Contestants down soba during Sunday’s event.

Woman downs 383 bowls of soba in 10 minutes

Monday 10th November, 12:01 PM JST

IWATE —

The 23rd “Wankosoba” National Tournament was held in Morioka City on Sunday. Roughly 10 bowls of wankosoba, a famous dish in Iwate, make up one standard bowl of kakesoba, and the contestants had 15 minutes to eat as much as possible. Twenty-seven people from across Japan participated in the event.

Hatsuyo Sugawara, a 44 year-old woman from Morioka City, won for the second year running. As she was the winner last year, her time was reduced to 10 minutes, but this did not stop her from finishing 383 bowls, which was over 130 more than the second place winner.

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Latest 15 of 39 Total Comments Show All

isthistheend at 03:56 PM JST - 10th November

If one bowl of soba contains about 150 g, one wanko soba contains 15 g. So the woman ate an equivalent of 5.7 kg of soba. Any way you look at it, its alot. But it pales in comparison to the N.Y. Hot Dog eating contest etc.
Betting at 04:30 PM JST - 10th November

In this day and age, downing that much food is nothing to proud of, I don't care what country they are in either. And then for people to surround them and howl how great they are, it's thoroughly disgusting.

We pretend we care about the starving masses and yet we have people doing stupid things like this.
McC72 at 06:39 PM JST - 10th November

'I wonder if the people of Darfur, Congo or the Gaza have their eating contests too? Sheesh. I don't care how "traditional" some in Japan might think this is, it's still a rather sad commentary on the priorities here. Right down there with diamond-encrusted iPhones, yup'

Not only in those country. Right here in super rich J Land, a lot of people go hungry.

Just waste
yasukuni at 06:40 PM JST - 10th November

To me a competition like this is more ridiculous than the "lets bury people up to their necks" game. Plus as many said, its offensive. Humans are strange.
bcbrownboy at 07:15 PM JST - 10th November

Yes, I too agree with the previous threads. I've avoided J-TV for many years now - just too sick of hearing, "Oiiishiii!" And here with the eating contests, it's multiplied 383 times! No conscience to speak of here. How disgusting can we get. Now, if it were 383 cans of Super Dry, maybe I could understand....
YangYong at 08:22 PM JST - 10th November

Stupid.
Potsu at 10:44 PM JST - 10th November

Really poor taste.Why is this even news ?
Betting at 11:06 PM JST - 10th November

"How disgusting can we get. Now, if it were 383 cans of Super Dry, maybe I could understand....".

I think we better find bcbrownboy some help here on JT ...
76waystofly at 12:19 AM JST - 11th November

You know your country's joined the league of other gluttonous superpowers when it stages exhibitions like this.

But seriously: does this woman share a bathroom at home with someone?
Youdontknow at 01:28 AM JST - 11th November

This is news?
Molenir at 06:53 AM JST - 11th November

Boo hoo. Some people are starving in some 3rd world country. We should starve ourselves because of it.

Seriously, quit your whining. If you have time to complain, get off your butt and do something about it. Donate time/money to help, don't just sit around whining about some womans ability to seriously pack in food. It just makes you look pathetic.

And yes, if nothing else, I'd say it rates a brief mention. I mean being able to eat that much... Thats just amazing. Some other terms I could use, but I won't.
butterfly1 at 11:46 PM JST - 11th November

she ate 3.6kg of soba in 10minutes. as she was last years champion, she had a 5 minute delayed start and still won easily.... she might not be in the photo cause there were 3 groups. if you guys want more info that is here, start watching morning TV!! Zoom-in Super give me all the important info I need!!
Hawkeye at 07:46 AM JST - 12th November

Holy cow! 383 bowls of WANKO in 10 minutes, she must have blown her cookies all over Morioka after she finished.
ptolemy at 04:19 PM JST - 12th November

Hatsuyo, Hatsuyo, Hatsuyo! You are my new "I did something stupid and survived" hero. Ooo, wee!
WilliB at 10:24 PM JST - 16th November

I will never understand the popularity of these eating contest. I find it pure stupidity, and disgusting on top. If you want to waste food, why not throw it in the garbage right away.