Day 324: Ota Tofu, Portland, Oregon
📌APIA Every Day (324) - Ota Tofu, established in Portland’s Japantown in 1911, is the oldest operating tofu company in the United States. For over 100 years, it’s remained an important culinary destination for local Japanese community members and businesses. While the company has since moved from its original location at Northwest Third Avenue and Davis Street, it continues to operate in Portland’s Buckman neighborhood.
Ota Tofu was founded by brothers Saizo and Heiji Ota who immigrated to Oregon from Okayama, Japan in 1905. In 1911, they initially started their company under the name of Asahi Tofu. After Heiji eventually returned to Japan, Saizo began managing the store alongside his wife Shina and changed the company’s name to Ohta Tofu with an anglicized spelling of Ota.
During World War II, the Ota family was incarcerated at the Minidoka Relocation Center, and the business was forced to close. Saizo, at the age of 61, passed away at the camp due to health complications. Upon Shina Ota’s return to Portland in 1945, she found that their landlord had saved their store property and equipment. Along with her daughter Matsuno, Shina reopened the business as the Soybean Cake Company. Later in the 1950s, they changed the name to Ota Tofu, dropping the “h” to more accurately reflect the spelling of the family’s name. As tofu gained greater popularity outside of Asian communities in the 1960s and 1970s, the business flourished.
In 1981, Ota Tofu moved to its current location on Southeast Stark Street, managed by Shina’s grandson Koichi and his wife Eileen. For decades, the two continued to diligently run the business up until their retirement in the 2010s. In 2019, Portland locals Jason Ogata and his mother Sharon Hirata purchased the store and took over tofu production.
At Ota Tofu today, tofu is still handmade using traditional techniques and the company’s products are sold across the state. Over 150 local restaurants across Portland, like Nong’s Khao Man Gai, Sweet Basil, and Tokyo Sando, source their tofu from Ota. In 2023, the company initiated plans to open a second production facility in the city with the intention to transform its current location into a space where customers can eat prepared tofu snacks.
Written by Avneet Dhaliwal
LEARN MORE:
Here is Oregon: A new chapter for America’s oldest tofu shop
KGW8: America's oldest tofu manufacturer has 110-year legacy in Portland
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