Takoyaki: The History of Japan’s Popular Street Food
It’s now so popular you’d think it was ancient — but in truth, takoyaki isn’t even a century old. Learn more about the popular street food.
Visit any street festival in Japan, and you’ll inevitably encounter the tasty snack takoyaki (たこ焼き). Cooked into little balls on a grill with rows of hemispherical molds, these crispy octopus dumplings often covered in garnishes and savory sauces are Osaka Prefecture’s pride and joy but have captured hearts all over Japan.
Takoyaki is so embedded in Japanese street food cuisine that it surprises many to learn it’s a fairly recent addition to the national palate. And by recent, we mean the bright glitzy days of the Showa era (1926–1989).
The origins of takoyaki
The man widely believed to be the creator of takoyaki is Endo Tomekichi (1907–1997), the founder of Aizuya in Osaka. In the early 1930s, he was searching for a snack customers could enjoy either hot or cold with a beer. In 1933 he created rajioyaki using beef, konjac, and tenkasu (leftover fried tempura scraps).
Rajioyaki in turn was a derivation of the popular children’s snack choboyaki, dumplings filled with konjac, red pickled ginger, snow peas, and shoyu. Why he named his creation after the newly introduced radio is unclear. But it certainly…
