[1] Sericulture had turned lands traditionally reserved for rice crops into silk farms, and flour products like hōtō were invented as a means to counter food shortages which arose from this change in agriculture.

This transition may have begun in Yamanashi's Gunnai region, where rice farming was impossible to start due to cold temperature and large amounts of volcanic debris embedded into the soil.

The redevelopment of industry and commerce after World War II made tourism the prefecture's most profitable enterprise, and the image of Takeda Shingen was used frequently to promote the area's regional products.

Modern-day tourists can enjoy hōtō in numerous local restaurants and in rather unlikely locations such as coffee shops and ice cream parlors.

A more extreme branch of these advertisements claims that the descendants of the Takeda clan introduced the recipe to the Tokugawa shogunate, who then used it to develop Nagoya's miso-nikomi udon.

They argue that popular acceptance of hōtō as a cuisine found exclusively in the Yamanashi area voids theories stating that the word was imported from overseas.

However, from a historical viewpoint, the word hataku first appears in documents around 1484 in the Muromachi period, while hōtō or hautau can be found much earlier in writings such as The Pillow Book.

Vegetables differ by season; negi, onions, and potatoes are commonly included during the summer, while taro, carrots, and Chinese cabbage make up the winter ingredients, along with various types of mushrooms such as shiitake and shimeji.

Some restaurants will serve hōtō with very thick, heavy noodles in large iron pots to bring about a voluminous feeling reminiscent of nabemono and other steamboat dishes.

Azuki-bōtō (小豆ぼうとう, azuki bōtō) refers to red bean soup with hōtō noodles added instead of the traditional mochi or shiratama.

It was a popular dish amongst women who worked all day outside and needed to prepare dinner for a large farming family because the recipe and the process of making hōtō was not time-consuming or complicated.