Historian and author Professor Barak Kushner is to be featured this weekend, Saturday 26 April and Sunday 27 April 2025, in a new documentary on the Japanese channel NHK World, the international service of Japan's public media organisation NHK. The programme, entitled Outside In Lost in Academia: In Deep with Ramen, will show at four different times across the next two days, meaning that it can be seen in most time zones.

Filming took place in November in Cambridge and Japan and demonstrates how the 'humble bowl' gained worldwide culinary favour. Barak explores the history of ramen as something that emerged from the intersection of Japanese and Chinese history, and investigated the global rise of ramen and what feeds its enduring popularity in Japan and around the world. The documentary is partially based on Barak's 2012 book, Slurp! A culinary and social history of ramen, Japan’s favorite noodle soup, which is available in English, Japanese and Chinese versions.

You can watch the documentary on the channel's website.

About Barak Kushner

Barak Kushner is Professor of East Asian History and was Co-Chair of the Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge from 2021-24. He has edited four volumes and written four monographs. His latest book is The Geography of Injustice: East Asia's Battle between Memory and History (Cornell University Press, 2024). You can read more about his work on his website.