Vol. 2 Masterpieces from shops founded in the Edo, Meiji and Taisho eras

Guide: Tomomi Nagayama　　Text: Fumihiro Tomonaga (President Inc.)　　Photograph: Kentaro Kase

Nihonbashi has always been my favorite town. It’s been almost 20 years since I moved here. If you ask me why I’m drawn to Nihonbashi, the answer is probably because I can find so many authentic things there. I particularly frequent department stores like Takashimaya for shopping and tea, and I try to visit long-established stores as much as possible. I think that the sensibilities I have cultivated through what I have seen and heard in Nihonbashi are of great help to me in my current work.

As a resident of Nihonbashi, I have selected gifts that I have personally determined to be authentic. Authenticity does not necessarily equal tradition, but it is true that long-established stores with a long history offer many authentic products. I will introduce some modest yet deeply appealing products from stores unique to Nihonbashi that have their roots in three different periods: Edo, Meiji, and Taisho. Because of the nature of my job, I am often initially attracted by appearance, but the products I will be introducing are of course exquisite in content as well. These are all masterpieces that will not disappoint the recipient and are sure to please connoisseurs with plenty of side stories to tell.

Let’s start with ROJI Nihonbashi, which offers products from Kokubu Group Corp. Speaking of Kokubu, I still remember the canned pineapple with a picture of yellow flesh printed on a blue background that I ate as a child. The fourth Kanbee Kokubu opened a store under the name Daikokuya in Nihonbashi-honcho, Edo. I was surprised to learn that when it was founded, it dealt in kimonos and also brewed soy sauce. In 1880, it withdrew from soy sauce brewing and started a food wholesale business, which it continues to this day. In 2011, Kokubu opened a select shop on the first floor of its headquarters called ROJI Nihonbashi.

The compact but open store has three glass walls offers many foods that Kokubu is proud of. Recently, the Kantsuma series, whose catchphrase is “Canned foods edible as they are,” has become popular. I actually use it at home. However, the first thing I would like to introduce as a gift is Nihonbashi-zuke. The pickle is now bottled, but when I first bought it, it was canned with the same design. The original painting of Nihonbashi with the paulownia seal registered as a trademark in the Meiji period was very classical and beautiful. It is like a fukujin-zuke for adults, not overly sweet. Rather than being a side dish for curry, this is perfect as a snack to go with alcohol or as a pickled dish to accompany rice.

The next products I would like to recommend are amanatto and nori senbei (rice cracker with dried laver seaweed), both from Nihonbashi Kabou brand’s Kirin’s Wings series. This winged kirin statue, which also gave name to a novel by Keigo Higashino, was placed in the center of Nihonbashi in 1911 as a guardian deity for travelers passing through the base of Japan’s roads (in fact, four lions were placed at the four corners!). This series, which bears this name, is a premium product group that brings together famous items from Nihonbashi, teamed up with long-established businesses that were founded in Nihonbashi. The amanatto was jointly developed with Eitaro, and the nori senbei was jointly developed with Yamamoto Noriten.

My favorites are the three-kind assortment of Nihonbashi Amanatto with its cute, complex polygonal outer box, and the Nihonbashi Nori Senbei assortment, which highlights the fragrant aroma of seaweed. If you pay for the box (JPY 100-300), you can freely combine the products in the store to your liking, so it’s very useful for choosing a gift for someone with particular tastes. In addition to the aforementioned Kantsuma, they also offer a wide selection of alcoholic drinks, such as wine, so you can buy not only gifts but also things you like for your home, your girlfriend, or for yourself on the Shinkansen on the way back from a business trip, so it’s really killing three or four birds with one stone. Further back in the store, a rest area overlooking the river is available. It’s a store with a reliable selection that’s well worth a visit first.

