Dates: 07/15/2015, 07/21/2015
Fieldwork:
This time around, our group split up into smaller groups because of time issues/etc., but as a result we were able to get more opinions for our last fieldwork.
The first day, I took part in going to the そば屋さん and 乾物屋さん where they sell 昆布, dried 椎茸, etc. However, the そば屋さん was still 準備中 so we went to the 乾物屋さん (and unfortunately, I couldn't stay long enough to participate in the そば屋さん interview so I didn't get to go there in the end.)
Before going to the 乾物屋さん though, we stopped by the B1 floor of Machida Tokyu Twins in order to see if we could find a difference in the food-sales in department stores compared to the little specialty shops we've been visiting.
We didn't find much, though, except for the Tokyu Twins branch of 若葉堂 that we visited in our 2nd fieldwork. There wasn't too much difference, except that the Tokyu Twins branch felt like more of a tourist-attraction, in a way.
For one, we were told that most of the people who come to the Tokyu Twins branch are there looking for some sort of 町田お土産. So that's where the 町田名産品 comes into play...! The ones that he wouldn't really tell us about, hahaha. Also, there were many more 上生菓子 and they were all so pretty. I think that's a business tactic.
Afterwards we went to the 乾物屋さん called 河原本店.
This place kind of reminded me of the 着物屋さん - they don't make the 乾物 themselves, they get it from other places. So for them, the business seemed to be an okay thing, but in a similar manner, people making it has decreased, so shops have also decreased as a result.
That's a painting of the shop back many many years ago. That area in Machida used to be the "Silk road" of the area. Nowadays, the shop will get customers from 橋本 and even 相模原 area who come by 電車 in order to buy 乾物.
They said that people now take to eating pre-made convenience store food for time's sake, but there are still people who make the food at home so they're the ones that will come to buy 乾物.
On the other hand, stores use the goods that they receive from the company that they're owned by, but if they run out they'll stop by to make a purchase.
When we asked them about 「伝統」, they told us that they think tradition is the idea of 「相承」, or inheritance.
Passing down as much as you can so that things down 100 years ago are still done the same way 100 years later.It was an interesting thing to say, kind of sticking true to the meaning of "tradition."
On the 21st, I decided to stop by and visit the 豆腐屋さん on 仲見世商店街 called 市川豆腐店.
With just a few pieces of tofu laid out in the front on a little cart, I remember that the first time I passed by this place, I wondered if they were even in business because it didn't look like a normal shop that was set up to sell goods out in front.
When I talked to them this time around, I found out that they've actually been in business for 63 years and unlike normal 豆腐屋さん, they start working around 11am, start selling around 12pm, and finish around 6:30pm, close-up time being around 7pm by the time they finish cleaning up.
Unlike tofu that you buy at supermarkets/etc., their tofu is made the day-of and is supposed to be eaten the day-of because there's no additives/preservatives (whereas department store/supermarket tofu will sit around for at least 3~4 days so it isn't as fresh).
When I asked them about the smell of 豆乳, they were surprised to hear I knew the smell of 豆乳 (...I don't know, do people not know the smell of 豆乳...? I guess I never really thought about it, but anyways...) and they told me what I smelled was probably after the beans had been processed and etc., it's first essentially made into 豆乳 before they add something in it to make it harden into tofu.
Big factories might make it differently/add something different in, but that's how they make it right there in their little shop. They also told me about each machine and what it does in order to make the tofu.
First, is the boiler, then the mixer were the 豆 are crushed (豆つぶ), then the かま where it's boiled/stewed (煮る), and then lastly comes out as 豆乳 where they add in にがり (seawater) and salt (I think they mentioned 沖縄 salt at some point, from 沖縄 seawater) which is what makes the tofu harden. Theirs is all-natural/no additives/no preservatives so the taste is really different from the supermarket/etc. tofu that you get everywhere else.
The amount of 豆腐屋さん in the area/in general are also decreasing cause it's a hard business, but the biggest problem might be that there's no one who wants to take over the business (they have 3 sons but the sons are all salary-men and have no interest in the business).
