Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Tofu Man

I am not sure if this man exists everywhere, or if I am just super lucky.
Anyways the tofu man is a man with a large two-wheeled aluminum wheelbarrow and a horn that sounds like a 1920's retired fire engine alarm. WEEEEEEE woooooo, the forceful sucking of air in and its exhausted release back out, like an old man on a respirator. You may or may not get the picture.
This man goes up and down a dozen streets and side streets throughout the day blowing the little horn. As you might have guessed he sells tofu to the denizens of Kyoto. This tofu is very likely homemade by the Man himself or possibly his wife. I cannot actually attest to the quality of the tofu and its tofiness, as I have never actually wanted tofu whenever he came by. He pretty much only comes by during daylight hours, around midday, but he will continue until dusk. And he will sell his tofu rain or shine. I have seen this man all decked out in rain gear with a covering for his wagon as well. I assume snow as well, but as it has yet to really snow and stick in Kyoto...
Honestly the way he walks selling tofu rather quite reminds me of the ice cream man in America. Touring the streets for sweltering children looking for respite, or in this case it is Japanese housewives planning their dinners.

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