\n
\n![\"\u4e09\u4e01\u76ee\u5e97\u8217\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Column_06_01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nStore in Ginza 3-chome<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n![\"\u9326\u7d75\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Column_06_02.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nNisiki-e (color woodblock prints)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u3000SAEGUSA was often introduced as a trendy spot in guides to Ginza written in the beginning of the Showa (1926-1989) period when \u201cGinbura\u201d was popular among \u201cMOBO (Modern Boys)\u201d and \u201cMOGA (Modern Girls).\u201d
\n\u201cSaegusa: One or two Packards or Messerschmitts are constantly parked in front of the store but it is very quiet inside. Stop by if you are interested in exceptionally high-quality and luxurious accessories.\u201d
\n\u3000This cynical review of the store from a lower-class perspective is found in Shinban Dai-Tokyo Annai (New guide to greater Tokyo) written by modernologist, Wajiro Kon. In Ginza Saiken (A detailed look at Ginza), a \u201ctextbook\u201d on the popular culture of Ginza, Kosei Ando writes\u3002
\n\u201cGinza is a town for young people. Saegusa\u2019s smiling decorated window, Senbikiya\u2019s fruit, TANSAN (cider) with a straw and the gathering taxis are all reaching out to the young people.\u201d
\n\u3000SAEGUSA used sell not only children\u2019s clothing but Western clothing and accessories in general. A \u201cdecorated window\u201d is a word that was used for shop windows. The store must have been a popular spot for window shopping, one of the stereotype activities of a Ginbura stroller.
\n\u3000SAEGUSA has a reference room where they preserve corporate material and old historical material on Ginza. It is called the Cultural Project Office, located in a building by Mihara-bashi Bridge in Ginza 5-chome. The Director, Ms. Asako Saegusa showed me rare material collected mainly by Mr. Susumu Saegusa, the former storeowner.
\n\u3000The store was established in 1869 (Meiji 2) by Yosaburo Saegusa. The first store stood near Bizen-bashi Bridge in Minami-Odawara-cho, close to the Tsukiji Enclave for foreign residents. It started as an import store targeting foreigners and carried a wide range of goods, including Western wines and liquor. A newspaper article from the Meiji period (1868-1912) that I found among the filed material introduced \u201cTivoli Beer\u201d an uncommon beer brand that they used to import and sell.
\n\u3000The store moved to Ginza in 1875 (Meiji 8), shortly after the great fire, when the brick buildings were completed. The store on the corner of Ginza 3-chome would continue for a while under the name \u201cIseyo (\u4f0a\u52e2\u8207)Shoten.\u201d The letter \u201cYo (\u8207)\u201d was taken from the first letter of Yosaburo\u2019s name, but since he was originally from Koshu [currently, Yamanashi Prefecture], he had no geographic connection with Ise. The idea was to be simple and easy to remember.
\n Roan Uchida wrote an amusing introduction of Yosaburo in \u201cGinza Hanjouki (Prospering in Ginza)\u201d which was published in Chuo Koron in 1929 (Showa 4).
\n\u201cIseyo was a pot-bellied man. One could tell from the expression on his face that he was a big man not to be overdone, and he was the boss person, instead of the rigid master. He was friendly to anyone he met for the first time and no one would feel the least uncomfortable in his presence. He was a gifted speaker and his articulate speech made every listener feel good. He would sometimes wittily touch a sore spot and he could be ironic but his sarcasm was never vicious.
\n\u3000He was also referred to as the renowned Hikozaemon Okubo of Ginza\u2026 It was wool yarn that brought his business success, but he had originally displayed it in his store with no idea whatsoever of what it was used for. Yarn became a popular item among the foreign ladies who came to shop in his store, and it became a bestseller in no time.
