what a complete and comprehensive story of the street food in Japan @kocinka, I love to watch a variety show from japan where they play the recorded food competion about unique and traditional food from japan. from that show I found out exxactly like you said in this post.. they run the family food business and really interesting on how they make it.
Thank you for sharing your cullinary experience in japan and I hope some people might read and taste the delicious food like you did when they're in Japan.