A scene from the end of another long day in Tokyo. A day like countless other days: making tofu the traditional way.
Traditional Japanese tofu shop
Photographs from a small group of islands
Photographs from a small group of islands
A scene from the end of another long day in Tokyo. A day like countless other days: making tofu the traditional way.
Tom says
Poor guy, but what a place…..
Lee says
A lot to take in, isn’t there? He was obviously tired, but I guess that means he’s busy, so people are buying his tofu which is good.
Hans ter Horst says
I love these places, when I was staying in Saitama province, there was also a mom+pop tofu shop close to where we stayed where we would buy tofu almost daily. Silk, cotton, and that deep fried tofu, delicious! Could use some right now 🙂
But that place looked a little cleaner than this one, the old man told us he had quite a lot of restaurants as customers.
Looks you caught a really busy one 🙂
Lee says
Excellent. Tough to beat, isn’t it? So many varieties to try as well. Wonderful stuff.
Certainly looks like he’s busy. All that grime clearly adds to the taste!
iAnon says
Love your work! I’m always used to seeing a highly sanitized photographs of Japan where everything is spick and span and in its proper place. Your photos give us a peek behind the veil and show that things are not as immaculate as they appear to be on the surface. The moldy refrigerator, the stained stove and walls, general disorder – it all just blends together. Makes the nation and its people seem much more human and just as imperfect as the rest of us. Looking forward to see more such stuff from ya.
Lee says
Thank you very much. That’s great to hear.
Yes, there are so many sides to Japan, but the sanitised, modern version always seems to dominate. Obviously that is also Japan, but only one part of it, whereas the stuff that interests me is, for want of a better description, more real. Far more interesting too. Excellent to hear that you feel the same as well.
Al says
So much to take in. Love it! 🙂
Lee says
Yeah, it’s a place to marvel at, isn’t it? So many little details. A home and a business.
Squidpuppy says
Ah, wonderful. Your photo puts me right there.
When I was a kid in Kichijoji, there was a tofu shop just like this one down the street from my house. I had to walk by it on my way to the school bus stop, every morning. It was always a struggle to refrain from spending my lunch money of some fresh tofu. Thanks for the memories!
Do tofu carts still ply the streets in Spring and Summer? Cold tofu bought from a peddler with a wood clad water tank on a pull cart – that was like ice cream on a hot July day. They’re probably driving mini trucks now, right? Playing MP3s of the brass horn…
Lee says
Glad to hear it brought back memories. Good to hear about them too. The Tokyo you grew up in and the one I live in are undoubtedly quite different.
A year or two ago, the tofu carts were resurrected, and modern versions of them were pulled about neighbourhoods, their young owners blowing a whistle/horn that mimicked the sound of the word, tofu. They were franchises if I remember corrrectly. But haven’t seen them for a while now, so presumably sales weren’t good. A real shame as they were interesting to see and hear.
Hans ter Horst says
When I stayed in Kasahata (a residential area close to Kawagoe) in 2013 a couple of times a week a car would drive through the neighbourhood sounding that brass horn sound and sell tofu door to door. I wonder if that’s still happening.
Lee says
Interesting. Never seen that in my neighbourhood, but doesn’t mean it isn’t going on elsewhere. Certainly hope it is.