slurping is way grosser than plumbing during a meal.

If you want one, order fast. They’re doing an initial run of 5,000 forks, available for pre-order. If that goes well, they’ll consider producing them. Check out the home site here for more information. 

Would you buy it? Let us know.