
Test your knowledge of Japanese slang from the ’70s onwards with these limited-edition cup noodles!
Nissin Cup Noodles: the pantry staple of every Japanese kitchen. They’re cheap, tasty, and quick, and with a myriad of delightful flavors, some mysterious and some very straight forward, it’s no wonder that they’ve sold over 100 billion units since their humble beginnings in 1971.
In celebration of this remarkable number, Nissin is releasing special Cup Noodle packaging for Nissin’s original Cup Noodle flavor, featuring some Japan’s most famous popular words and slang from the last 50 years. Each cup includes the year of its colloquial phrase, so you know exactly what year it was popular. For example, this package of Cup Noodles features 2020’s phrase “Yoichomaru”, which means “feeling good” or “having fun”.
From the 1970s comes words like “Gabiin“, which was used to describe “shock” or “surprise”, often used in manga, and another package features the 1983 word “Techno Cut”, a popular haircut of the 80s. In 1996, one popular phrase was “Cho Very Good”, which adds the Japanese word “Cho”, which means “very”, to “very good”, giving a funny redundancy to the phrase.
The packaging is full of fun words and phrases like these that give you a glimpse of the culture of the past!
There are 60 different phrases in all, so why not try and collect them all and see if you can figure out what each one means? Quiz your Japanese friends to see if they know. You’re all sure to have a good laugh in the process.
But the blast to the past doesn’t end there! Nissin is promoting their limited-edition packaging by giving away a 1,000 yen (US$9.46) telephone card featuring “one in a millennium idol” Kanna Hashimoto to 1,000 people. Simply follow Cup Noodle’s official account on Twitter and retweet their July 27 tweet to enter.
▼ “The moment you poured in hot water, my heart began to boil.”
https://twitter.com/cupnoodle_jp/status/1287570779047989248Don’t know what a telephone card is or how to use it? Try looking it up! Learning about the culture of the past 50 years is what this campaign is all about.
Source, images: Nissin Group
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]



Nissin’s Cup Noodle gets glamorous birthday makeover!
Converse teaming up with Cup Noodle for three pairs of shoes inspired by iconic packaging
Official microwaveable Cup Noodle-Use Measuring Cup is now a reality, could be yours if you act fast
Fan support makes fictitious Cup Noodle shopping bags a reality, sell out in days
Nissin releases new Gaming Cup Noodle in Japan, with caffeine to keep you gaming all night long
Mt. Fuji decorated with a 500,000-flower pink carpet is Japan’s ultimate spring view
30 Pikachus want to share a Tokyo hotel room with you that has separate Grass, Water, Fire spaces
Pringles Chocolate, but with a Japanese twist, is the snack hack you should be trying right now
Howl’s Moving Castle’s scene-stealing dog is here to clean your home as a plushie mop
Does a long line mean a sweeter deal? We compare two sweets from a Hokkaido food fair【Taste test】
What does a kanji with 12 “kuchi” radicals mean? A look at weird, forgotten Japanese characters
Japanese fashion company’s modernized haori half coats will keep you warm and samurai chic
New Travelling Bento pouches turn your luggage into a Japanese lunch box
Drink vending machines disappearing in Japan as number drops to lowest in 30 years
Hey, 2020s kids! The ’90s have a sticker picture message waiting for you in Tokyo
Japan reportedly adding Japanese language skill requirement to most common foreigner work visa
Pokémon and Ikea Japan cross over into each other’s worlds with collaboration events
Starbucks Japan closing only Shinkansen platform branch for popularity-triggered renovations
You can assemble a well-balanced team of Pokémon, them eat them, thanks to Japanese cake chain
Two food hacks take Japan’s convenience store fried chicken to amazing new sandwich heights
7-Eleven Japan’s new baked-in-store sweet treat is only available in three parts of the country
Man bites woman at cherry blossom park in Japan, dies shortly after
Peanuts and Coke becomes a viral hit in Japan, but is it a trend worth joining?
Japan now has a special desk for people who work at home with a pet cat[Photos]
Famous Tokyo cherry blossom spot installs view-blocking screens to fight overcrowding[Video]
Uniqlo announces new T-shirts for One Piece, Naruto and more for manga publisher’s 100th birthday
Train station platform ramen store closes its doors on half a century of history in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
Krispy Kreme releases Super Mario doughnuts in Japan for a limited time
Japanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping list
Studio Ghibli releases Catbus pullback keychain that runs like the anime character
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says
The true identity of Cup Noodle’s “mystery meat”
Cup Noodle’s Super Combined flavors become super-awesome combined robots made from the cups【Pics】
Cup Noodle sells new squid fork with its instant ramen
Cup Noodle now has cute cats and judgmental foxes waiting underneath its lids【Photos】
Pikachu-lid Cup Noodle design could be the cutest instant ramen package ever
Whole boxes of Mystery Meat going on sale in Japan, Cup Noodle fans rejoice
Clever Cup Noodle-only measuring cup becomes instant ramen lovers’ new most-wanted kitchenware
New Seafood Cup Noodle flavor actually includes a lot of pork content
Seapoodle Cup Noodle flavor is on the way, sounds absolutely delicious (except for the name)
We get to be (probably) the first ever to try Nissin Cup Noodle’s latest creation: Gyoza ramen!
New mystery meat in the Mystery Meat Festival Cup Noodle【Taste Test】
Cup Noodle’s latest giveaway prizes are insane, even by Cup Noodle standards【Pics】
Cup Noodle pizza flavor instant ramen arrives in Japan, but can it win over our greasy hearts?
We try out Nissin’s new Cup Noodle Broth Hardening Powder to see if it really works
Green tea Cup Noodle brings matcha to the wonderful world of instant ramen
Pitch-black instant ramen added to Cup Noodle lineup to fill dark hole in our ramen-loving hearts