Soba noodle delivery, Tokyo, 1935. Since there were no telephone lines during this time, soba deliverymen had to bike to different locations such as universities where they would sell to their regular customers. Many of the soba noodle shops from this era are still open today.

Honke Owariya is one of the oldest soba restaurants that is still in operation today. It is located in Kyoto, Japan and was founded in 1465. The current owner is Ariko Inaoke who is currently the 16th owner in her family. She took over the restaurant from her father after working as a fashion photographer.

Soba enjoys a long rich history within Japanese society that goes back several centuries. Ramen, however, has a much shorter history and is actually of Chinese origin. While there are claims that Japanese ramen originated as far back as the 17th century, there are no specific historical records indicating the actual cooking of ramen. The first bowl of Japanese ramen was most likely served at the opening of Rai-Rai Ken in Tokyo, which is hailed as the birthplace of shoyu ramen (soy sauce ramen). The restaurant hired Cantonese cooks and called their dish "shina soba" (shina, meaning "China"). Ramen was called shina soba until the 1950s.

In 1958, Momofuku Ando, invented instant noodles, which was hailed as the greatest Japanese invention of the 20th century.