Next is Okashi Tsukasa Tokiwagi, a Japanese confectionery, founded in 1910. This is a small shop that is not on the main street and is easy to overlook. It is located just after crossing the Edobashi 1-chome intersection on Eitaidori towards Kayaba-cho and turning left just before the Shuto Expressway. I love its modest appearance. When purchasing sweets, customers order through a zauri individual sales service, looking at samples in a three-tiered lacquered box. This, too, is elegant and feels like a small ritual, which makes my heart flutter.

When I was younger, I preferred Western sweets, but recently I’ve been gradually leaning towards Japanese sweets. I prefer smooth bean paste, which stands out for its refined bean paste, rather than smashed bean paste, so when I first tried the two types of smooth bean paste at Tokiwagi, Kuromanju and Gyuhi, I almost fainted from how delicious they were (lol). The delicate and refined taste exceeds your imagination. You’ll be surprised at the gap between the modest design and the outstanding taste.

Currently, the third owner, Soichiro Mori, makes them by hand alone, starting from 3 a.m. (sometimes from 2 a.m.). The owner’s wife, always kind and helpful, serves customers. I love receiving the products that the wife has boxed and wrapped, and finally tied up in a neat line with string as it makes me feel refreshed.

As the shop mainly specializes in premium Japanese fresh sweets, they offer over 100 varieties in their repertoire, and the selection changes greatly depending on the season. I recommend its standard sweets Kuromanju and Monaka, and in the summer Mizuyokan and Mizu no Tsuki. And although unfortunately they don’t make them during summer, I also recommend the famous sweet Wakamurasaki you definitely can’t miss. Faithful to tradition, the products of this long-established store that has inherited and honed its techniques have a dignified presence without being particularly eccentric. When giving a gift, it would be even more appreciated if you could share some little side stories about the store, such as how to order or the wooden sign propped up inside the store from when the store first opened.

Finally, I will introduce an unknown gem offered by Nihonbashi Otakou Main Branch, a famous restaurant that is one of the best in Japan when it comes to oden. It’s not actually an oden ingredient, but a can itself. Kou Ota, the founder of Otakou, is originally from Tochigi Prefecture. After moving to Kobe with her husband, she opened a restaurant in Nihonbashi in 1923, when many restaurants were damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake. After moving to Ginza, the restaurant changed its name to “Otakou” and moved to its current location in Nihonbashi in 2002 due to urban development (temporarily closed during the war). This is the only shop in Tokyo carrying on the tradition passed down from Tefu Nakamura, a friend and right-hand person of Kou who reopened the shop after the war, and his apprentice Tatsuo Tanaka.

I’ve never actually bought the Oden Can, but I’ve seen it in the shop before and I was really drawn to them. Above all, the can with a handle is adorable, and the red and orange color scheme is appealing. When I spoke to Yasushi Nakamura, he told me that previously the base red was a little darker, and the handles were a different color. The color of the shop became what as it was after moving to Nihonbashi. Even now, customers sometimes bring cans with the old color to the shop, which makes them very happy (I want that rare one). I also learned that all of the characters of “Otakou” were handwritten by craftsmen, so no two are exactly alike. As you’d expect from a long-established store, the flavor is infused even in the smallest items.

This shop is close to Tokyo Station, offering a wide variety of snacks other than oden. My recommended way to visit is to pop in as soon as the shop opens before leaving Tokyo (it’s difficult to get through on the phone and make a reservation) and indulge in all sorts of delicious treats that bring back fond memories. While you’re there, they’ll pack your favorite toppings into an oden can, and you can pick them up as you leave. Carrying that can home with you (they can even provide you with a paper bag) is a lovely, nostalgic feeling.

Guide profile: Tomomi Nagayama
is a popular interior stylist living in Nihonbashi who works primarily for magazines such as Casa BRUTUS and &Premium. Recently she has been focusing on Japanese food and enjoys Nihonbashi cuisine by visiting sophisticated restaurants near her home.

ROJI Nihonbashi

Address

1-1-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku

Tel:

+81 (0)3-3276-4162

Business hours

11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (until 6 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays)

Regular holidays

Unscheduled

Website

http://www.roji-nhb.jp/