Ramen for men only?

I naturally slurp to taste noodles, green-teas and miso-soup,
but I have a murderous design against persons who chew noisy.

BTW, sometimes I read that English bloggers say "to slurp noodles is polite manner to thank the staffs in Japan".
Really? I think that's just habit to tast and no-one think no slurping is bad manner...

Nana

That "somebody" you are referring to is me. Or do you not know how to spell my nick?

As Uji has put it, I would rather not miss out the flavour than worry about what others think about me.

And FYI, we don't eat and slurp nosily. One of the things about humans is they like to pre-judge and jump to conclusions. Just because I slurp does not mean I'm uncivilised, for god's sake.

So that's why people look weird at me: I don't slurp!

I can taste my food fine thank you. I really don't see myself start slurping now though, i'd splatter my shirt and my neighbours.

Growing up in the US I taught not to slurp soup too as for us it's considered rude to do so because it's loud and may disturb your neighbor for being so loud. I still can't bring myself to slurp. It's so ingrained. I have gotten surprised looks for being able to do so quietly.

I remember my first time in a soba restaurant. I wanted to slurp, but just could not do it due to the way I was brought up. Once I took the mental hurdle, the next challenge was that I could not slurp elegantly. My slurping sound was initially vulgar and it took some time to refine the slurping technique - after 15 years I am still not a 100% confident slurper. I envy those who manage to elegantly consume more than 10 cm of noodle in a single slurp.

Now, I cannot imagine not to slurp anymore when eating Japanese noodles. Of course, the noodles are tasty even without the slurping, but the complete enjoyment of Japanese noodles is impossible without the slurping.

So, if you are a serious ramen eater, I recommend to start practicing to slurp. If the current enjoyment level is sufficient to you, then just continue eating them in silence.

I cant slurp without ingesting a lot of air and then burping a lot through the meal (discretely, of course!). Am I doing something wrong?

Separately though, the loudest slurping I've ever heard at a ramen restaurant was from a group of elderly ladies. It was like the spaghetti scene from Tampopo

Actually, the Ura-Senke suggests that you are supposed to slurp your last sip of green tea (while Omote-Senke suggests otherwise).

As for noodles, I think most Japanese agree that it's "iki" (chic) to slurp. And it's not actually that it looks bad not to slurp, but it looks sloppy to not sip your noodles quickly, at least to the Edokko-spirted people.

So if manners are meant to make others feel good, I would say that it makes a lot of noodle-goers feel good to see people slurping in a smart way. And missing the true taste of things means that you're not taking in everything the chef meant for you to take in.

But everybody knows that most foreign tourists can't slurp, so you're well excused if you don't. Plus, even some of the Japanese who were educated by Western standards (for example, grandmothers who attended YWCA classes in Japan) don't like slurping. So it's nothing to be nervous about, anyway.

@Lazy Pious: this forum needs a "like" button: I SO get a kick out of some of your posts!! lol