The first known documented reference to Okinawa soba was in 1902 during the late Meiji period when it was known as "Shina soba" (Chinese "soba") as in mainland Japan. Several soba restaurants are known to have operated in Naha during the Taishō period and to have close links with the red-light district. Soba restaurants were destroyed by U.S. attacks during the Battle of Okinawa. Its revival began in U.S. internment camps, where wheat rations were supplied. In the 1960s, soba was popularized with the introduction of noodle making machines. The popularization was accompanied by the transformation from a restaurant meal to home cooking. The mainland Japanese custom of eating soba on New Year's Eve was introduced to Okinawa in 1968, but buckwheat noodles were replaced by wheat noodles. Today, Okinawa soba is considered as a vital part of traditional Okinawan culture, although folklorist Nishimura Hidemi argued that it was an invented tradition.