In the Edo period, Ginza Daikokuya began as an egg shop.<\/h4>\n\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- When was the shop founded?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- It was founded in 1800, so this is our 213th year. I am the 8th generation president.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Has it always been in its current location in Ginza?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, it has always been here in Ginza, but it started out as an egg shop, then went on to become a dry food grocer\u2019s before my grandfather turned it into its current form as a bag shop. Story has it that it even supplied Edo castle when it was an egg shop.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Edo castle?! That\u2019s amazing! It gives you a real sense of history.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- If you go to the Edo Tokyo Museum, you can see a replica of Ginza 5-Chome during the early Meiji period, and it has the Daikokuya building. I think it was probably a katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) store at the time.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- So, even though Ginza Daikokuya is famous today as a specialty handbag shop, it had many forms before reaching this state.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- The shop ran short of supplies during the war, and the surrounding area all burned down, so the shop closed temporarily. It was difficult to get food ingredients then, so my grandfather thought about what he could sell in order to reopen the shop, and started a shop selling women\u2019s goods, the origin of its present form. It was a women\u2019s goods shop during my grandfather\u2019s time, then changed into a handbag shop under my father\u2019s management.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_01.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_02.jpg\")
<\/p>\nInterior of Ginza Daikokuya<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_03.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWe stay competitive by conveying detailed designs to craftspeople to make one-of-a-kind products.<\/h4>\n\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Ginza Daikokuya has always operated in Ginza. Do you maintain a certain awareness of it being in Ginza?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, we place importance on how to develop a uniqueness because of our location being in Ginza. There are many connoisseurs among customers in Ginza, and few customers simply buy whatever\u2019s trendy. Everyone firmly maintains their own preferences. In our shop\u2019s lineup as well, I make it my duty to always follow my own predilections and bring in items you can only get here.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Because there are so many shops in Ginza, it\u2019s all the more important to differentiate yourself. What bag styles are popular?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- One that remains a big hit is the tall and thin enamel bag. This is actually a style I designed myself. The interior is made with various fabrics from Northern Europe, and each bag has a different combination with the exterior enamel.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That\u2019s amazing that you designed this bag. Do you actually make bags yourself?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, I sometimes create simple pieces from designs. When making a request to wholesalers or bag makers, it is easier to convey the image by forming an actual piece to give them as opposed to just written designs. I myself actually studied at a craftsperson training school in Okachimachi for two years about 10 years ago.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That is wonderful. Then you must be able to understand the craftsperson\u2019s position when talking with them.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, perhaps. I also have my own leather sewing machine and leather flattening machine, so I use them to make prototypes to give to the bag makers.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- You\u2019re very skilled. I am absolutely terrible at sewing, so my husband sewed the bag our son needed for kindergarten.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- At our home as well, I\u2019m the one that makes our son\u2019s bags and kindergarten smocks. So I guess we\u2019re the same (laughs)!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_04.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_05.jpg\")
<\/p>\nEnamel bags designed by Anzai<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\nTourists, foreigners, regulars\u2026 Customers on Ginza Chuo-dori are very wide-ranging.<\/h4>\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- How is your relationship with your customers? Because of its location, I assume you must have a lot of walk-in customers.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, exactly. Our shop is designed to be accessible to shoppers who are not necessarily out looking for a so-called \u2018upscale\u2019 shop, but just want to pop in while strolling around looking for souvenirs, so we do not differentiate between regulars and walk-ins. Even so, we have been around a long time, so I am grateful to say that we have many customers from long ago that continue shopping here.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Are there a lot of foreign customers now?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes. Not as many as there were at one point, but I sense that the number of foreign customers is growing each year.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Is there a type of bag design that is particularly popular with foreign customers?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Oddly enough, I\u2019m not sure why, but foreigners, whether Chinese or Westerner, tend to choose the same types of bags that Japanese customers choose.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That\u2019s surprising. I thought that foreigners liked more flashy colors.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Well, in that sense, yes, I think Japanese people have come to use more colors. About ten years ago, it was either black or brown. Now there are more color variations, like orange, red and purple, and there is more variation in what is hot-selling.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I see, so Japanese preferences are approaching those of the rest of the world.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_06.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_07.jpg\")
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nAs a past member of the Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association, I want to make Ginza a comfortable place to be.<\/h4>\n\n\n- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I understand that you acted as president of the Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association in Ginza. What type of association is it?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- The Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association is a group for merchants and building owners in Ginza. It\u2019s a junior group, with active members being 40 or younger, and is made up of all sorts of people from various businesses and regions.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Was it hard work being president?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, well, sometimes (laughs). But more than that, I made many new horizontal ties in Ginza. I am very glad I joined. I think your future life in Ginza will be very different depending on whether or not you were in the Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association. I think it\u2019s a wonderful group for revitalizing the district, because of it being for younger people up to 40 years of age.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- As a past member of the Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association, how do you want to shape Ginza for the future?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- I think it\u2019s most important for each store to maintain its appeal, so, first of all, all of us, including myself, need to work our hardest on our own businesses. And then, to enable this, we need to develop Ginza into a comfortable place to be, by beautifully renewing the street side greenery and creating spaces for people to take a breather.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_08.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
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- It\u2019s Hozu Yamamoto, president of Tokyo Gallery. He\u2019s involved in many art-related activities, so he can tell you easy-to-follow stories about art. I\u2019m sure he will make you see art in a new light.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n
