Long-established stores’ skills that we want to show to foreign visitors

Specializing in cutlery and plastering tools, such as trowels, Nishikan-Honten has been operating in Kyobashi for over 150 years. The store has a broad selection of knives, cutlery and cooking utensils. And at the back of the store it has an impressive range of trowels on display. In a corner of the store there is also a station for sharpening knives. Here the blades of all the knives sold by the store are sharpened, ensuring they are nice and sharp for sale. Japanese knives are renowned overseas for their razor sharpness and outstanding quality, and the store provides a lineup of carefully selected knives made by skilled artisans, including sashimi knives and kitchen carvers.

Located in Kyobashi—an area characterized by its location sandwiched between Ginza and Nihonbashi—the store is visited by curious tourists as well as businesspeople. Among the store’s repeat customers from overseas are professional chefs, and the knives with ripple patterns on the blade, like traditional Japanese swords, are popular. The store also provides a knife-sharpening service for a fee.

Address: 1-1-10 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: +81 (0)3-3281-2387
Business hours: [Monday to Friday] 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; [Saturdays] 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Regular holidays: Sundays and public holidays

Established in 1764 in Nihonbashi-koamicho, Yamagataya Noriten relocated to Kugidana (present-day Muromachi 1-chome) before finally moving to its current location in Kyobashi. Although the store’s core product is seaweed, it also sells green tea. At the time Yamagataya Noriten was established, many stores sold both seaweed and green tea because both products dislike humidity and they require similar conditions for their preservation. The conditions for delicious nori seaweed are a black color, glossy surface, and a melt-in-the mouth soft texture. Utilizing the wealth of experience that only a long-established store has, Yamagataya Noriten continues to produce high-quality, delicious seaweed that also make highly welcome congratulatory gifts.

The store sells domestically produced seaweed from mainly Ariake but also Miyagi, Chiba, and Aichi. The season for harvesting seaweed is winter, but due to warm winters in recent years, the amount of domestically produced seaweed has been declining. Seasoned seaweed is popular among foreign visitors to the store. The seaweed tsukudani (seaweed boiled in sweetened soy sauce) is also renowned as an excellent souvenir.

Address: 2-6-21 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: +81 (0)3-3561-0171
Business hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Regular holidays: Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays

Founded in 1690, Yamamotoyama is a store so famous that everyone has heard of it, but its achievement in spreading sencha green tea to Edo is not well known.

During the Edo period, when dancha (brick tea) was the mainstream tea in Japan, the fourth head of Yamamotoyama was the first to begin selling sencha green tea, which had been invented by Nagatani Soen. Moreover, it was the sixth head of Yamamotoyama that invented gyokuro (refined green tea). Thus, this store has contributed greatly to the development of today’s Japanese green tea.

Among the store’s products, tea canisters decorated with pictures of tea-picking girls and tea canisters embossed with woodblock print-style pictures are popular with overseas visitors because of their “Japaneseness.” Inside the store there is also a café space where customers can relax and enjoy some tea and traditional Japanese-style sweets. This welcome space exudes a sense of thoughtfulness that the store hopes customers will take a moment to rest and drink tea in a district bustling with shoppers.

Address: 2-10-2 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: +81 (0)3-3281-0010
Business hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Regular holidays:  None

Established in 1712, Kokubu Group Corporation began as a soy sauce seller in Nihonbashi, later becoming a food wholesaler. As a Kokubu directly managed store, Roji Nihonbashi sells the company’s own products, including the Kantsuma canned food series that sparked the recent canned food boom. The store was opened on the first floor of the Kokubu headquarters building in 2011 as a place where Kokubu can connect directly with consumers.

The instant miso soup products bearing the names of various Japanese prefectures, such as Hokkaido and Kyoto, incorporate the characteristics of each region. These are very popular with overseas visitors, who buy these products in bulk as souvenirs.

Alongside the canned foods lining the store’s shelves are packets of Sozai Gohan no Moto pre-prepared ingredient mixes for making seasoned rice featuring foods carefully selected by production area, such as Fukuoka-produced bamboo shoots and Shiga-produced sweetfish. These products are renowned for how easily anyone can use them. At the back of the store is a bench where customers can take a break from shopping and rest.

Address: 1F Kokubu Building, 1-1-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: +81 (0)3-3276-4162
Business hours: [Monday to Friday] 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. [Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays] 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Regular holidays: Non-scheduled holiday

TEXT: Mari Nomura

Reprinted from Tokyo-jin July 2016 extra edition