As you eat the fluffy ice covered in milk, a sweet red kidney bean zenzai appears: "Milk Kintoki." "Oshoku to Kissa Sennichi," which has been preserving the taste of "hiyashimono," an indispensable dish in the tropical island of Okinawa, since its establishment, is a 5-minute taxi ride or 15-minute walk from HOTEL RESOL TRINITY NAHA Naha in the direction of Naminoue Beach, the only sandy beach in Naha.

It all began in 1952 (Showa 27) when Shingoro Kinjo, a former navy officer, and his wife Haruko founded "Yafune Shokudo" near Himeyuri Street. Later, looking for something new that could become a business, they founded the "Sennichimae Ice Cream Cake" factory in Yogi, Naha City in 1960 (Showa 35). At the time, when children's allowance was only 1 cent, ice cream cake was a luxury item that cost 3 cents.

In 1962 (Showa 37), they opened a cafe called "Sennichika" in Kume, Naha City, named after their second daughter, Senko. Eventually, they narrowed it down to just this one store, which was extremely busy with students on their way home from school and customers visiting the nearby "Naminoue Shrine."

"At first we imported Taisho Kintoki beans from the mainland, but under American rule, American-grown red kidney beans became available at a cheaper price, so we started using American-grown red kidney beans for our iced zenzai," says Reiko, the third daughter.

"There were elementary and junior high schools near the store, and at the time there were about 15 classes per grade, so it was a big hit with the students. Now there are only about three classes per grade."

In 1965 (Showa 40), chilled coffee cost 5 cents, chilled zenzai and mizore were 10 cents, and kintoki was 15 cents.

American red kidney beans and the shop's front when it first opened. Initially, the shop used an ice shaving machine surplus from the U.S. military.


The incident that led to the decision to reopen the store

Until Shingoro passed away in 1996 at the age of 81, the couple worked in the shop every summer without a break and it was a thriving business.After that, his wife Haruko also passed away at the age of 79, and the shop remained closed for a while without its owner.

One day, when I opened the store for a major cleaning, a customer came in as if he had been waiting for this.With the determination to continue this business, the second son, Shigeto, took early retirement from the bank and opened the store with the support of the women.I have made the decision to restart it.

"After all, everyone was waiting for us. They misunderstood and more and more customers came in.""Now, we have four generations of customers, with grandmothers bringing their daughters, and then their daughters bringing their children.It's like, take your baby with you."

The taiyaki maker remains unchanged since the shop first opened

Current store owners Shigeto Kinjo and Reiko Kosaka

Even now, more than 70 years after its founding, Sennichi is still run by the founder's second son Shigeto and his wife, and his third daughter Reiko and her family, who work together to continue to protect the store and pass on the recipes of their predecessors.

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