Monjayaki, also known as monja, is a specialty food of Tokyo known for its unusual name and appearance. Within Tokyo, Arakawa Ward and Tsukishima, Chuo Ward, are particularly well-known for their monjayaki culture and restaurants, and the origins of the dish can be traced to both areas.
About 80 monjayaki restaurants lie along a 500-meter-long avenue in Tsukishima called Monja Street. Shortly after noon on a holiday, lines of customers formed outside some of the restaurants.
Monjayaki is a pan-fried batter mixed with water, dashi broth, flour and sauce. Various other ingredients such as vegetables, meat and seafood are added to the mixture, which is more watery than normal okonomiyaki. A tiny spatula is used to eat the dish.
Yoshimiya, founded in 1954, is said to be the first restaurant to serve monjayaki for adults in Tsukishima. Only a few other restaurants in the area served monjayaki around the time it opened.
However, after the 1992 NHK drama series "Hirari" depicted scenes in which monjayaki was cooked, the dish grew in popularity, and the number of monjayaki restaurants sharply increased.
"Monja was originally a children's snack. In the past, about seven or eight kids would sit around an iron plate on the earth floor of a dagashiya mom-and-pop candy store. They'd each pay about 5 yen to eat monja," said Kosaku Murata, 78, the second generation owner of Yoshimiya.
"Tsukishima was built [in 1892] on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay. Arakawa Ward may have a longer history [with monjayaki]," he said.
Shinsuke Ukai, 39, said there are various stories on the birthplace of monja, with Arakawa and Asakusa in Taito Ward, Tokyo, among the suggested places of origin. Ukai is the chairman of the Arakawa Monja-gaku Kenkyu-kai (Arakawa monja research group), which teaches children the story of monja.
"In Arakawa Ward, many people share their memories of monja, saying they ate monja at dagashiya shops from the prewar period," he said. "Now there are about 60 monja restaurants scattered throughout the ward. I believe Arakawa is one of the birthplaces of monja."
Tachibana, a monjayaki restaurant in Machiya, Arakawa Ward, which has operated for more than 50 years, serves a simple variation of monja. The recipe comprises cabbage, agedama deep-fried dough and thin strips of dry squid. It is simple but delicious.
Tachibana's owner Hiroyuki Kano, 55, said his restaurant has served the dish for many years. "Elderly people older than 80 eat this with a sense of nostalgia, recalling monja from the old days at dagashiya shops with comments like, 'There were less ingredients back then.' I believe it should taste the same as the version from before the war," he said.
Arakawa Furusato Bunkakan (Arakawa hometown cultural center) in Arakawa Ward describes the history of monja in greater detail.
The center, which held an exhibition on monja about 20 years ago, cites mojiyaki as one of the forerunners of monjayaki.
Mojiyaki literally means "fried characters" and dates back to the Edo period (1603-1867). People at fairs or stands would create characters on an iron plate using a flour and water mix. The word monjayaki is derived from mojiyaki, according to the center.
In those days, the shape of mojiyaki included not only letters, but also birds, animals and plants, and children enjoyed buying the food, it said.
Mojiyaki also appears in the "Hokusai Manga" drawn by ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) for his apprentices.
Mana Kumagai, 56, of the Osaka-based Nippon Konamon Association, which is knowledgable about the history of monja, cites funoyaki as a forerunner of mojiyaki.
Funoyaki is said to have been invented by Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591), who was a tea master during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1603).
Funoyaki, a flour and water mix that is baked and topped with miso, is mentioned in the Nanporoku (record of nanpo), a journal of Rikyu's oral instructions about tea ceremony etiquette. The journal notes that Rikyu served funoyaki as a cake alongside tea at tea ceremonies.
Monjayaki now has a wide variety of tastes and is made with many different ingredients.
"The culture of food in which flour was mixed with water and baked has changed greatly since the days of Rikyu, and monja has become a common food in our daily lives," Kumagai said.
Eating monja while reflecting on the food's evolution throughout history produces a profound flavor.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Customers eat monjayaki at a restaurant in Tokyo's Tukushima, Chuo Ward.
Courtesy of National Diet Library
A scene depicting the preparation of monjayaki in "Hokusai Manga"
Courtesy of Nippon Konamon Association
Funoyaki, which is believed to have been invented by Sen no Rikyu
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