History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

(miso) is plentiful. Soy sprouts are sometimes available in
open-air markets along with other Japanese products. They
aren’t common. Fresh green soybeans [edamamé] are also
available at certain times of the year in these markets. Of
course there is lots of soyoil. I think that Sanbra is one of
the big producers or sales company of the beans [soybeans].
In some of the healthfood stores there is a product available
called ‘carne de soja’ (literally “soy meat [textured soy
fl our]). There is no brand name and I have not experimented
with it.”
“I will be working on a book of tofu recipes during this
vacation. The publisher wants to publish it yet this year.
“Last year I gave 3 lessons in working with soyfoods
at the Nestlé experimental kitchen here in Sao Paulo, and
may be working with a new health foods store / restaurant in
developing foods. I would like to see them try some typical
soy-deli kinds of things. There is a lot of interest here, new
stores of ‘produtos naturais’ and vegetarian restaurants are
quite popular.” Address: Rua Spinagés 1974 Apto. 61, 01258
Sao Paulo, Brazil.
903. Leviton, Richard. 1982. Discovering Japanese soyfoods.
Vegetarian Times No. 57. May. p. 60-62, 65. [1 ref]
• Summary: Recently Richard Leviton traveled to Japan
with a group of Americans to get a fi rsthand look at the
Japanese soyfoods industry. There he got his fi rst look at
the fabled neighborhood corner tofu shop. He discusses
tofu (the Japanese consume 10 million cakes a day) and
tofu manufacturers (large and small), types of tofu include
silken tofu (called kinugoshi), fresh soft tofu called momen.
“In the typical supermarket we counted as many as 60
different soyfood items (often several brands or product
sizes), ranging from fresh miso and tofu to packaged soymilk
and shoyu, natto, dried frozen tofu, yuba rolls and kinako
powder.”
Also: Takatsuka Marugo (a large tofu maker that
churns out 100,000 lb/day of tofu), Yuba Han (a traditional
yuba shop in Kyoto), Asahimatsu Kori-dofu Co., natto,
Hamanatto, soymilk, cooked soybeans with wakame, soy
sprouts, kinako powder, packaged green soybeans in the
pods, miso (fresh and freeze-dried), Linda Barber (an
American home economist who is teaching at Kobe Girl’s
College in Nishinomiya, and also teaching American-style
tofu recipes to Japanese housewives via television and the
print media), and Sasa-no-Yuki, a 279-year old restaurant
that specializes in tofu cookery.
Photos show: (1) Eleven different tofu dishes in bowls
as served at Sasa-no-Yuki restaurant in Tokyo. (2) A man
hanging up fresh yuba at Yuba Han. (3) Members of the
group seated on tatami mats on the fl oor around a huge table
enjoying dishes served at Sasa-no-Yuki. Address: 100 Heath
Rd., Colrain, Massachusetts 01340. Phone: 413-624-5591.
904. Yamauchi, Shoan. 1982. History of Matsuda-Hinode
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 291
Tofu Co. (Interview). SoyaScan Notes. June 29 and Aug. 11.
Conducted by William Shurtleff of Soyfoods Center. Then
two follow-up interviews in Oct. 1988.
• Summary: The company traces its roots back to Hawaii
to the Uyeda/Ueda Tofu Co., which may have started at an
earlier date. In 1939 Mr. and Mrs. Shokin Yamauchi, who
had 6 (8??) children and very little money (the effects of the
Depression were still being felt), bought Uyeda/Ueda Tofu
Co. on Aala Street from Mr. and Mrs. Uyeda/Ueda, who had
bought it 2-3 years earlier from someone else. It was a very
small mom and pop operation. Two friends of the family, one
an uncle, helped the Yamauchi family to buy the company.
Either shortly before or shortly after the Yamauchi family
bought the business, it was renamed Aala Tofu Co. It was
never named Shoan Yamauchi Tofu, the name that appears in
a 1942 Honolulu City Directory. Mrs. Yamauchi and her two
sons, Shoan (the #2 son, who had previously baked cakes
in a bakery) and Shojin (the #3 son, who was still in high
school), ran the family business successfully. Shoan, who
learned how to make tofu from Mr. Ueda, the eldest son did
most of the work. He recalls: “I worked like a dog, 15-16
hours a day, 7 days a week, for no pay and with almost no
help from machines.” Shoan’s father did other work in the
shipyards. In 1942 Shoan married Shizuko ??, who also lived
in Hawaii. She joined him working at the tofu shop.
After World War II, in 1946, on his younger brother’s
recommendation, Shoan went to Los Angeles. The Japanese
were just coming out of the wartime intern camps, many
having lost everything. First he talked to the fi ve partners
at Matsuda Tofu Co., which had about 5,000 square feet
versus 700 square feet for Hinode, but Matsuda didn’t want
to sell? What did they say? So 1946, Shoan gave the family
tofu shop in Hawaii to his brother, Shojin, and in September
1947 he and his wife moved to the mainland. Before buying
a business?? The owners of the Hinode Tofu Co. in Los
Angeles offered to him their company for $4,000; it had
cost them $8,000 to set it up. Shoan decided to buy it, even
though his wife didn’t want to.
A little background on tofu in Los Angeles. The two
early tofu companies were Japanese-run Matsuda and
Chinese-run Wing Chong Lung. Both had started in about the
1920s (or perhaps before) in Los Angeles.
Matsuda Tofu Co. was started in about 1920 by a Mr.
Matsuda. During World War II the company was closed. Mr.
Matsuda and his workers were sent to intern camps. After the
war, 5 partners (including Ken Osaki and a Mr. Sasaki), who
had very little money, obtained the Matsuda name from Mr.
Matsuda and essentially started a new company. They had
to move the business to a new location, probably because of
zoning problems.
Shortly after the war a new company named Tomoi Tofu
Co. was established in Los Angeles at First and San Pedro
Streets. But they were bought out by Matsuda in 1946 for
$8,000. Thereafter, having no competition, Matsuda raised