Culture
そうめん流し
A short easy Japanese culture blog about nagashi somen, a fun summer way to catch and eat cold noodles.
そうめん流しを知っていますか？
Do you know nagashi sōmen?
そうめんは、とても細い日本のめんです。
Sōmen are very thin Japanese noodles.
夏は、冷たいそうめんを食べる人がたくさんいます。
In summer, many people eat cold sōmen.
そうめん流しでは、水の中を流れるそうめんを、おはしで取って食べます。
In nagashi sōmen, you catch the noodles flowing through the water with chopsticks and eat them.
上手に取れると、とてもうれしいです！
It’s really fun when you catch them successfully!
みなさんは、そうめん流しをやってみたいですか？😊
Would you like to try nagashi sōmen?
In 「流し」 and 「流れる」, 「流」 is read 「なが」; the endings are different. In 「そうめん」, 「そう」 is pronounced as a long “sō” sound but takes two morae, so the whole word has four: そ・う・め・ん.
Today's Words
- そうめん流しnagashi somen; noodles caught as they flow through water
- 細いthin; slender
- 冷たいcold (to the touch)
- 流れるto flow
- 取るto take; to catch
What You Can Practice
- 「〜を知っていますか」 asks whether someone knows about something. Here, it means “Do you know nagashi sōmen?”
- 「〜人がたくさんいます」 means “there are many people who…”. The phrase before 「人」 describes those people.
- 「取れると」 uses the potential form of 「取る」 plus 「と」 to express what happens when you successfully catch the noodles.