Yokohama Nishi Ward

Description

Strolling through Nishi-ward: Thinking of Tofu



There is a fashionable shop on my walking course. It has bay windows, so if there was no signboard, it looks like a boutique. But surprisingly, it is a Tofu shop. It’s written “Draft Tofu”. It’s funny because it sounds like draft beer.



In my childhood memory (which is a half century ago), vendor’s voice of “To-fyu, To-fu” and the sound of trumpet is inseparable. When I went to the Tofu shop, they cut Tofu into pieces on their hands with a big brass knife without edge and put them into a small pot. It was one of the traditions in downtown.



By the way, I found a word “豆腐婆” in a dictionary. It reads “Toufuuba”. It is said that “Toufuuba” turned into “Yuba (tofu skin)”. I wonder if they used the kanji “婆” because it can be associated with skin?



Writing and picture by Tai Hasewaga (Nishi ward Cultural Association/Chairman of Kiko Society)



※This is a sketch and writing published in Yokohama Public Relation Nishi ward edition between November 1997 and April 2004. Please be noted that there’s a possibility that information in the article may be changed.



(Published August in 1998)