Tofu vendor delivers much more than healthy food to an east Tokyo neighborhood

Akiko Sugaya wheels a cart through the alley-like streets of eastern Tokyo, selling tofu, the protein-rich staple favored in much of Asia. But delivering soybean curd in all shapes and textures is only a small slice of her mission. And it's just that. A mission. More than simply a vendor of healthy food, she's also a social conduit who checks on elderly customers as she guides her pink cart, wearing a straw hat and tooting a small brass bugle to signal her arrival. She knows the habits of many of her customers like family, and they know hers. She's lost some elderly customers over the years who've died alone, which is becoming more common in Japan, which has one of the world's oldest populations. Sugaya is a savior for many, and the job—she's been at it for 23 years—has also strengthened her own self-worth. She feels that the job saved her. She says she was bullied in school and fired from several jobs until she found that delivering high-quality, healthy food also nourished her own mental health and offered value to others. "Selling tofu on a cart made me think I am OK to be myself," Sugaya explained. "I used to be repeatedly put down, but through cart-selling I built up my self-esteem." Sugaya makes her rounds three days per week, a three-hour walk in the afternoon. Her route twists through maze-like streets, and there are sporadic sales—and frequent conversations. A woman walks from her house to buy tofu, chats about her unruly cat, and shows off a strand of wild vine growing in her garden. Another woman reminds Sugaya that cart-selling is a disappearing craft. "Even when I'm in need of tofu, I tell myself I'd better wait for Ako-chan," said customer Toshi Niiyama, using Sugaya's nickname. "We used to have someone coming to sell vegetables, but he stopped coming." Sugaya has no such plans to stop. This article was provided by The Associated Press.