Chronology
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1418 | A document in Ikaruga Temple, Ikaruga-no-sho Hikitsuke, mentions saumen (somen) in Banshu for the first time. |
| 1433 | Ikaruga Temple presents 1 kan (approx. 3.75 kg) of somen to the vice-governor of Harima Province. The document recording this is the first time the exact Chinese characters for “somen” appear. |
| 1461 | 1 kan of somen is offered in celebration of the construction of a new shrine building at the Harima Iwa Shrine. |
| 1708 | 10 people in the Tatsuno Domain send somen to the Yamamura family upon hearing that there was an illness in their house. |
| 1751 | The lord of the Tatsuno Domain issues a formal edict requiring that manufacturers and sellers of somen do so with government permission. |
| 1818–1830 | Morisaki Chuemon and Hozan Tsune’emon, two men from Kamioka in Tatsuno, oversee the Somen Organization in Settsu Province. |
| 1865 | 46 somen-makers from the domains of Tatsuno, Hayashida, and Shingu apply to join the Somen Collective. |
| 1872 | The Myojin Association is established for somen-makers in the eastern and western districts of Ibo (Itto and Issai, respectively), and the formal contract is devised. |
| 1874 | 127 somen-sellers from Itto and Issai establish Kaiekisha. |
| 1887 | Applies to Hyogo Prefecture for the establishment of the Harima Itto-Issai Somen-Sellers’ Association (the predecessor of the current Hyogo Prefecture Tenobe Somen Cooperative Association), with approval being granted on September 9 of the same year. The first chairman is Nishimura Seiichiro. In its first year, the association has 309 members, and their total output amounts to more than 116,000 boxes of somen. |
| 1894 | Reincorporated as the Harima Itto-Issai Somen Producers’ Association. With the revised inspection methods and division of products into seven ranks, the unified trademarks “Sanshin’noito” and “Ibonoito” are born. Products are affixed with an inspection mark, assigning responsibility for them to their manufacturer. |
| 1898 | Reincorporated as the Harima Ibo Somen Trade Association. A seller of machine-made somen joins the association. |
| 1899 | Construction of the Omiwa Shrine (commonly called the “Somen Shrine”) on Shiomori Hill in Daijuji in Kamioka Village (now Kamioka-cho in Tatsuno City) begins. |
| 1906 | “Sanshin’noito,” “Ibonoito,” etc. registered as trademarks with the Japan Patent Bureau (now the Japan Patent Office). |
| 1907 | Somen box sizes are standardized to 18 kg and 9 kg. |
| 1909 | The association’s head office is constructed in the Tominaga area of Oyake Village (still the location of Ibonoito’s head office to this day), and various activities are carried out, including analysis of raw materials and completed products, training and technical instruction of workers, and research into the uses of a variety of different machines. |
| 1919 | Caravan units start to appear at around this time, expanding sales avenues. |
| 1922 | Reincorporated as the Banshu Somen Trade Association. |
| 1923 | Formation of the Ibonoito Nationwide Seller’s Federation (the predecessor of today’s authorized distributors). |
| 1924 | Formation of the National Federation of Noodle-Making Trade Associations. |
| 1928 | Joint sales begin |
| 1930 | Merging with the Chuban Somen Trade Association, the following year sees the pre-war peak in total somen output, at 998,499 boxes. |
| 1935 | The association’s name is changed to Banshu Tenobe Somen Trade Association with the separation of machine-made somen producers, in order to prevent the mixing of hand-stretched (te-nobe) and machine-made somen in the consumer market. This year marks the beginning of joint sales of all products. |
| 1939 | With the ramping up of the war, production output is strictly controlled by the government. This situation would continue until war’s end. |
| 1944 | To support the war effort, all of Hyogo Prefecture’s somen cooperative associations are combined into the Hyogo Prefecture Tenobe Somen Governing Association. |
