sponsored by squarespace this is how
factory noodles are made in japan
so i'm back with another made in japan
video and this time we are in yamanashi
and the good folks at hakubaku have
allowed me to show you guys how japanese
noodles are made in a factory but like
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okay so i've made it inside but in order
for me to go into the factory i'm gonna
need a change so let's do that now
cool that was easy i got my coat on but
we need to find someone in order to get
into the factory let's see if we can
find someone now excuse me can i go
inside the factory with you hi okay
noodles like udon and someone are a
popular mainstay in japanese food
culture which is why hakuba have been
creating their specialized dry noodles
since 1959 now employing 420 hardworking
staff to make it all happen each and
every day and it's no surprise that
their noodles have become a standard at
family dining tables all throughout
japan in fact we've been serving their
baby noodles to our son ever since he
could start eating solids which is why
i'm so excited to take you on this
factory tour today to show you how
noodles are truly made in japan
first thing in the morning the flower
for the noodles are delivered to the
factory this is where it all starts
[Music]
the trucks are connected directly to a
pipe on the facade of the building which
feeds directly into larger tanks housed
in the factory using a blend of
different types of flour delivered to
different tanks the factory is able to
craft their own specialized noodles the
flower is delivered in these huge truck
tankers up to three to four times a day
as the factory consumes about 11 tons of
flour during peak times
so just behind me right here the
ingredients come down from the ceiling
and they go into these mixer machines
after receiving the flour flour and
water are combined in order to create a
bouncy texture in the noodles the
company's mixture increases their water
ratio compared to most other makers and
performs their mixing in a vacuum state
which allows the water to permeate the
flower which creates a denser gluten
ultimately producing their own unique
and signature noodles
this machine is able to mix 200
kilograms about 440 pounds of dough at
once and during peak summer production
times they run up to 70 times a day
creating about 12 tons of dry noodles
after maturing for 20 to 40 minutes it's
conveyored into their custom pressing
machines which applies pressure both
vertically and horizontally ultimately
creating a smooth and elastic structure
a total of six roller sections are
implemented as each set of rollers
creates a thinner and thinner dough and
depending on the product the machine can
press the dough as thin as one to two
millimeters
[Music]
when it reaches the final roller stage
the noodles are automatically cut with a
threaded roller hung on metal poles and
then ready for the drying process the
factory switches between 11 different
threaded rollers called kitty hawk to
produce at various types of noodles
what's going on here let's find out hi
what are you doing
nothing
now one of the most critical parts the
drying process the noodles are hung and
cycled gradually through eight different
rooms with varying temperatures humidity
and air blower strengths which runs a
total length of 400 meters about 430
yards or up to 16 hours ensuring that
the center of the noodle is completely
dried preventing breakage let's see
what's going on on this side of the
factory
[Music]
after the noodles have completely dried
they're brought into the cutting and
packaging area uniquely the factory
invented and developed specialized
production line machines to cut bundle
and package their noodles in total about
60 of these marvelous time-saving
machines were built by their in-house
engineering team hakuba in fact create
many other barley based products but in
this noodle factory they produce 55
different types of noodles focusing on
making two to three types each day
[Music]
oh wow it looks like this lady is
replacing the bundling tape
[Music]
by developing and supporting their
machines in-house they're able to
quickly customize for a variety of
noodle products for example in japan the
standard noodle length is 20 centimeters
but since smaller pots have become
popular these days the factory quickly
adapted to make shorter versions oh cool
what's this let's see what they're doing
so this is the packaging area for the
baby noodles with a length of two and a
half centimeters a lot shorter than
standard noodles so parents don't have
to cut it at home as a parent myself
anything to save time on meal prep is
very much appreciated
[Music]
just look at these machines go
package after package coming down the
line
hi can i ask you a question hi guys over
there so what's the most important thing
about packaging
[Music]
now to the final stage the products are
sorted boxed and loaded onto pallets for
delivery
this process is fully automated as even
the conveyors are able to recognize the
different types of boxes to feed to the
correct pickup location
there's even an automated crane that's
able to sort the different types of
boxes and stack them perfectly
[Music]
and there you go the noodles are ready
for delivery
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alright let's continue on with this tour
so this video wouldn't be complete if i
didn't explore what the other workers
are doing to make this all happen so
i've made it to the office area let's
see what they're doing here
wow this is great look everyone is
wearing blue uniforms
oh look i guess not everyone is wearing
a blue uniform
place is so big i wonder where these
doors go let's see what's behind this
one
so this is the quality assurance test
lab samples are taken regularly from
their package products and a slew of
tests are performed every day let's see
what she's doing
excuse me what are you working on
sodium tests are especially important
because they also offer sodium free
noodle products but they also run tests
on things like flour only the ones which
pass the rigorous testing are used in
the factory and wow the lab has so much
equipment these are used to analyze a
residue of agricultural chemicals and
this one is to clean the pipettes so
cool
[Music]
oh damn is this a taste testing so this
is called kannohyoka a blind taste test
of their products the team also conduct
a shishoku hyouka an open taste testing
of their products for quality such as
taste and color followed up with a group
discussion
excuse
so what do you think
man we are exploring today let's see
what's beyond this door
yo
[Music]
how often do the machines break down
what's the most challenging part of the
job
so apparently these are the engineers
that build the factory machines from
design programming testing all the way
to the final build it's amazing that the
company not only makes noodles but they
make the machines that help them craft
the noodles definitely worthy of the
title made in japan
and it looks like they do maintenance on
all the equipment here these bad boys
are the tools used to curve shape drill
and build their product line machines so
dope
[Music]
so this is the product development area
where all the new products come to life
the workers use these scaled scaled-down
versions of their factory machines to
create prototypes this machine here is
similar to the large six roller press
found in the factory but instead of
being done automatically the dough has
to be fed by hand a little bit more work
but to the same effect how many times
you need to press the dough
now he changes the roller to a noodle
cutter similar to what we saw in the
factory having threads of different
sizes allows them to develop different
types of noodles apparently the team
creates about four to five prototypes a
year but only one or two ever make it to
market
unfortunately he can't share what he's
working on but i'm digging the green
noodles
finally he places the noodles in a
specialized tank to dry for later
testing and development
so that's how noodles are made in japan
let me know what you thought in the
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