After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Japan, along with the U.S. sanctions, the first impact is the fishery products usually imported from Russia, such as salmon, sea urchin, etc., all prices have risen, causing pressure on the cost of related businesses such as sushi stores, but there is one food that is definitely affected, but few people know, and that is the national cuisine of Japan's soba noodles.

"The price of buckwheat flour has risen due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The manager of a soba restaurant in Tokyo's Arakawa district said. The economic sanctions against Russia have led to an increase in the price of raw materials, which we are all prepared for, but how is buckwheat also affected? The highest production volume of buckwheat in the world is also in Russia, and Japan's imports are only behind China and the United States, with 10% of imports coming from Russia.

How did buckwheat come to Japan? Some say it came to Japan from Siberia via the Korean Peninsula, while others say it spread from north to south in Hokkaido. Archaeological findings show that early buckwheat pollen can be found in Shimane, Shikoku Kochi, and Hokkaido today. As food evidence, buckwheat was an important food crop in the Yayoi period, when farming began, and is known to have been excavated from the ruins in Tonero, Shizuoka.

When did buckwheat appear in Japanese official documents? It is mentioned in the history book "The Continuation of the Japanese Chronicle" that when the Emperor Genshō had a poor rice crop for six years, he ordered the people to plant buckwheat as a crop to supplement food for the disaster. What was the reason for this? The main reason is that buckwheat has a short growing period and can grow in poor, acidic soil without excessive nutrients or nitrogen, and requires only sufficient water to grow. Because of this, buckwheat farmers in the Kansai region worship Emperor Genjo as the god of buckwheat.

Soba, one of the representatives of Japanese noodles.