Ginbura Hyakunen

Ginza×Ginbura Hyakunen Vol.27

Typographer in Kobikicho

Typographer in Kobikicho  Walking down the street on the side of the Kabukiza Theater toward Kyobashi, just after passing by Magazine House, you can find old buildings here and there. Among the Italian and French restaurants that have increased in this neighborhood is a small printing shop w...

Ginza×Ginbura Hyakunen Vol.26

The King of Mingei on Nishiginza-dori

 Walking towards Shinbashi along Nishiginza (Sotobori)-dori, you can find an old Mingei store with a sign that says “TAKUMI” as you enter the 8-chome block. I had always vaguely imagined that it had originally opened for foreign tourists around the Tokyo Olympics, just like the International Arc...

Ginza×Ginbura Hyakunen Vol.25

To Hachimaki Okada with hopes for the restoration of Ginza

I believe it was in the 1980s that I learned about “Hachimaki Okada.” I had left the company that I had worked five years for to become a freelance writer. I was fortunate to have a steady flow of work and had published two or three books. My first visit to the restaurant must have been with an ...

Ginza×Ginbura Hyakunen Vol.24

The man who built the San-Ai building

  The Ginza 4-chome intersection is home to many symbolic buildings, including Wako. The cylinder-shaped “San-Ai” building standing on the northeast corner is also an symbolic component of Ginza’s townscape. While its history is not as old as the second Wako (K. Hattori clock store) building bu...

Ginza×Ginbura Hyakunen Vol.22

The Centennial of the Ginza Street Association

Every town in Japan has a local merchants’ association and Ginza, being no exception, is home to theGinza Street Association, established in 1919 (Taisho 8). If I were to refer to it as the first or pioneer of merchants’ associations, I would probably receive comments from other associations claim...

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