Meal Delivery

次回、この記事の日本語版を投稿します。

"Stay home!"
This is one of the battle cries being sounded in order to help quell the coronavirus. 

With the increase in people staying home, there seems to be a rise in various food and meal delivery services.
In Japan, most meal deliveries are made by scooters.  But years ago, deliveries were made by bicycle, and, in some cases, especially the soba (Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour) deliverymen rivaled the antics of the best circus acrobats.  As you view the following photos, bear in mind that these bicycles were all steel, heavy, no gears, equipped with simple rod brakes and traversed roads often made of gravel or pockmarked with potholes; the rider steering with one hand whilst balancing an unthinkable number of soba servings atop his shoulder.  Talk about unwieldy! 

 
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Courtesy of そば　うどん　朝日屋（二代目朝日屋三郎）

Courtesy of そば　うどん　朝日屋（二代目朝日屋三郎）

Courtesy of 彩の国そば日和・そば屋さん達の蕎麦ブログ

Courtesy of 彩の国そば日和・そば屋さん達の蕎麦ブログ

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Apart from meals many other goods were delivered via these steel mules, including soy sauce as shown in the photo below.  Imagine if you can, how unwiedly this must have been.  A high center of gravity, traversing a gravel road and the soy sauce sloshing all around.  At least he is able to have both hands on the handlebars, unlike the soba deliverymen. 

Courtesy of Minami Awaji City Web Site

A far more stable form of transporting goods was with a trailer, known in Japan as a "rear car" as the photo below of a tofu peddler shows. 

Courtesy of ケペル先生のブログ

Please stay home and stay safe!