The yaki-imo pushcart business began in 1951, started by Manzō Minowa.Stone-roasted sweet potatoes had existed since the Edo period, but it was around this time in Tokyo that they evolved into a true mobile service. The distinctive loudspeaker call of the has since become part of Japan’s collective emotional landscape. ![[Pasted image 20260119022853.png |300]] ###### Gemini created from Rapoppo display model ## Story from Article The originator was Mr. Minowa Manzō from Mukōjima, Sumida Ward. He originally ran a ramen shop. Since he was about the same age as I am, it means he started selling stone-roasted sweet potatoes around the age of fifty. The iron pot was made of iron, and a large quantity of stones was used. Because it was too heavy for an ordinary handcart, he not only designed the stone-roasting apparatus but also had a special handcart designed and manufactured at an ironworks. There were “parent operators” and “peddlers” in the stone-roasted sweet potato business. The parent operators provided the full set of tools, fuel, and even lodging, and employed the peddlers. Many peddlers were farmers who worked away from home, and many came from the Niigata area, since Mr. Minowa himself was from Kariwa District, Niigata Prefecture. Parent operators typically employed around ten peddlers; those employing twenty or thirty were considered large-scale. Mr. Minowa, as a pioneer, was in a class of his own, and during the peak period before the Great Kantō Earthquake, he employed forty or fifty people. At that time, there were over 1,000 peddlers in Tokyo. Once stone-roasted sweet potatoes appeared, they spread throughout Tokyo. They were less common in the hills and most prevalent in the downtown areas, especially in Asakusa and Fukagawa. For stone-roasted sweet potatoes, the small stones sold by building material shops under the name “Daishō Sansun” were considered ideal. That size was well suited to transmitting heat evenly.