\n\u201cFor Ginbura people, the \u201cIseya, the yarn shop\u201d has a more familiar ring than the name Saegusa. Iseya was well-known among MOGA, and as the first importer of wool yarn, Iseya could not be fully explained without mention of yarn.\u201d
\n\u3000Another description by Roan that caught my eye said,
\n\u201cSaegusa was conservative and earnest as a rule, and therefore, they would never engage in exaggerated self-promotion. They would never run an ad with a picture of the Great Buddha statue from Nara sitting on Mt. Fuji blowing a trumpet, as would Tengu Iwaya, across the street.\u201d
\n\u3000Tengu Iwaya, across the street\u2026 That made me recall that Matsuhei Iwaya, one of the great men of wonder in Ginza\u2019s history. Tengu Tabacco stood where Ginza Matsuya is located today, almost across the street from SAEGUSA. The man had started as a kimono retailer when he first came out to Tokyo from Satsuma [currently, Kagoshima Prefecture] in 1878 (Meiji 11), but for some reason switched to a tobacco retailer, selling tobacco under the \u201cTengu\u201d brand. As a tobacco store, he painted his wide and big store red and hung a large signboard featuring a Tengu. He dressed in red army wear and travelled around in a red horse-pulled cart advertising his store. The newspapers particularly liked to talk about the ad battle between Tengu Tabacco and its rival, Murai Kyodai Shokai, which carried fancy imported tobacco. Given the enactment of the monopoly law in 1904 (Meiji 37), Iwaya withdrew from the tobacco business with no avail and left Ginza.
\n\u3000Yosaburo encouraged Iwaya to run for city councilor and brilliantly got him elected. I learned for the first time from Roan\u2019s essay that such political communication had existed in the middle of the Meiji period, between two famous storeowners of 3-chome, running businesses across the street from one another.
\nIseyo Shoten formerly changed its name to \u201cGINZA no SAEGUSA\u201d after the Great Kanto Earthquake. This is when they built the current Tudor architecture-style store with a triangular roof in 7-chome. Here, the store developed as a store famous for hand-smocked jersey (wool) children\u2019s clothing.\n<\/div>\n
\n\u201cSaegusa: One or two Packards or Messerschmitts are constantly parked in front of the store but it is very quiet inside. Stop by if you are interested in exceptionally high-quality and luxurious accessories.\u201d
\n\u3000This cynical review of the store from a lower-class perspective is found in Shinban Dai-Tokyo Annai (New guide to greater Tokyo) written by modernologist, Wajiro Kon. In Ginza Saiken (A detailed look at Ginza), a \u201ctextbook\u201d on the popular culture of Ginza, Kosei Ando writes\u3002
\n\u201cGinza is a town for young people. Saegusa\u2019s smiling decorated window, Senbikiya\u2019s fruit, TANSAN (cider) with a straw and the gathering taxis are all reaching out to the young people.\u201d
\n\u3000SAEGUSA used sell not only children\u2019s clothing but Western clothing and accessories in general. A \u201cdecorated window\u201d is a word that was used for shop windows. The store must have been a popular spot for window shopping, one of the stereotype activities of a Ginbura stroller.
\n\u3000SAEGUSA has a reference room where they preserve corporate material and old historical material on Ginza. It is called the Cultural Project Office, located in a building by Mihara-bashi Bridge in Ginza 5-chome. The Director, Ms. Asako Saegusa showed me rare material collected mainly by Mr. Susumu Saegusa, the former storeowner.
\n\u3000The store was established in 1869 (Meiji 2) by Yosaburo Saegusa. The first store stood near Bizen-bashi Bridge in Minami-Odawara-cho, close to the Tsukiji Enclave for foreign residents. It started as an import store targeting foreigners and carried a wide range of goods, including Western wines and liquor. A newspaper article from the Meiji period (1868-1912) that I found among the filed material introduced \u201cTivoli Beer\u201d an uncommon beer brand that they used to import and sell.
\n\u3000The store moved to Ginza in 1875 (Meiji 8), shortly after the great fire, when the brick buildings were completed. The store on the corner of Ginza 3-chome would continue for a while under the name \u201cIseyo (\u4f0a\u52e2\u8207)Shoten.\u201d The letter \u201cYo (\u8207)\u201d was taken from the first letter of Yosaburo\u2019s name, but since he was originally from Koshu [currently, Yamanashi Prefecture], he had no geographic connection with Ise. The idea was to be simple and easy to remember.
\n Roan Uchida wrote an amusing introduction of Yosaburo in \u201cGinza Hanjouki (Prospering in Ginza)\u201d which was published in Chuo Koron in 1929 (Showa 4).
