In the olden days, Ginza-dori was glamorous, lined with stalls every day.<\/h4>\n\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I came here today knowing I might hear some stories about the old Ginza that would surprise everyone. I heard that you were born and raised in Ginza.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- I was born in Fukagawa in 1930. My father originally ran a lumber shop. Then, in 1933, my father and mother opened the oden shop. I transferred to Taimei Elementary School in the second term of grade 1, just after the summer holidays.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Really?
There aren\u2019t so many people living in Ginza nowadays. How many students were there at Taimei Elementary School in those days?<\/dd>\n - Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- There were a lot of shopowners\u2019 kids at the time, so there were about 100 students per grade, with a total of about 600 students.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That many! There were quite a lot of kids, then.
Were there places to play?<\/dd>\n - Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Yes, plenty. One of my most memorable places was the Hachikan shrine on 8-chome. I used to play there all the time. It was demolished during the bubble period. I played in the schoolyard on the way home from school, and picture card shows came to the shrine grounds. Ginza was the downtown area back then.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That was the atmosphere on Ginza-dori?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- On no, Ginza-dori was different.
Kids were told that it wasn\u2019t a place for them to be running around.
There were willow trees, and beautiful people were walking around in their street clothes. My parents told me to walk home by the back alleys (laughs).<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That\u2019s enchanting.
Unfortunately, there are no signs of that at all anymore.<\/dd>\n - Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- You\u2019re right.
Now there is a highway running through Ginza, but it used to be all rivers.
My memories are of willow trees, promotional hot air balloons in the sky, streetcars, and rivers.<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Does that mean the highway runs where a river used to be?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Exactly. Sukiya-bashi and Shin-bashi are names of bridges, right? All those intersections had rivers running through them. We would go fishing and ride boats down the river.
Also there were the streetcars that ran through Ginza to Kanda and Shinagawa.<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Wow, the atmosphere must have been completely different.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- The biggest difference was the stalls that lined the streets every night.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That\u2019s surprising. It\u2019s just like a festival!<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Exactly! Stands lined the streets every day, just like a festival. Before New Years, we would go to the stalls to buy karuta cards or playing cards. I remember there were lines of people like Fuuten no Tora-san (=Tora-san, His Tender Love).<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- It sounds like you could enjoy the Ginza night differently than how we do now.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Now the streets get very lonely after 8 o\u2019clock, but in the olden days, the stalls stayed open past 9, and the area was very lively. Events were held three times a month behind Matsuya, and they sold inarizushi and yakisoba. It really was like a festival every day (laughs). I felt that it wouldn\u2019t have been Ginza otherwise.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_03_01.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_03_02.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nOden made by a professional has distinct qualities.<\/h4>\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Your shop has been here a long time. Do you have any regulars who have continued coming for years and years?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Yes, we have customers who have been coming for 40 or 50 years.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Wow, that\u2019s amazing! Was it difficult to learn all the work?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- My father never raised a hand against me, but he was pretty strict.
He would only teach me something once, never showing me something carefully again and again.<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Are you the same to the third generation?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- No, I\u2019m pretty easy on him (laugh). He is working hard to pass on his father\u2019s recipes. But, even so, it is certainly important to make it all by our hands professionally. Using machines can make food to a certain extent, but it has no personality. The distinct qualities of our products were different between my generation and the previous one, and also now with the third generation. This is a good thing.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Did you grow up eating oden at home from when you were a kid?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Yes, I did. I still often eat oden. When I\u2019m not well, I eat oden and it makes me feel better.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- At my home, when we make oden, we continue eating it for the next 3 or 4 days. It\u2019s healthy and it\u2019s easy for young kids to eat. Are there any distinctive differences between oden in the Kanto area and the Kansai area?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- They use different items. Whether the soup stock is stronger or weaker depends on the store, but you usually won\u2019t find hanpen or fish balls in the Kansai region. And in Shizuoka, they often use black hanpen. But in anywhere, oden is a common dish, and I think everyone eating out of the same pot suits Japanese people.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_03_03.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_03_04.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
\nI want Ginza to continue being dignified and beautiful.<\/h4>\n\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- How have you seen the transition of Ginza?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- After the war, we\u2019ve been receiving more and more female customers. In the past, female customers were hostesses or geisha, but the biggest change over the past 20 years is that we now have regular female office workers who come to our shop.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- A lot of women also come to my concerts.