Since their tofu is so good, people all the way from 千葉県、埼玉県 etc. will even come by car in order to buy some of their tofu.
I asked what their idea of 「伝統」 was and they said:
毎日毎日昨日と同じ作り方でin terms of making their tofu/sales/in general. And they described that, for the mother who comes to buy tofu, in time her お嫁さん will come to the same place to buy tofu, and one day the お嫁さん's daughter will come to buy tofu as well.
Other:
Other people in my group went to the そば屋さん and a food place called Shanghai Jimmy's.
At the そば屋さん, they learned that the people there don't change anything or change according to the times. They buy the best buckwheat from families/places they can trust and focus on preserving the soba-tradition, soba-making and everything or else the taste will change.
As for Shanghai Jimmy's, the owner took over the restaurant after his father. The name of the restaurant has actually changed multiple times (basically every time it changes owners), and in the past they used to sell more Chinese food, but now they sell more Japanese food in order to suit the customers' taste. Nowadays, they get a lot more Japanese people as well as foreigners in their store because of the 桜美林第１国際寮 that opened up almost right next to it. Also, the people there apparently said that tradition is not so much about the name of the shop or about the food, but about passing on the taste.
Reflection:
The department store 和菓子屋さん place was definitely the most tourist-y out of all the 和菓子屋さん we'd been to, I think, which was kind of interesting. Depending on the location and the people that come, I guess you can't help but have to cater to it.
For example, if you're in an area like 淵野辺 where no one comes unless they either made a mistake and booked a hotel in the wrong area of or if they're local, there isn't much excitement/anything going on. But if you're in an area that looks kind of 田舎 but there's also a cafe and supermarket that look new almost right across the street from it, then they should try to appeal to young people/look new to look different and be eye-catching. And if you're out in the middle of nowhere like the original branch of 若葉堂, then well there isn't much reason to appeal to tourists/etc. because everyone who comes is local and knows that you're there and that you're famous.
The 豆腐屋さん was really interesting because although they've made their tofu the same way everyday (except Wednesdays and Sundays where they're closed/休日), they didn't really seem concerned that they didn't have anyone to take over the business (the うなぎ屋さん people seemed slightly concerned that there would be another loss of a business like theirs after them since they didn't have a successor and joked if any of us would like to stay in Japan and take over the business for them), and while I was there, people kept stopping by to buy tofu, and they all seemed to be locals/people who stopped by often after work and etc. There was one lady who walked past and seemed extremely excited to see that there was still tofu left and she bought a whole bunch. (They had regular and fried, and apparently also soft tofu as well.) I also got fried tofu as service.
Another lady who stopped by, when she learned that I was an international (exchange) student interviewing them about tofu for a class, she made a comment that even she/Japanese people didn't really know about tofu making and all normal people do is eat it. So I guess normal people do their normal thing and live their normal everyday lives and don't look into the history/making behind all the traditions that their society/culture/everyday life/etc. runs on.
The fried tofu was actually so good (and people kept stopping by and buying regular tofu so I was actually really curious how different/how good the tofu actually tasted for people to be so interested/excited to buy and eat it), so I stopped by a week later and bought one for myself to try.
(Please excuse the lighting in the picture.) It was actually so fluffy...! I really don't think I've ever had tofu that fresh/fluffy/with that kind of texture before, so I was really glad I bought it to try!
While the people at the 豆腐屋さん were talking about tradition/etc., it was really interesting to see the relationship they had with their customers. It made me feel like for them, making tofu was life but just because they've been doing something traditional in a traditional way for 63 years, doesn't mean that tradition IS their life. 63 years and it's still just a part of life - rather than being uptight about not being able to carry on the business (the reason why their work hours are so different from normal 豆腐屋さん is because they're getting old and because they only make what they can sell for the day since they don't have to raise kids anymore - they don't need a huge income or anything, just enough to get by), it seemed like they enjoyed talking to the locals/neighbors who stop by to buy tofu and kind of enjoy life as it is.