Be careful that you don’t start drinking your bath water by mistake or you’ll find yourself in even hotter water.

For many people in Japan, Kagawa Prefecture, on Japan’s Shikoku island, is synonymous with udon. The thick, chewy style of wheat noodle found there is often referred to as Sanuki udon after an old name for the region, and people come from far and wide to taste the noodles in their place of origin. Heck, even the local mascot characters usually have some connection to the beloved dish.

That’s why it was a surprise–but perhaps not too surprising–that when the Michi no Eki Genpei no Sato Mure roadside souvenir stop in Takamatsu City, Kagawa began offering special bath salts titled Sanuki Udon Fragrance Bath (Sanuki Udon no Kaoriyu) on December 6 of last year, they completely sold out in just three days. The product is said to smell and look just like udon broth, and there are two varieties to choose from, with one based on the kind of broth you might find in kake-udon (plain noodles in hot broth) and the other in bukkake-udon (noodles in hot broth with a variety of toppings).

▼ Michi no Eki Genpei no Sato Mure’s announcement of the bath salts’ release

But why udon-soup scented bath salts in the first place? The product’s developer, who’s a staff member at the Michi no Eki, shares that while Kagawa has plenty of udon-themed merchandise, almost all of it revolves around consuming an edible udon product. He wanted to find a way for people to enjoy udon besides simply eating it, and so landed on the idea of humans themselves becoming the noodles in a big bathtub of broth.

Initially limited to just 800 packets, the bath salts proved so popular that over 3,000 additional units have now been sold. Their manufacturer has also taken great care in ensuring that the scents aren’t too strong by designing the aromas, which faithfully reproduce typical dashi broth base ingredients such as konbu kelp and bonito flakes, to fade as the hot water evaporates. After all, it would be a little bit pointless to have to take a bath after a bath if the smell were to linger.

Each packet sells for 260 yen (US$1.70), with two packets going for 426 yen and six packets going for 1,126 yen. The bundled sets have been especially popular as souvenirs for people outside of the prefecture. With sales predicted to finally finish this month, interested buyers will want to snatch them up before they’ve evaporated from the shelves.

While the Michi no Eki in Takamatsu has hinted at future udon soup-scented bath salts in the works, we think it’s only a matter of time before roadside stops in other prefectures take advantage of the moment to deliver bath salts featuring the aroma of other local noodle specialties, such as soba in the north or Hakata ramen in the south. We personally wouldn’t mind getting into some hot water with any of them.

Related: Michi no Eki Genpei no Sato Mure website
Source: Daily Shincho via Yahoo! Japan News via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
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