Everybody in Akita knows what babahera ice is, but what’s less well-known is the process by which the product ends up being sold at the side of the road.
Today I’m keeping tabs on the babahera vendors, following the process from their morning preparations right up to the sale of the product.

2Morning with the Baba

AM 6:30
I’ve woken up early, and here we all are at Chigama Reika. When I get to the factory, the ice-cold metal ice cream tubs are being loaded into the vans.The containers look heavy but the elderly ladies are loading them all on their own.

YABUKI

Good morning! What time did the first van go out this morning?

CHIGAMA

5.50.

YABUKI

Wow. That’s early! It’s hard work isn’t it? It looks like it’s going to be hot today, so you’re going to sell a lot of ice cream, I should think! From people out for a drive in Oga for example…

CHIGAMA

I’ve no idea to be honest. I don’t know what it’s going to be like today. Not many people seem to be visiting Oga at the moment.

YABUKI

How many vans do you have going out today?

CHIGAMA

20 or more.

(The ladies keep turning up)

YABUKI

Good morning! Where are you off to today? (Asks one of the vendors)

Ice cream lady

I’m going to Odate.

(It’s about two hours drive from Oga, where Chigama Reika is located, to Odate)

YABUKI

That’s a long way to go… Do you always go to Odate?

Ice cream lady

Yep. I go to Fuketsu Drive-in.

YABUKI

You’ll have someone to drive you there I suppose?

Ice cream lady

No, I drive myself.

YABUKI

Really?! You do all the driving?

Ice cream lady

Yes. I love driving!

YABUKI

Is that so?! I didn’t know that you ladies did all the driving as well as actually selling the ice cream! These ice cream tubs look heavy. They must be hard to lift? How many kilos does one of these weigh?

CHIGAMA

They weigh 60 kilos when full.

Ice cream lady

I’m used to it. I’ve been doing this for 37, 38 years now.

YABUKI

That many? Wow!

(The lady gets in her van)

Ice cream lady

Right! I’m off. See you later!

YABUKI

All the best! Wow! I’m impressed! All that driving, it doesn’t seem to faze her at all. I thought that there would be men driving the vans and that the ladies would travel with them. They’re so tough!

CHIGAMA

That’s right. Everyone drives themselves here.

YABUKI

So they drive out on their own, sell the ice cream on their own and then come back here? Amazing! These ladies, what’s their average age would you say?

CHIGAMA

Well, probably 60 plus. That lady you spoke to just now is 72 or 73.

YABUKI

She seemed so full of life! So how old is the youngest?

CHIGAMA

I think 55 or 56.

AM 7:00
Our party sets off! A van carries ice cream tubs for 3 to 4 sellers, along with parasols, cones and tanks of water, and the ladies themselves! We go as a group to sell our ice cream at different places around Oga: shopping malls, sports parks, tourist areas and so on. At each destination, one of the ladies lifts out everything she needs and sets up shop.

AM 8:00
We arrive at the final destination at Unosaki Beach.
The coastlines is designed as one of Top 100 Coastlines, and in summertime its packed with people who’ve come to bathe or camp. To start off with I spend some time with Emiko Funabashi as she sets up.

YABUKI

So the last person has to unload everything on her own and pack it all up at the end. That’s hard work! What time are you going to stay here till today?

EMIKO

I’m going to be here from now until around 6PM this evening.

YABUKI

Really?! That’s a long time. A whole day here…

EMIKO

That’s what we baba do, right? It’s a hard life! (laughs).

YABUKI

Do you always come to Unosaki Beach? Is this your “patch”?

EMIKO

That’s right. I come here about 80% of the time.

YABUKI

I suppose it’s still a bit early for swimming, but if you’re always in the same place, everyone who comes and goes will know you’re here, right? How many months of the year are you out here selling ice cream?

EMIKO

I’m here from around the middle of April right the way through until October. After that, it’s depends on what events are going on. I always get here early, set everything up and then have my breakfast. I’ve brought rice balls for breakfast and a bento for lunch.

YABUKI

What time did you get up this morning?

EMIKO

I always get up around 5:00 AM as usual.

YABUKI

May I ask you how old you are?

EMIKO

I’m nearly 70.

YABUKI

Really?! You don’t look it at all! You’re so spritely! How long have you been doing this?

EMIKO

Well, it’s around six years now. I used to work in a company that made car components. I quit and took it easy for a while, and then somebody asked me “Why not give this a go?”

YABUKI

So you were scouted for this job?

EMIKO

Ha ha! Yes!

YABUKI

Looks like it’s going to be really hot today.

EMIKO

Actually us oldsters don’t mind the heat so much. The cold is much worse.

YABUKI

Well I guess the cold isn’t so good for selling ice cream. Mind you, I suppose you get all sorts of customers?

EMIKO

Yes, definitely! All sorts of people come here and I get to do a lot of talking. It’s completely different to what I used to do. I’m actually not so good at a customer service job like this. I’ve picked up a lot of tips on how to talk to the customers from the more experienced sellers.

YABUKI

How did you learn how to do a baramori?

EMIKO

That’s also something that I learned from the others when I started doing this. You hold the spatula in your right hand, and your left hand doesn’t really have to do very much. But it’s the left hand that ends up hurting rather than the right! You have to keep your left hand soft and flexible, so that takes a lot of effort. The back of the hand gets quite sore. If you do hundreds of these a day, you can get blisters.

YABUKI

I was told that you can get around 600 servings out of one tub of ice cream. Is that right?

EMIKO

That’s right, if the tub is completely full. The ice cream tends to get softer as time goes by, but sometimes the customers keep coming so I have to scrape the ice cream off while it’s still quite hard. It hurts my shoulders. It’s actually a lot more difficult than it looks.

YABUKI

I can see it’s hard work just from what you’ve done this morning. I didn’t realize how tough it is before.

EMIKO

Neither did I until I tried it! To start with the boss let me use a tub that wasn’t too full. Everyone gets a sore back from this you know. We get up early, we work long hours in the hot and the cold and so on. It’s hard work to say the least.

YABUKI

And you’re still happy to keep doing it?

EMIKO

Yes, why not? Once you’ve started here, it’s not so easy to stop. It can be very difficult but it’s only for half a year. There are fun moments like when my regular customers visit.

As Emiko-san says this, the first customer appears. In the next section, we’ll see what it’s like serving a constant stream of customers.

③ May I have a Babahera Ice Cream, Please!