![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Connect_18_09.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
- When was the shop founded?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- It was founded in 1800, so this is our 213th year. I am the 8th generation president.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Has it always been in its current location in Ginza?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, it has always been here in Ginza, but it started out as an egg shop, then went on to become a dry food grocer\u2019s before my grandfather turned it into its current form as a bag shop. Story has it that it even supplied Edo castle when it was an egg shop.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Edo castle?! That\u2019s amazing! It gives you a real sense of history.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- If you go to the Edo Tokyo Museum, you can see a replica of Ginza 5-Chome during the early Meiji period, and it has the Daikokuya building. I think it was probably a katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) store at the time.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- So, even though Ginza Daikokuya is famous today as a specialty handbag shop, it had many forms before reaching this state.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- The shop ran short of supplies during the war, and the surrounding area all burned down, so the shop closed temporarily. It was difficult to get food ingredients then, so my grandfather thought about what he could sell in order to reopen the shop, and started a shop selling women\u2019s goods, the origin of its present form. It was a women\u2019s goods shop during my grandfather\u2019s time, then changed into a handbag shop under my father\u2019s management.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\n
Interior of Ginza Daikokuya<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nWe stay competitive by conveying detailed designs to craftspeople to make one-of-a-kind products.<\/h4>\n
\n- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Ginza Daikokuya has always operated in Ginza. Do you maintain a certain awareness of it being in Ginza?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, we place importance on how to develop a uniqueness because of our location being in Ginza. There are many connoisseurs among customers in Ginza, and few customers simply buy whatever\u2019s trendy. Everyone firmly maintains their own preferences. In our shop\u2019s lineup as well, I make it my duty to always follow my own predilections and bring in items you can only get here.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Because there are so many shops in Ginza, it\u2019s all the more important to differentiate yourself. What bag styles are popular?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- One that remains a big hit is the tall and thin enamel bag. This is actually a style I designed myself. The interior is made with various fabrics from Northern Europe, and each bag has a different combination with the exterior enamel.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That\u2019s amazing that you designed this bag. Do you actually make bags yourself?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, I sometimes create simple pieces from designs. When making a request to wholesalers or bag makers, it is easier to convey the image by forming an actual piece to give them as opposed to just written designs. I myself actually studied at a craftsperson training school in Okachimachi for two years about 10 years ago.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That is wonderful. Then you must be able to understand the craftsperson\u2019s position when talking with them.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, perhaps. I also have my own leather sewing machine and leather flattening machine, so I use them to make prototypes to give to the bag makers.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- You\u2019re very skilled. I am absolutely terrible at sewing, so my husband sewed the bag our son needed for kindergarten.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- At our home as well, I\u2019m the one that makes our son\u2019s bags and kindergarten smocks. So I guess we\u2019re the same (laughs)!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/p>\n
Enamel bags designed by Anzai<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
\nTourists, foreigners, regulars\u2026 Customers on Ginza Chuo-dori are very wide-ranging.<\/h4>\n
- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- How is your relationship with your customers? Because of its location, I assume you must have a lot of walk-in customers.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, exactly. Our shop is designed to be accessible to shoppers who are not necessarily out looking for a so-called \u2018upscale\u2019 shop, but just want to pop in while strolling around looking for souvenirs, so we do not differentiate between regulars and walk-ins. Even so, we have been around a long time, so I am grateful to say that we have many customers from long ago that continue shopping here.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Are there a lot of foreign customers now?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes. Not as many as there were at one point, but I sense that the number of foreign customers is growing each year.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Is there a type of bag design that is particularly popular with foreign customers?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Oddly enough, I\u2019m not sure why, but foreigners, whether Chinese or Westerner, tend to choose the same types of bags that Japanese customers choose.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- That\u2019s surprising. I thought that foreigners liked more flashy colors.<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Well, in that sense, yes, I think Japanese people have come to use more colors. About ten years ago, it was either black or brown. Now there are more color variations, like orange, red and purple, and there is more variation in what is hot-selling.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I see, so Japanese preferences are approaching those of the rest of the world.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
As a past member of the Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association, I want to make Ginza a comfortable place to be.<\/h4>\n
\n- \n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- I understand that you acted as president of the Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association in Ginza. What type of association is it?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- The Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association is a group for merchants and building owners in Ginza. It\u2019s a junior group, with active members being 40 or younger, and is made up of all sorts of people from various businesses and regions.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- Was it hard work being president?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- Yes, well, sometimes (laughs). But more than that, I made many new horizontal ties in Ginza. I am very glad I joined. I think your future life in Ginza will be very different depending on whether or not you were in the Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association. I think it\u2019s a wonderful group for revitalizing the district, because of it being for younger people up to 40 years of age.<\/dd>\n
- Takashima<\/dt>\n
- As a past member of the Ginza Merchant\u2019s Association, how do you want to shape Ginza for the future?<\/dd>\n
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- I think it\u2019s most important for each store to maintain its appeal, so, first of all, all of us, including myself, need to work our hardest on our own businesses. And then, to enable this, we need to develop Ginza into a comfortable place to be, by beautifully renewing the street side greenery and creating spaces for people to take a breather.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\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
- Anzai<\/dt>\n
- It\u2019s Hozu Yamamoto, president of Tokyo Gallery. He\u2019s involved in many art-related activities, so he can tell you easy-to-follow stories about art. I\u2019m sure he will make you see art in a new light.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/p>\n\n
Chisako 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