
Food and Life Studies
Babahera Ice

Lecturers
Everyone at Chigama Reika
- ① Off to the Babahera Factory!
- ② Morning with the Baba
- ③ May I Have a Babahera Ice Cream, Please!
- ④ Challenge! Baramori

Written by Fumiko YABUKI
Editor; former designer. Born and raised in Akita, she is a hardcore Akita native! She is Deputy Chief Editor for the free magazine “non-biri”.
Photographs by Yoma FUNABASHI

4Challenge! Baramori
I was so impressed by the way these elderly ladies handled their
spatulas as they served out the ice cream.
I really wanted to try doing it myself! I asked Chigama-san if I could
have a go at it myself, and he set me the challenge of making a
baramori!
- CHIGAMA
- You’ll be fine at this. When junior high school students come here for a factory visit, they can all do it without any problems.
- YABUKI
- In that case, I can’t be seen to fail at this! (laughs). Right, I’ve got my headscarf on to give me strength. Wish me luck!
- CHIGAMA
- If the ice cream is too soft, it will end up very thick and not looking like a rose. But it can’t be too hard either. It just needs to be starting to melt. Like this…

- YABUKI
- Cool! So you make the sides of the flower stand up vertically, right? As you keep doing this, I can see the rose gradually appearing… Ha ha…I think Emiko might be better at this than you, Chigama-san (Laughs).
- CHIGAMA
- Yep, she really knows what she’s doing!
- YABUKI
- Is there a knack to holding the spatula as you do this?
- CHIGAMA
- You scrape the side of the tub with the spatula like this. You want to try?
- YABUKI
- Ah, I get it! Round the inside edges like this, right? I don’t think I’ve picked it up yet. I still don’t really know what I’m doing. Anyway this is just a practice. I’m just having a go! So I just dab at the sides like this.

- CHIGAMA
- You have to fill the middle of the cone right up.
- YABUKI
- Slowly, slowly…it’s coming up… Emiko-san said to keep your left hand soft, didn’t she? It’s so difficult! Do all the ladies get a training session like this to learn what to do?
- CHIGAMA
- They’ve all learned how to do themselves. Watch it! You can’t redo it. You have to get it right first time. If you don’t get the right shape for each petal with the spatula with one go, you won’t be able to make the rose.



- YABUKI
- What’s going on now! You should’ve told me that earlier! Oh dear! It doesn’t look anything like a rose!
- CHIGAMA
- You’re getting there. Don’t worry!
- YABUKI
- It looks like a square… Emiko-san keeps the yellow and pink separate so it looks really pretty. But my one’s really messy!

- CHIGAMA
- I think this is really good for your first time.
- YABUKI
- You think it’s OK?
- CHIGAMA
- Good, good, good.
- YABUKI
- The old ladies are so good at this aren’t they?
Frustrating! It’s a clumsy effort but it still tastes
delicious!
- CHIGAMA
- Do it for another three days and you’ll really get the hang of it.
- YABUKI
- Well, I can’t really compete with someone who’s been doing it for over 10 years can I? (laughs) Anyway, when the weather’s hot we’re really grateful to see these ladies selling their ice cream aren’t we?
- CHIGAMA
- It’s actually surprisingly cool underneath those parasols. But having said that, they’re quite expensive.
- YABUKI
- Ha ha!
- CHIGAMA
- They are different to ordinary parasols. Last year, we had 20 parasols and we had to replace all of them.

- YABUKI
- You have to have the right kit to do the job properly, I suppose. Chigama-san, is there someone who will take over the business after you?
- CHIGAMA
- It’s going to be my son, but it’s tough to make a living out of this. Our sales in the prefecture are a third of what they used to be.
- YABUKI
- What’s the reason for that?
- CHIGAMA
- People are used to it.
- YABUKI
- You mean people think they’ve tried it already so no need to try it again?
- CHIGAMA
- That’s right.
- YABUKI
- So maybe you have to go outside the prefecture now, I suppose.
- CHIGAMA
- The ice cream sells really well in the Kanto area. In restaurants there for example. I think they might start getting a bit bored of it soon though.

- YABUKI
- Oh dear. I don’t think that’s true. How do you feel then, having done this for 40 years?
- CHIGAMA
- Well, I’m glad to have come this far without quitting.
- YABUKI
- If you spend the summer selling ice cream, what do you do in wintertime?
- CHIGAMA
- When October comes I go off to Hachirogata to go fishing for whitebait. Then from December, I’m fishing for hatahata (sandfish) in Oga. Then from January, I’m clearing away snow in Akita.
- YABUKI
- Busy, eh? There’s lots of jobs out there, but the job of a babahera always carries on doesn’t it?
- CHIGAMA
- Yep. I feel I can’t stop now. These ladies have been working for a very long time. When I went through tough times, they did all they could to help me and to keep me going. I can’t just quit whenever I feel like it.
- YABUKI
- I see.

- CHIGAMA
- Up until last year we had an 84 year old lady working here. I couldn’t say to her, “It’s time for you to quit.” It’s up to the person themselves to say, “I’m too old to do this anymore.”
- YABUKI
- Right, right. What would you say if a younger person came in and wanted to do this?
- CHIGAMA
- I’d hire them.
- YABUKI
- So you wouldn’t refuse anyone who asked for a job, and you’d never tell them to quit either…!
- CHIGAMA
- That’s right. If you want part-time work, then that’s great.
- YABUKI
- Oh! What’s your standard for hiring?
- CHIGAMA
- Nothing.

- YABUKI
- But once you start, it’s completely up to me to decide when to quit right? Do you pay by the hour?
- CHIGAMA
- It’s a daily rate. And you get a commission if you sell a lot. So if you do well you can make about 20,000 yen a day.
- YABUKI
- Oh! That’s pretty good!
- CHIGAMA
- Wherever you sell during Obon you’ll make at least 10,000 yen. That’s because everyone else who sells ice cream is at home spending time with their families.
- YABUKI
- On the other hand, I suppose people who return home to visit feel like having an ice cream for a bit of nostalgia? Right then, I’ll come here for some part-time work at Obon. Okay? (laughs).
(In the evening, the ladies return one after the other when their sales for the day are done).

- YABUKI
- Emiko-san, welcome back! How did you get on after I left?
- EMIKO
- A group of around 30 people turned up afterwards.
- YABUKI
- Really?! 30 people?! You had to serve 30 in one go?
- EMIKO
- Yes. That’s right.

- YABUKI
- Amazing! However, given the speed you work at I bet it hardly took any time at all. Chigama-san was showing me how to make a baramori earlier, but it didn’t look anything like your roses!
- EMIKO
- It’s quite difficult doing it with the spatula isn’t it? You have to do a lot of them to get the hang of it.
- YABUKI
- Yes…I need to come back for a part-time job.
- EMIKO
- Ha! Ha! In that case, you’ve done well.
- YABUKI
- Thank you very much everyone for letting me spend time with you today! It looks like it will be hot again tomorrow, so it’ll be another good day for sales I think!
- Ice cream ladies
- Yes. We’ll do it all again tomorrow!

I realize now how much of the delicious taste and cuteness of this ice cream is down to the hard work of the elderly ladies who sell it. I feel even prouder now when I see one of their parasols by the side of the road.
Finally, why not take a look at this video of Emiko Funabashi making her stunning “baramori”.
#3 May I Have a Babahera Ice Cream, Please!- Food and Life Studies
Babahera Ice END