| 1946 | Shortages make it difficult to acquire raw wheat, drastically pushing down production, posing an existential risk to the producing regions. |
| 1947 | With the end of World War II, the Hyogo Prefecture Tenobe Somen Governing Association is disbanded. The Hyogo Prefecture Tenobe Somen Flour Milling Trade Association is established in the Banshu area. Total output drops to 29,000 boxes. |
| 1949 | Reorganized into the Hyogo Prefecture Tenobe Somen Flour Milling Association under the terms of the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Cooperatives Act. |
| 1952 | Control of raw wheat is lifted and total output increases to 239,000 boxes. Joint sales resumed. The association members on Awaji Island, who had been forced to join earlier, leave the association. |
| 1960 | Production of hand-stretched hiyamugi begins. Total output in the first year is 31,000 boxes of 9 kg each. |
| 1962 | Water milling is discontinued, and major flour mills are introduced in order to ensure a uniform standard of raw wheat flour quality. The association’s name is changed to the current “Hyogo Prefecture Tenobe Somen Association.” |
| 1964 | “Joukyu 300 g” hand-stretched somen is introduced. |
| 1966 | Establishment of the Japan Federation of Tenobe Somen Cooperative Associations, with its head office located in Tatsuno. |
| 1972 | Hand-stretched somen and hiyamugi is designated an “Excellent Locally-Produced Product of Hyogo Prefecture.” |
| 1984 | Total output of somen tops 1,000,000 boxes (18 kg per box) for the first time. |
| 1992 | Employing the actress Yoshiko Tanaka in commercials, Ibonoito unveils its “HOT” strategy. |
| 1993 | In order to achieve uniform quality, improve our production technology, and carry on our traditional methods, Ibonoito petitions the Ministry of Labour (now the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) to establish a new national qualification, and this leads to the beginning of the “Hand-Stretched Noodle Artisan” technical examination. |
| 1997 | Grand opening of Somen-no-Sato Ibonoito Museum. |
| 2002 | Selection of the “Miss Ibonoito” event campaign girl. |
| 2003 | Launch of the gift product “Yoritsumugi,” consisting of hand-stretched somen made with domestically grown wheat. |
| 2004 | “Ibonoito” registered as a trademark in the US. |
| 2005 | Holds the Ibonoito New Recipe Grand Prix International 2005. |
| 2006 | Holds first tasting and sales event in the US. |
| 2007 | “Tokkyu” and “Joukyu” hand-stretched somen win the top gold prize at Monde Selection. |
| 2008 | “Banshu Komugi” hand-stretched somen is designated a “Hyogo Prefecture Certified Food Product.” |
| 2009 | “Joukyu” hand-stretched somen wins the top gold prize at Monde Selection for the third year in a row. |
| 2010 | Runs an exhibition at the Hong Kong Food Expo. |
| 2011 | “Joukyu 300 g” hand-stretched somen ships its 1,500,000th box (9 kg per box). |
| 2013 | “Yoritsumugi 150 g” hand-stretched somen is selected as one of the elite “Five-Star Hyogo” local brands. |
| 2014 | 50th anniversary of “Joukyu 300 g” hand-stretched somen. “Tokkyu” and “Joukyu” hand-stretched somen are awarded three stars at the International Taste Institute’s Superior Taste Award for the third year in a row, taking home the Crystal Taste Award. New development of “Tatsu no Yume Pasta 240 g.” |
| 2015 | Runs an exhibit in the Hyogo Prefecture booth at the Expo Milano 2015. |
| 2016 | Holds the “Dried Noodle Festival” and “1st Nationwide Somen Summit 2016: Conveying Tatsuno’s Somen to the Future.” Runs an exhibit at SIAL 2016, the Paris international food expo. |
| 2017 | Acquires FSSC22000 certification in two directly operated factories. Holds the 130th anniversary ceremony for the original association as well as the “Nationwide Hand-Stretched Somen Exhibition.” Runs an exhibit at FHC CHINA 2017. |
| 2018 | Runs an exhibit at Gulfood 2018 in Dubai. “Tokkyu” and “Joukyu” hand-stretched somen are awarded three stars at the International Taste Institute’s Superior Taste Award for the seventh year in a row, taking home the Diamond Taste Award. |