In the future maybe only women will come (laughs).<\/dd>\n - Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Everything was shattered during the war. That reminds me of my clear memory that the clock tower of K. Hattori that is now Wako did not burn. It was used as a GHQ building, and I envied that food was brought there.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- What did you do during the war?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- If there are no ingredients, you can\u2019t run a business. We closed our business temporarily during the war. After having experienced a period where there were no food and supplies makes you feel that people nowadays lead rich and blessed lives.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Yes, I think you\u2019re right.
Lastly, could you tell us your thoughts on Ginza.<\/dd>\n\u00a5<\/p>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Within Ginza, Ginza-dori has been a dignified and beautiful street since long ago.
I would like it to be kept that way. Our shop is in a back alley just off the main street. If Ginza-dori is the trunk, these streets are like the leaves and branches. The trunk needs to be carefully maintained for forever.<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- The people walking around Ginza are also very classy.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Yes, I want it to be a place where fabulous people walk. I don\u2019t mean to tell you to dress up in nice clothes and walk through Ginza. I mean I want to have people with beautiful hearts walking around here.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I guess Ginza really is a special place to you.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Ginza is a wonderful area. When I come back from somewhere else and see the lanterns in Ginza, I feel a sense of relief. It\u2019s the best place in the world!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_03_05.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_03_06.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nThe next guest will be\u2026<\/h4>\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Could you tell us about the next guest?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- It\u2019s Shinji Hara, the fifth generation president of Ginza Yoitaya, a Japanese footwear shop that opened in 1877.
I think he will be the perfect guest for the first interview of the new year.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_03_07.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\nChisako Takashima<\/h4>\n
Violinist. Started playing the violin at age 6. After playing abroad, she moved her home base to Japan, and gives concerts all over the country. Although her current focus is on performing music, she also appears on TV and radio programs. Thanks to her much-loved personality, she is appearing in more and more venues.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I came here today knowing I might hear some stories about the old Ginza that would surprise everyone. I heard that you were born and raised in Ginza.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- I was born in Fukagawa in 1930. My father originally ran a lumber shop. Then, in 1933, my father and mother opened the oden shop. I transferred to Taimei Elementary School in the second term of grade 1, just after the summer holidays.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Really?
There aren\u2019t so many people living in Ginza nowadays. How many students were there at Taimei Elementary School in those days?<\/dd>\n - Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- There were a lot of shopowners\u2019 kids at the time, so there were about 100 students per grade, with a total of about 600 students.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That many! There were quite a lot of kids, then.
Were there places to play?<\/dd>\n - Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Yes, plenty. One of my most memorable places was the Hachikan shrine on 8-chome. I used to play there all the time. It was demolished during the bubble period. I played in the schoolyard on the way home from school, and picture card shows came to the shrine grounds. Ginza was the downtown area back then.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That was the atmosphere on Ginza-dori?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- On no, Ginza-dori was different.
Kids were told that it wasn\u2019t a place for them to be running around.
There were willow trees, and beautiful people were walking around in their street clothes. My parents told me to walk home by the back alleys (laughs).<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That\u2019s enchanting.
Unfortunately, there are no signs of that at all anymore.<\/dd>\n - Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- You\u2019re right.
Now there is a highway running through Ginza, but it used to be all rivers.
My memories are of willow trees, promotional hot air balloons in the sky, streetcars, and rivers.<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Does that mean the highway runs where a river used to be?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Exactly. Sukiya-bashi and Shin-bashi are names of bridges, right? All those intersections had rivers running through them. We would go fishing and ride boats down the river.
