Mangia, mangia.

Pasta sales are booming, and Japanese are slurping up skinnier spaghetti. A survey by Nissin Foods comparing 2002 with a similar period two years earlier found that spaghetti has slimmed down considerably. Back in 2000, nearly two-thirds of noodles on the market were 1.7 mm or larger in diameter. But when checked again last year, close to half the pasta sold measured 1.6 mm in diameter or less. Sales of pasta measuring in at 1.5 mm or less grew last year by 6%, while sales of pasta that was 1.8 mm or more fell by 4%. During 2002, by the way, Japanese consumed a record 2.49,000 tons of pasta, of which imports accounted for a respectable 101,400 tons. That increase, says the Japan Pasta Association, is due in part to more Japanese food companies setting up factories abroad.