Why are there so many Yakisoba shops in Fujinomiya?

In the early period of Showa era, there were many climbers who came to the city of Fujinomiya to climb Mt. Fuji. As the gate way to Mt Fuji there stood many inns around Sengen Shrine and the shops along the main street were prosperous.
And after the World War I, the Silk Companies, especially, Omi Silk Manufacturer came to this town, and many women workers came to Fujinomiya from all over Japan. And many Yoshokuya (now known as Okonomiyaki shops) were prosperous and became the center attractions for the community's young men and women. Okonomiyaki was very cheap and a convenient food. This was a favorite food for the children and the women workers and thus many cheap-candy shops began to cook Okonomiyaki in the corner of them.
At the time of the food-shortage after World War II, people eat this Yoshoku when they had some vegetables and flour. The Yoshokuya survived at the early time after the War. After that, when people could get a variety of reasonable foods, Yakisoba and Yakiudon (pan-fried noodles) came into the market.
As a result, there stood so many Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba shops in so many places because of the cheap price and convenience, and these shops were called Yakisobaya or Okonomiyakiya. Some Americans called this Okonomiyaki 'economiyaki' as a mixture of okonomi and economy in English. And these shops were deeply rooted in the life of the Fujinomiyans.

Why is the Yakisoba in this city so special?

After the war, the people living in Yamanashi prefecture along the Minobu Railway Line came to this city to buy a lot of stuff needed for their daily life. They were very fond of Yakisoba for its cheap price and convenience, and took it back to their native towns. For these people, the noodle manufacturers discovered a way of making the noodles' shelf-life longer. They coated the noodles with oil, and steamed them. This style is very different from before. They were very tasty and chewy and became very popular among the people in this city. In those days the big manufacturers began making soft yakisoba and became popular in many places in Japan but in this city this soft noodle is not so popular, because this special Fujinomiya Yakisoba has been very reasonable food in the city of Fujinomiya for so long.