Also there were the streetcars that ran through Ginza to Kanda and Shinagawa.<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Wow, the atmosphere must have been completely different.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- The biggest difference was the stalls that lined the streets every night.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That\u2019s surprising. It\u2019s just like a festival!<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Exactly! Stands lined the streets every day, just like a festival. Before New Years, we would go to the stalls to buy karuta cards or playing cards. I remember there were lines of people like Fuuten no Tora-san (=Tora-san, His Tender Love).<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- It sounds like you could enjoy the Ginza night differently than how we do now.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Now the streets get very lonely after 8 o\u2019clock, but in the olden days, the stalls stayed open past 9, and the area was very lively. Events were held three times a month behind Matsuya, and they sold inarizushi and yakisoba. It really was like a festival every day (laughs). I felt that it wouldn\u2019t have been Ginza otherwise.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Oden made by a professional has distinct qualities.<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Your shop has been here a long time. Do you have any regulars who have continued coming for years and years?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Yes, we have customers who have been coming for 40 or 50 years.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Wow, that\u2019s amazing! Was it difficult to learn all the work?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- My father never raised a hand against me, but he was pretty strict.
He would only teach me something once, never showing me something carefully again and again.<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Are you the same to the third generation?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- No, I\u2019m pretty easy on him (laugh). He is working hard to pass on his father\u2019s recipes. But, even so, it is certainly important to make it all by our hands professionally. Using machines can make food to a certain extent, but it has no personality. The distinct qualities of our products were different between my generation and the previous one, and also now with the third generation. This is a good thing.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Did you grow up eating oden at home from when you were a kid?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Yes, I did. I still often eat oden. When I\u2019m not well, I eat oden and it makes me feel better.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- At my home, when we make oden, we continue eating it for the next 3 or 4 days. It\u2019s healthy and it\u2019s easy for young kids to eat. Are there any distinctive differences between oden in the Kanto area and the Kansai area?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- They use different items. Whether the soup stock is stronger or weaker depends on the store, but you usually won\u2019t find hanpen or fish balls in the Kansai region. And in Shizuoka, they often use black hanpen. But in anywhere, oden is a common dish, and I think everyone eating out of the same pot suits Japanese people.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\nI want Ginza to continue being dignified and beautiful.<\/h4>\n
\n- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- How have you seen the transition of Ginza?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- After the war, we\u2019ve been receiving more and more female customers. In the past, female customers were hostesses or geisha, but the biggest change over the past 20 years is that we now have regular female office workers who come to our shop.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- A lot of women also come to my concerts.
In the future maybe only women will come (laughs).<\/dd>\n - Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Everything was shattered during the war. That reminds me of my clear memory that the clock tower of K. Hattori that is now Wako did not burn. It was used as a GHQ building, and I envied that food was brought there.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- What did you do during the war?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- If there are no ingredients, you can\u2019t run a business. We closed our business temporarily during the war. After having experienced a period where there were no food and supplies makes you feel that people nowadays lead rich and blessed lives.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Yes, I think you\u2019re right.
Lastly, could you tell us your thoughts on Ginza.<\/dd>\n\u00a5<\/p>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Within Ginza, Ginza-dori has been a dignified and beautiful street since long ago.
I would like it to be kept that way. Our shop is in a back alley just off the main street. If Ginza-dori is the trunk, these streets are like the leaves and branches. The trunk needs to be carefully maintained for forever.<\/dd>\n - Takashima<\/dt>\n
- The people walking around Ginza are also very classy.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Yes, I want it to be a place where fabulous people walk. I don\u2019t mean to tell you to dress up in nice clothes and walk through Ginza. I mean I want to have people with beautiful hearts walking around here.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I guess Ginza really is a special place to you.<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- Ginza is a wonderful area. When I come back from somewhere else and see the lanterns in Ginza, I feel a sense of relief. It\u2019s the best place in the world!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
The next guest will be\u2026<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Could you tell us about the next guest?<\/dd>\n
- Ishihara<\/dt>\n
- It\u2019s Shinji Hara, the fifth generation president of Ginza Yoitaya, a Japanese footwear shop that opened in 1877.
I think he will be the perfect guest for the first interview of the new year.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/p>\n\nChisako Takashima<\/h4>\n
Violinist. Started playing the violin at age 6. After playing abroad, she moved her home base to Japan, and gives concerts all over the country. Although her current focus is on performing music, she also appears on TV and radio programs. Thanks to her much-loved personality, she is appearing in more and more venues.<\/p>\n