page_title: Hiyayakko
section_title: History and background
hierarchical_section_title: Hiyayakko / History and background
context_page_description: Hiyayakko is a Japanese dish made with chilled tofu and toppings.
context_section_description: Hiyayakko is also known as hiyakko or yakko-dōfu. Hiya means cold, and yakko refers to the servants of samurai during the Edo period in Japan. They wore a vest on which the "nail-puller crest" was attached, on the shoulders; therefore, cutting something (e.g. tofu) into cubes was called "cutting into yakko" (奴に切る yakko ni kiru). "Hiyakkoi" or "hyakkoi", the Tokyo dialectal term equivalent to the standard Japanese "hiyayaka" (冷ややか), is also a possible etymology.
  In the Tofu Hyakuchin, it is said that hiyayakko is so well known that it needs no introduction.
  In haiku, hiyayakko is a season word for summer.  This is because tofu is often enjoyed cold in the summer, warm and boiled in a broth in the winter.
caption: "nail-puller crest" (釘抜紋, Kuginuki mon)