Can traditions be kickstarted with just a clever marketing campaign? Well, Kentucky Fried Chicken successfully managed to get the Japanese to associate Christmas with fried chicken, so there is a precedent. A campaign to get the nation to eat udon (thick wheat flour noodles) over the New Years’ holidays is now in its third year and, according to J-Cast, it's experiencing modest success.
Udon manufacturers in Kagawa Prefecture banded together in 2008 to form Sanuki Udon Promotion Committee. To combat declining udon sales, the committee launched the “Toshi Ake Udon” (start the New Year with udon) campaign to introduce the concept of eating a bowl of noodles on or after New Year’s day. Traditionally Japanese eat toshikoshi soba (end-of-year thin noodles) before New Year’s day (eating the long thin noodles is a way to promote a long healthy life), so the idea is to to get Japanese eating udon in the same way once the new year has begun. The udon is to be consumed with a celebratory red topping such as red kamaboko (slices of steamed fish paste), shrimp or ume boshi (dried plum).
Central to the campaign is a round seal that is displayed on products endorsed by the committee. Sanuki Udon Promotion Committee have announced that the number of companies applying to use their seal this year has increased. In November 2010, 391 companies in Japan had applied: an increase of 66 companies since January 2010. The number of restaurants serving toshi ake udon in Kagawa Prefecture has also increased: from 49 to 66 in the space of a year.