Cool Off in Lingering Heat with Tofu Dishes, Restaurateur in Okayama Pref. Preaches Value of Soybean-Made Foods

By Wataru Kosaka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

11:00 JST, September 7, 2025

The hot days of late summer continue as if they may last forever. Many people have lost their appetite and are fatigued from the heat. Is there any way to overcome this slew of hot days?

Feeling a sense of crisis, I searched for a cuisine with a high nutritional value that is easy to eat even in the middle of these hot days.

I heard about a restaurant in Tsuyama, Okayama Prefecture, specializing in healthy meals that rely on many uses of tofu, and went there.

The restaurant is called Hayase Tofu-ten, and it is located on a curved corner of the Izumo Kaido road in the Higashi-Shinmachi district in the city. It is in a restored old Japanese-style house and specializes in tofu cuisine.

There is a zashiki tatami-mat room from which customers can enjoy gazing at a courtyard. Hisayoshi Hayase, 43, the owner of the restaurant, greeted me, saying, “You will heal yourself physically and mentally with the various tastes of our cuisine.”

I ordered the set meal of the day, named “Arigatofu Gozen.”

The meal comprises simple kinugoshi-dofu (silky tofu), and the day’s main dish of spring rolls containing okara (soy pulp) and ganmodoki (fried tofu fritter). Other dishes in the set included thick fried tofu, shira-ae (mashed tofu salad), yuba (tofu skin) and fried-and-simmered tofu. The day’s desserts — chiffon cake and pudding — were also made using tofu.

About 10 dishes in the set used tofu as an ingredient.

Containers of soy sauce, salt and ponzu had been placed on the table. A staff member said, “First, please try the dishes without any seasoning.” She then recommended seasonings for each of the dishes.

The menu of the dishes served was written on the paper placemat and included a heartwarming illustration. I appreciated the sense of hospitality.

First, I tasted the soy milk, which had a gentle flavor. Then I ate a piece of kinugoshi-dofu that had a smooth and fine texture. The sweet, mild tastes spread in my mouth, and I swallowed the chilled silky tofu.

Sprinkling salt on the tofu amplified the sweet taste, and adding a touch of soy sauce deepened the flavor. The unpredicted changes in the tastes made me joyful.

The sweet taste and deep flavor are characteristics of a soybean variety called “mochi daizu,” from which the tofu was made. The variety is a local specialty of the Mimasaka area of the prefecture.

To bring out the taste of the soybeans even more, the nigari (bittern) used to solidify the squeezed soy milk is a natural one produced from seawater from the Seto Inland Sea.

No other ingredients are added, and the mix is not heated in the production process. Although tofu made this way does not have a long shelf life, locals say the tofu tastes better.

Then I took a bite of the spring roll. The rice-paper wrapper had a spicy flavor that complemented the thick-flavored, sweet soy pulp inside.

A piece of ganmodoki had condensed the taste of the tofu, and the shira-ae salad had a soft, gentle taste.

All of the flavors were gentle, so the dishes went down well, and I could easily forget the severity of the hot weather outside.

Different ingredients are used for the various dishes. They include green soybeans with a deep, sweet taste. There are many types of food for the main dishes, such as tofu nuggets and okara croquettes.

“You can enjoy tofu all year long,” Hayase said. “I want people to feel that tofu can be a part of everyday life through a wide variety of cooking methods.”

The restaurant is directly run by Hayase Shokuhin, a company that has been making tofu for nearly 80 years in Tsuyama.

Hayase is the third-generation owner of the company, and he returned to his home city about 15 years ago. In addition to products sold wholesale, he learned how to make tofu by watching his skillful father, and Hayase thought to himself, “I wanted to make tofu that only I can make.”

However, his attempts to sell tofu at food-tasting events were not very successful. A woman who was sympathetic to him bought unsold tofu.

The miserable and frustrating feelings were motivation for his making tofu. From the experience, Hayase was determined to pursue tofu’s taste, thinking, “I must make products that people want to buy.”

Above anything else, Hayase placed importance on selecting soybeans. He asked local farmers to cultivate soybeans, bought the crops at prices desired by the farmers and built a trustful relationship with them.

Hayase grated and boiled the soybeans in different ways many times, all while watching the humidity and temperature each day. He repeatedly tested the production methods.

To have a place to serve the carefully prepared dishes, he opened a restaurant near his parents’ house eight years ago. He also chose the location because he wanted neighbors to come to the restaurant often.

With the hope of “enriching everyone with tofu,” the kanji characters for “tofu” in the restaurant’s name use a combination of those meaning “bean” and “prosperity,” although the food uses the kanji characters for “bean” and “fermented.”

On the other hand, in an effort to expand the possibilities of tofu, Hayase developed a wide variety of products in addition to ready-made dishes. With “things I want to eat” in mind, he created doughnuts, puddings and cakes using ingredients such as soy pulp and soy milk.

As he believes the handmade products offer safety and a sense of security, he gave them the brand name of “Utsukushiku Tsukuru,” meaning “make beautifully,” and in a touch of playfulness, they are the same kanji for Mimasaka, where his beans are grown.

One of the products is the best-selling “Ultra Tofu Soy!” Hayase said the name is an homage to “Ultra Soul,” which is a title of a popular hit song by B’z, a famous rock band of which Koshi Inaba, who was born and raised in Tsuyama, is the vocalist.

The rich, thick taste of the tofu is popular among fans of the rock band who visit places in the city related to the singer.

In addition, Hayase sends trucks to other places in the prefecture and neighboring Tottori Prefecture to sell products. The trucks are called “Hashiru Otofu,” which means “running tofu.” Four modified light trucks carry tofu products, and Hayase’s staff sell them at places such as in front of supermarkets.

The staff sometimes carry horns to blow at the sales sites in a nostalgic gesture, being today’s version of tofu sellers who blew horns to attract customers long ago.

Hayase puts much thought into his products and sales methods in order to reach as many people as possible.

“I want people to enjoy eating tofu and feel happy,” he said.