Beppu Reimen

Beppu's cold noodles came back from Manchuria. A returnee opened a grilled meat shop in the town after the war and tried to reproduce the Korean naengmyeon he had eaten there, using what Kyushu had: buckwheat and wheat instead of the original starches, and a broth built on katsuobushi and dried sardine rather than beef. The result stopped being an imitation within a generation and became a local dish with its own rules.

Two lineages exist. The specialist shops serve a thick, chewy noodle in a clear cold dashi with cabbage kimchi and a slice of pork; the grilled meat restaurants serve a thinner, springier noodle as the closing dish after the meat. Both are eaten year-round rather than only in summer, and Beppu argues about which is correct with a seriousness the dish's short history does not obviously justify.