《Yaginuma Tofu Shop》- Preserving the “Regional taste” –

The Naganuma-district of Sukagawa City, Fukushima Prefecture. This area – stretching out over the southwestern side of Sukagawa City – was once a lively castle town. Especially ‘Yokomachi Street’ right by the castle was home to a row of shops and is said to have been the most bustling shopping street. Since then, however, the area has been hit by the decline and rapid aging of the population, leading to Naganuma-district receiving the depopulation-designation of “partially depopulated.” 

We asked Mr. Koichi Yaginuma, owner of a tofu shop in Yokomachi Street of Naganuma, which has maintained its old-fashioned charm, about his thoughts on the area, as well as the things he particularly cares about in running his tofu shop.

Tofu: once considered a ‘regional’ food

Besides Mr. Yaginuma’s ‘Yaginuma Tofu Shop,’ there are in fact two more tofu shops in Naganuma. Whereas for most people tofu is something you buy in the supermarket, here in Naganuma the idea that ‘you buy tofu at the tofu shop’ is still alive and well.

It raises the question why these tofu shops are still open here in Naganuma. The Iwase District next door, which received the same ‘partially depopulated’-designation, has no tofu shops at all. Three tofu shops for a population of only around 6,000 people seems a little excessive. Mr. Yaginuma addressed my honest confusion: 

“During the time when food used to be scarce, as opposed to now, soybeans were grown here in abundance. This is why there was such a wealth of soy-based processed foods. Then, the refrigeration technology and distribution systems were not as good as now, which made it impossible to transport cold tofu to faraway destinations. This is why tofu used to be considered a very ‘regional’ type of food.”

In the past, every area had a tofu shop. Mr. Yaginuma says that during his childhood there were about 15 or 16 tofu shops in Naganuma alone. Mr. Yaginuma attributes the survival of tofu shops in Naganuma to the area being blessed with high-quality water.
So why did so many tofu shops close, if they were so entrenched into the local area?

“After WWII, people got refrigerators and distribution improved, making it easier to transport cold food. If you are going to transport something, it’s much more efficient to do it in bulk, isn’t it? So the supply side changed to high-volume production and high-volume sales. Tofu itself has also been developed through the years to last longer, in order to withstand long-distance transportation.”

Nowadays, most of the tofu you find in the supermarket stalls in Fukushima are from outside of the prefecture. And about 90% of the main ingredient soybeans actually comes from abroad. Despite the difficulties of sustaining a one-man tofu shop in today’s world, Yaginuma Tofu Shop is particular about its ‘traditional’ production method.

A carefully crafted taste, through a time-tested production method

The Yaginuma Tofu Shop was established in 1925. This year marks the 99th anniversary. The shop was started in Yokomachi Street of Naganuma District by Koichi Yaginuma’s grandfather – originally a farmer – at age 30 and was then passed on to his son and grandson as the second and third-generation owners. The reason that people from even outside of the prefecture come all the way to buy the tofu from Yaginuma Tofu Shop, is its time-tested production method.

First, let’s explain the basics of making tofu.
Soybeans are placed underwater one day in advance. The next day they are boiled and mashed. The mashed beans are placed into a bag that filters liquids, dividing the mash into ‘okara’ (soy pulp) and soy milk. Before the squeezed-out soymilk cools down, you add a coagulant called ‘nigari’ to it, and gently mix it with a spatula (this part of the process is called ‘yose’). After an appropriate amount of time, the soy milk that has undergone the yose-process, is poured into a mold. A weight is placed onto the mold to squeeze out the surplus water. When the water is squeezed out, the tofu is taken out of the mold and cut into set-size pieces. And that’s your tofu done.

This process is very mechanized nowadays, but Yaginuma Tofu Shop holds on to its traditional method. This is why only batches of 40 pieces of tofu can be made at a time. Depending on the day, this process is done about 2 or 3 times per day.

“I make tofu using the same method as my grandfather. The only thing that’s changed is that in order to boil the soybeans, we use a boiler now, rather than firewood.”

