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Food

This 113-Year-Old Soba Restaurant Closed for a Sad, Ironic Reason

Maruka, a soba restaurant in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, has been in business since 1903. But the owner has a debilitating allergy to buckwheat, the main ingredient in soba.

Where is a zombie with an unquenchable hunger for brains but a deep-seated fear of human contact to turn?

To put this question another way: When life gives you lemons, just what in the hell is a person with a crippling lemon allergy supposed to do? And before you ask, no—we aren't pitching you the beginning of a delightfully morose Icelandic folk tale.

Instead, we are here to recount the unfortunate story of one Japanese soba restaurant owner, whose heartbreaking tale is 113 years in the making.

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Maruka, a soba restaurant in Uchi-Kanda, located in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, has been in business since 1903. But last week, @Ki_46ozzie tweeted a photo of a poster that now hangs outside the shuttered restaurant. The poster explains why the restaurant can no longer remain open: The owner has a debilitating allergy to buckwheat, the main ingredient in soba. The tweet has since been retweeted more than 14,000 times.

そ、そんなつらい閉店理由ってあるの…… pic.twitter.com/cntdxbITWe

— 新司偵 (@Ki_46ozzie) July 6, 2016

The poster says that the owner's allergy has been worsening of late. Although the closing is described as "temporary," the poster seems to suggest something more definitive: "To all our customers who have provided us with their patronage over the years since 1903 in the Kanda area, a long period of time which spans 113 years, we would like to express our deep gratitude from the bottom of our hearts. We sincerely thank you."

The Japanese Twitterverse has been unnerved by the news. RocketNews 24 translates some of the comments that were posted in response:

"I feel so incredibly sorry for the owner. Not being able to succeed in your father's footsteps with the family soba business due to an allergy is an absolute tragedy."

"Having a soba allergy myself, I know how painful it can be. I can only pray that their condition improves."

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"It's so sad because you know years of family tradition will end if there's no successor to continue the business."

Buckwheat allergies are relatively unusual among Westerners but are fairly common among Japanese and Koreans. Buckwheat is not wheat, or even in the cereal family. Instead, it is related to sorrel and rhubarb. For those who are allergic to it, the only remedy is to avoid it completely. If someone with a buckwheat allergy comes in contact with it, life-threatening anaphylaxis can occur.

Life is full of many a sardonic twist of fate. Maruka, RIP to your beautiful noodle store.