Through earthquake, redevelopment and COVID-19 – Benqiudo turns sweet – NBC Bay Area

In the silent hours before Japantown in San Francisco came back to life with visitors, Bobby and Ricky Okamura were already in the works, their four hands subtly forming mochi and mangoes today for clients who will be patiently waiting in line.

While working, bringing a thousand pieces of pastry daily, the brothers seem indifferent to the fact that Benkyodo, opened by their grandfather in 1906, is the oldest business still in Japantown – and he has survived a series of challenges; From the 1906 earthquake and fire to the arrest of Japanese citizens during World War II to the rampant redevelopment that has seen Japantown shrink from forty to four blocks – and now the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s normal for us,” said Bobby Okamura, hands full of cute green mochi. “Time goes on and on, so don’t think about time.”

Joe Rosato Jr.

A stone mixing bowl used by his brother’s grandfather in 1906, and is still used for mixing mochi in the Benqiudo Pastry Shop.

What was not normal for Okamura, was the leave the epidemic imposed on them in March 2020. The store remained closed until June, the first extended period that Benkudo closed, at least during the reign of the brothers, who are the third generation of business.

“Of course we have no income coming in,” recalls Okamura. “We’ve had a lot of anxious moments and don’t know when we’ll open.”

When it reopened, the business returned. The winding line along the storefront to the counter grew longer each day. The brothers relaxed in their morning ritual of making and shaping mochi, a pastry dough made from glutinous rice. Inside, they stuffed peanut butter, strawberry-raspberry-flavored red kidney beans. While most commercial mochi and mongo – pastries stuffed with red beans and fried like muffins – are machine-made, Okamura’s handcrafted version is perfect in imperfection.

“It sounds so delicious to us,” said Ben Nakago, who has worked in the store for the past 50 years. “It’s handcrafted, every one is different.”

Joe Rosato Jr.

A plate of mochi full of red beans sits in the display case at the Benqiodo Pastry Shop in Japantown, San Francisco.

The brothers have worked in the back room of a pastry shop since childhood. As the older brother, Ricky learned the trade first from his father and then mentored his younger brother. He arrives at the store at four in the morning to start the cooking which will finish as soon as you open the front door.

“I did it because it was a family business and my dad was happy,” said Ricky. “People are really looking forward to this stuff – mochi – I mean, they’re waiting in line!”

Joe Rosato Jr.

Bobby Okamura, right, and his brother Ricky Okamura work early in the morning stuffing mochi at Benkyudo Pastry Shop in Japantown, San Francisco.

Although the pastry business is attracting customers again – in-store dining is still closed. The Long Food Bureau, which dates back to 1959 when the business moved to its present location, served as a social hub where clients would gather for lunch or coffee and tea.

“Now there is no place for them to do this,” said Bobby. “I feel bad for them.”

The Japantown epidemic has placed itself at the edge of a cultural crossroads. There are more than two hundred Japanese companies in a pair of indoor malls that have remained closed for months during the pandemic – leaving these companies without the option of transporting on the sidewalk. Large companies owning malls are still claiming store rent. Nakago worries that many of these companies will not return.

“If Japantown, as it is now, loses that rule with respect to the line of businesses and shops that are the economic lifeblood of this community, then that community will disappear,” said Nakago.

The brothers have been vague about published reports that they are planning to retire at the end of the year and are looking for someone to buy the company. They insist that even while locking down, they have never considered shutting down permanently.

Regardless of whether or not the reports are true, the brothers come to work just as they spent their entire lives, continue to stand across a table of each other, handcraft pastries that attract loyal followers, and mix mochi in the same stone bowl their grandfather used in 1906.

“For me, this comes and sees the customers,” said Bobby, above the noise of the fans and the ovens. “And then they get mochi and see the smile on their face – it makes me happy.”

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