Pair forced to shut the family business 98 years after start

The tofu business became a way of life for Dennis and Dulcie Honda.

Their Wahiawa establishment on Mango Street stirs up memories of the days that Dennis Honda’s father, Haruo, ran Honda Tofu and delivered blocks of the staple to neighbors in his yellow Jeep.

Most of the old machinery at the shop was made in Japan, and some was bought from Hawaii Tofu after it closed in 2007.

An old-fashioned boiler still sits behind the factory past a long driveway and garden that is cared for by Dennis Honda’s 93-year-old mother, Josephine. She lives above the shop and every day helped the couple out in the store until around noon, when it was time to watch her favorite Korean shows.

After 98 years in business, the Honda family closed their factory last month after their 51-year-old boiler didn’t pass inspection. The machine was too expensive to fix or replace, Honda said.

Before then their goal was to make it to 100 years in business.

“It’s been gratifying … because these people have come to the store,” said Honda, 63. “We’ve met a number of great business people.”

They still receive phone calls and occasional customers who stop by not knowing the factory closed, he said. The couple, who started dating as sophomores at Leilehua High School and married in 1977, is now looking for new jobs until they can retire.

Founded in 1917 by Honda’s grandparents Eizo and Tsuyo Honda, the factory was passed down to Haruo Honda, who juggled making each tofu block by hand and making early morning deliveries. Dennis Honda and his brothers would help their father run the shop, while their mother managed her insurance business.

Dulcie Honda, 63, recalls the sound of the horn on Haruo Honda’s Jeep as he drove through her neighborhood delivering tofu. Some residents left a quarter and sometimes candy in a bowl outside their homes for Dennis Honda and his brothers to take and replace with a tofu block. But after Haruo Honda was injured in a car accident in the 1970s, Dennis Honda, who was working at the Legislature, decided to step up and temporarily help with the business. The gig turned permanent after his father could not continue to run the business due to his injuries.

His wife was working at a building supply store, and Honda remembers asking her to join him so “at least we see each other,” adding, “If not, our schedules were totally different.”

Over the years, the business experienced its ups and downs — scoring accounts with Costco, Sam’s Club and other restaurants and stores. But revenue sometimes dwindled due to economic cutbacks and the influx of mainland tofu that brought competition to the local market.

Honda said he thinks his customers enjoyed their tofu because of the medium texture and sweet, fresh taste.

“Everybody has their favorites,” he said. “Ours was the only medium tofu, so ours was just that in between. It was more versatile.”

They were reluctant to raise the price of their tofu by too much because, Honda said, about half of their customers were older residents on fixed incomes. Each production cycle, which takes about 45 minutes, makes about 40 blocks of tofu, all handmade by Honda. One block costs $1.75, and he estimated making about 800 to 1,000 blocks per day.

The hours were grueling for the couple, who live in Wahiawa Heights.

Their day would typically start at about 3 a.m., with Dulcie Honda and her brother-in-law in charge of deliveries while Dennis Honda made the tofu. They would finish around dinnertime on weekdays. But working with the community and interacting with residents proved to be rewarding, the couple said.

The Wahiawa-Whitmore Village Neighborhood Board, along with the Wahiawa Lions Club and Mayor Kirk Caldwell — who proclaimed Sept. 21 Honda Tofu Day — showered the family with certificates of recognition at the Sept. 21 board meeting.

Board Chairwoman Jeanne Ishikawa said “it was hard not to cry up there” while presenting the certificates. She said she found out the factory closed after making her Saturday round to pick up tofu last month.

“I thought, ‘No, this can’t be so.’ I tried to open the door, and I knocked on the wall. I was really, really sad,” said Ishikawa, who was born and raised in Wahiawa. “Between Dennis and Dulcie, I think they have done a phenomenal job of trying to keep it going. It’s a hard business. It’s long hours. They’re such gracious people and such generous people.”

Dulcie and Dennis Honda said working with residents was one of their favorite things about running the business. They encouraged customers to support other local tofu stores.

“It was kind of hard to let the business go because it was from his grandfather’s time,” Dulcie Honda said. “We wanted to say, ‘Sorry, we couldn’t say thank you properly’ … (and) to thank all of them for all those years (they) supported us.”