Tasaka Guri-Guri

Tasaka Guri-Guri is a family-run dessert shop in Kahului on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Its signature product, also called guri-guri, is a distinctive sherbet made from a closely guarded family recipe. The dessert is generally associated with a mixture of flavored juices, guava juice, lemon-lime soda, and condensed milk, and is sold in two traditional flavors: pineapple and strawberry. The recipe has remained within the Tasaka family for more than a century, making the shop as much a local institution as a food retailer. The business traces its origins to Jokichi Tasaka, who first prepared the dessert in Japan in the early 1900s. He reportedly called it “goodie-goodie,” a reference to something good to eat. After Jokichi’s son, Gunji Tasaka, migrated to the United States and continued the family business, the name evolved into “guri-guri.” The change was connected to the difficulty some older Japanese customers had pronouncing the original English-derived name. The repeated syllables became the enduring name of both the dessert and the shop. The Tasaka family’s retail history on Maui includes several locations. The business began with a store in Kahului, moved to Wailuku for approximately one year, and later returned to Kahului. It operated for several decades at the former Kahului Shopping Center before relocating to Maui Mall, where it has been based since 1973. This continuity has tied the brand closely to Maui’s local food culture and to generations of residents and visitors seeking the same simple, chilled dessert. In the early 2000s, knowledge of the secret recipe was reported to be held by retired family member Henry Tasaka and his daughters Gail and Cindy Tasaka, who took over the family business. The family’s control of the recipe illustrates the brand’s small-scale, heritage-based operating model: rather than expanding into a packaged national product, Tasaka Guri-Guri has remained centered on preparation and sale through its Maui shop. The brand received public recognition in 2009 from the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, which honored it as one of five local businesses that had endured over time and become an inspiring success story. Tasaka Guri-Guri’s appeal rests on continuity, local identity, and a product that is difficult to separate from its place of origin. Its known operating footprint is local rather than international, and publicly available reference material does not identify a corporate parent, public listing, packaged retail division, or official website.

Tasaka Guri-Guri’s history begins with Jokichi Tasaka, who made the dessert now known as guri-guri while living in Japan in the early 1900s. The original name was reportedly “goodie-goodie,” describing the dessert as something good to eat. The product and its name later changed in the context of the Tasaka family’s migration to the United States. Jokichi’s son, Gunji Tasaka, continued the family business after moving to the United States. Gunji began using the name “guri-guri,” reportedly because the older Japanese customers he served found the original name difficult to pronounce. The new name was shorter, repetitive, and easier to say, and it ultimately became the established identity of the shop and its signature sherbet. The family business developed as a Maui retail operation. It first had a store in Kahului, then moved to Wailuku for about a year before returning to Kahului. The business subsequently operated for a number of decades at the former Kahului Shopping Center. In 1973, it moved to Maui Mall in Kahului, its documented long-term location. Guri-guri is made from a family recipe whose typical ingredients include flavored juices, guava juice, lemon-lime soda, and condensed milk. Tasaka Guri-Guri is associated with two flavors, pineapple and strawberry. The exact recipe has been treated as a trade secret for more than a century. In the early 2000s, recipe knowledge was reported to rest with retired family member Henry Tasaka and his daughters Gail and Cindy Tasaka, who assumed responsibility for the family business. The shop’s endurance was formally acknowledged in 2009, when the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii honored Tasaka Guri-Guri as one of five local businesses that had survived over time and become an inspiring success story. Its history is therefore defined less by corporate expansion than by intergenerational continuity, a stable Maui location, and preservation of a specialized local dessert tradition.

• 2009

  Recognized by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

  [1]Tasaka Guri-Gurien.wikipedia.org

  The shop is honored as one of five local businesses recognized for longevity and an inspiring record of success.

• 1973

  Tasaka Guri-Guri moves to Maui Mall

  [1]Tasaka Guri-Gurien.wikipedia.org

  After operating in Kahului and briefly in Wailuku, the business relocates to Maui Mall in Kahului, where it has remained according to the reference material.

• Jokichi Tasaka develops the original dessert in Japan

  [1]Tasaka Guri-Gurien.wikipedia.org

  Jokichi Tasaka begins making the dessert that later becomes known as guri-guri and initially calls it “goodie-goodie.” The available source places this development in the early 1900s but does not provide an exact year.

• The name changes to guri-guri

  [1]Tasaka Guri-Gurien.wikipedia.org

  Gunji Tasaka adopts the name “guri-guri” after continuing the family business in the United States, replacing the earlier name used by his father.

A heritage Maui dessert shop centered on a family recipe, local continuity, and a distinctive house-made sherbet.

• Frozen dessert

  Guri-guri sherbet

  The shop’s signature sherbet is made from a family recipe generally described as combining flavored juices, guava juice, lemon-lime soda, and condensed milk. The exact formulation is kept secret. The established flavors are pineapple and strawberry, and the dessert is prepared and sold through the Tasaka family’s Maui shop.

• 2009

  Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii honors Tasaka Guri-Guri as a longstanding local business[1]Tasaka Guri-Gurien.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Tasaka Guri-Guri was recognized as one of five local businesses that had stood the test of time and become an inspiring story of success.

1. 1Tasaka Guri-Gurien.wikipedia.org