Another vital element in the tofu from Yaginuma Tofu Shop is the ‘all-natural nigari.’ Yaginuma used nigari made by the same natural process of gaining salt from seawater, but nowadays there are precious few companies left that sell this kind of natural nigari. There are many other convenient options available to use as coagulants, but Yaginuma insists on using natural nigari because it adds the most aroma. 

Realizations from repetition, and the difficulty of making the same product

Since taking over the shop from his father, Koichi Yaginuma has run the tofu shop for almost 50 years now. He never had any doubts about taking over the business, as in those days it was the norm for the eldest son to follow in his father’s footsteps, and he had been helping in the shop from when he was a young boy. He went to the local agricultural high school where he majored in food processing, and after graduation, he worked part-time jobs at local companies and private-owned shops to gain experience as an adult member of society.

Only 2 years after his graduation, his father fell ill, making him commit to fully taking over the family business.

“I’d always helped out around the shop, and always knew I would take over the business one day, so I didn’t feel any reluctance. It was the natural progression. Seeing as I was living and doing business here, I also got involved in the chamber of commerce and the fire brigade, among other local organizations and efforts. More than a strong sense of duty that “I had to do it,” it was more like a given; the natural way for me to live in this community.”

If you don’t count the soybeans being put under water the day before, making tofu only takes about 1.5 hours. 40 pieces at a time, in a process repeated 2 or 3 times per day, Koichi Yaginuma has continued this production method for 50 years. 

The daily life of making tofu, at first glance, seems like a repetition of ‘the same thing’ over and over again. However, through our talk today, I felt that Koichi Yaginuma’s everyday life making tofu is actually filled with variation.

When you prepare the soybeans in water, you have to predict the amount of tofu you expect to sell the next day. You have to take the weather and season into account, so carefully gaining information is key. The amount of time the beans should be soaked is different between summer and winter, and because of the outside temperature, the water used for soaking is not always stable. The ‘yose’-process of adding natural nigari is done based on experience acquired over many years. The end product very heavily relies on this process.

“Although tofu may always look the same, to us makers, it is slightly different every single time, every single day.  I experience the difficulty of trying to do the exact same thing every day. But that’s what makes it so interesting, and why I never get bored of it.”

In order to maintain this traditional tofu-making process, rather than just doing the same thing every day, the most important thing may just be to be aware of small changes every day and deal with them flexibly. When you think of it like that, those small, white cubes actually reveal an endless supply of stories.

Living and making a living in a depopulated area

n 2022 the law concerning depopulated areas was amended, causing the Naganuma area to be designated as ‘partly depopulated,’ as its depopulation is far ahead of Sukagawa City, of which the area is a part. Even though Yokomachi Street was the former castle town’s bustling shopping district, the Yaginuma Tofu shop is now one of the few shops left standing.

“I don’t plan on forcing myself to keep going, but if anyone is genuinely interested in making tofu, I won’t hesitate to teach them. Naganuma as a region can be a bit conservative, but considering the depopulation, we can’t really afford to waste time. So for myself, I wholeheartedly welcome anyone who’s interested in a new challenge!”

These days, depopulation and rapid aging is not a Nagaguma-specific problem. No matter how strong the push for regional revitalization may be, the situation will not just change out of the blue. But, having learned about the Koichi and Yuko Yaginuma and how they keep diligently making their traditional tofu in the now-quiet shopping street, I cannot help but consider the limitless change and accumulated history contained in a single piece of tofu. 

The time-tested tofu, that has undergone and overcome dizzying changes over the 99 years, presents us living now with a sense of hope. Even if there’s not much I myself can do, if I remember Koichi and Yuko Yaginuma’s faces and their tofu’s history, I will be sure to eat some delicious tofu again today.

 

Yaginuma tofu store
143 Kanamachi, Naganuma, Sukagawa, Fukushima 962-0203
Business hours: 7:00-19:00
Closed: Wednesdays and third Thursdays
Phone : 0248-67-2216
FAX : 0248-67-2299

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Translation：Joost Kralt

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