Vol. 9 Japanese haute cuisine: KAPPOU SHIMAMURA

Down an alley close by the Yaesu Exit of Tokyo Station, there is an old town-style kappou (traditional Japanese kaiseki course) restaurant. This is Shimamura, which was established in Nihonbashi-Himonocho as a catering business in 1850. Because of the character of the location, the business was required to provide cuisine with a quality of taste befitting a samurai residence or major establishment. The restaurant grew popular, gaining fame through the phrase “Yaozen [a renowned restaurant] to finish, Shimamura for catering” and eventually come to serve as caterer to Edo Castle’s Nishinomaru Palace. The shogun at that time was the 12th Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyoshi.

Following the restoration of imperial rule in 1867 and subsequent relocation of the Tokugawa family to Sumpu Castle, Shimamura Zenkichi I and II accompanied the Tokugawa family out of Tokyo and served as their head clerk. The Shimamura business was passed on to the restaurant’s head chef, Kato, who carried on both the Zenkichi name and Shimamura’s reputation. The business’s current president, Kazuo Kato, is the eighth Kato generation to run Shimamura.

The Oedo Restaurant Rankings that has remained on display in the restaurant since the Edo period, shows that Shimamura was assigned the highest rank of Kanjinmoto. From the Meiji period (1868–1912) onwards, the restaurant continued to be visited by elder statesmen, such as Ito Hirofumi, Inoue Kaoru, and Yamagata Aritomo, as well as numerous writers, such as Kubota Mantaro and Shishi Bunroku. A young Nagai Kafu wrote in his journal: “I cannot wait until I am able to eat lunch at Shimamura.”

Recalls Kazuo: “This neighborhood was once a pleasure district called Himonocho, and there were many geisha performers. Famous tokiwazu (style of narrative music used for kabuki dances) and kouta (traditional ballad with samisen accompaniment) masters lived nearby. My father, Yoshio Kato, was the seventh head of the business, but he was also quite active as a kiyomoto (style of narrative music used for kabuki dances) performer. He wore two hats—as a restaurateur, and as a tayu (narrator) of the Kiyomoto school of kabuki music.”

The restaurant’s seventh head was quite a popular tayu, and it is said that whenever there was a dance show in the theater or performance hall of the Shirokiya department store, which stood where Coredo Nihonbashi stands today, or other local venues, he would perform as an accompanist and then slip back to the restaurant during intervals to prepare meals.

Says Kazuo: “It feels a bit awkward to talk about my own mother, but Suzuko, the wife of the business’s seventh head, was beautiful and stylish, as well as extremely knowledgeable. As the restaurant’s hostess, she supported my father with her formidable talents. My three older sisters helped out in the restaurant, too, which drew good publicity and attracted customers.”

After graduating from university, Kazuo decided that he would carry on the family restaurant business. After training at a long-established traditional Japanese restaurant in Osaka for five years and at other restaurant around Tokyo for several more years, he returned to Shimamura. With his service-minded personality, Kazuo served for many years as the PTA president and has also served for many years as chairman of the Nihonbashi Six-District Federation Youth Division (commonly known as the “Nihachikai”) comprising the six Nihonbashi and three Yaesu neighborhood associations, working to invigorate the local area.

Since around 1989, Shimamura has been serving a “Last Days of the Tokugawa Shogunate Course” on Saturdays only as a means of drawing people to Nihonbashi on the weekends.

Explains Kazuo: “On weekdays the Nihonbashi neighborhood is bustling with business people, but there are not many people around on the weekends. Hearing my friends in the Nihachikai devising measures to invigorate the area, I decided that I had to do something myself, and so from our menu list, which has been passed down over generations since the restaurant’s establishment in the Edo period, I selected especially popular dishes, such as the Quail Bowl and Simmered Sea Bream Head, and created a special kaiseki course. The price is so low we barely make a profit, but this course is hugely popular with people going for a stroll around town and girls’ lunches/parties.”

A lot of time and effort goes into preparing these course meals using cooking methods passed down from the Edo period. The dishes have an unexpectedly mild flavor, and the servings are generous.

Today, there are redevelopment projects in progress all around the Nihonbashi neighborhood. It is not beyond imagination that Shimamura will become part of a huge skyscraper block in the not-too-distant future. Figuring out how to maintain the Shimamura taste and pass the restaurant on to the next generation are challenges for Kazuo under these circumstances.

He says: “Operating a restaurant is even more difficult than the people around you think.” The most important thing is hospitality, consideration for people’s hearts. You have to understand what it is that customers’ desire, and on top of that you also have to put yourself in employees’ shoes. ‘Show them, tell them, let them try, and give them compliments or they will not do anything.’ These words of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku are engraved on my heart, and I endeavor to adhere to them in my everyday activities.”

Kazuo is supported by his second son, Hitoshi and eldest daughter Ria. After training in Osaka and Australia, Hitoshi is now working in Shimamura’s kitchen, pursuing the traditional flavors day after day. Ria plays a variety of role as the restaurant’s “poster girl” hostess, devoting herself to ensuring the comfort of both customers and staff.

Kazuo salutes the next generation with these words: “The sixth head of Shimamura, Takesaburo, famously said: ‘A one-sho masu (square wooden measuring cup) can only hold one sho, and so do not aim too high; instead, do your best to create delicious cuisine.’ Adopting these words as the family motto, I want the ninth head of our business to also do his best without aiming too high.”

Kappou Shimamura
Address: 1-8-6 Yaesu, Chuo City
Tel: +81 (0)3-3271-9963
Business hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.  4:30 to 10:30 p.m. (LO 10 p.m.)
Regular holidays: Sundays and public holidays
Website:　http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g202500/

TEXT: Yuko Kanamaru, Photograph: Shigeki Watanabe
Reprinted from Tokyo-jin July 2016 extra edition