\n\u201cIseyo was a pot-bellied man. One could tell from the expression on his face that he was a big man not to be overdone, and he was the boss person, instead of the rigid master. He was friendly to anyone he met for the first time and no one would feel the least uncomfortable in his presence. He was a gifted speaker and his articulate speech made every listener feel good. He would sometimes wittily touch a sore spot and he could be ironic but his sarcasm was never vicious.
\n\u3000He was also referred to as the renowned Hikozaemon Okubo of Ginza\u2026 It was wool yarn that brought his business success, but he had originally displayed it in his store with no idea whatsoever of what it was used for. Yarn became a popular item among the foreign ladies who came to shop in his store, and it became a bestseller in no time.
\n\u201cFor Ginbura people, the \u201cIseya, the yarn shop\u201d has a more familiar ring than the name Saegusa. Iseya was well-known among MOGA, and as the first importer of wool yarn, Iseya could not be fully explained without mention of yarn.\u201d
\n\u3000Another description by Roan that caught my eye said,
\n\u201cSaegusa was conservative and earnest as a rule, and therefore, they would never engage in exaggerated self-promotion. They would never run an ad with a picture of the Great Buddha statue from Nara sitting on Mt. Fuji blowing a trumpet, as would Tengu Iwaya, across the street.\u201d
\n\u3000Tengu Iwaya, across the street\u2026 That made me recall that Matsuhei Iwaya, one of the great men of wonder in Ginza\u2019s history. Tengu Tabacco stood where Ginza Matsuya is located today, almost across the street from SAEGUSA. The man had started as a kimono retailer when he first came out to Tokyo from Satsuma [currently, Kagoshima Prefecture] in 1878 (Meiji 11), but for some reason switched to a tobacco retailer, selling tobacco under the \u201cTengu\u201d brand. As a tobacco store, he painted his wide and big store red and hung a large signboard featuring a Tengu. He dressed in red army wear and travelled around in a red horse-pulled cart advertising his store. The newspapers particularly liked to talk about the ad battle between Tengu Tabacco and its rival, Murai Kyodai Shokai, which carried fancy imported tobacco. Given the enactment of the monopoly law in 1904 (Meiji 37), Iwaya withdrew from the tobacco business with no avail and left Ginza.
\n\u3000Yosaburo encouraged Iwaya to run for city councilor and brilliantly got him elected. I learned for the first time from Roan\u2019s essay that such political communication had existed in the middle of the Meiji period, between two famous storeowners of 3-chome, running businesses across the street from one another.
\nIseyo Shoten formerly changed its name to \u201cGINZA no SAEGUSA\u201d after the Great Kanto Earthquake. This is when they built the current Tudor architecture-style store with a triangular roof in 7-chome. Here, the store developed as a store famous for hand-smocked jersey (wool) children\u2019s clothing.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n\u3000By this time, the store must have welcomed its second-generation owner. As Roan explained that \u201cthey would never engage in exaggerated self-promotion,\u201d indeed, there were no flashy ads using fashion models to be found. SAEGUSA\u2019s ads, with an elegant illustration accompanied by an ad copy about their products, were found in women\u2019s magazines. <\/p>\n
\u201cSaegusa is the most chic store in Ginza
\n\u3000with a rich collection of
\n\u3000\u3000lovely swimsuits and stylish hats
\n\u3000\u3000and other women\u2019s accessories leading the times\u201d\n<\/div>\n
\n![\"\u590f\u30ab\u30bf\u30ed\u30b0\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Column_06_03.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nSummer catalog <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u3000I also found stored a few direct mail postcards sent to Masao Kume, an author who lived in Kamakura. (These postcards had been kept by fate.) From the postmark I judged they were from around 1935 (Showa 10). <\/p>\n
\u201cWestern clothing for children, Western clothing for women, handbags
\n\u3000shawls, berets (new models
\n\u3000from Czecho and France) for the gentlemen<\/p>\n
\u3000The postmark was dated 1936 (Showa 11). How chic that they would suggest berets made in Czecho (presumably, Czechoslovakia). Of course, the direct mail was probably meant for Mrs. Kume, instead of her husband\u2026.
\n\u3000Some postcards had the phrase \u201cBargain Day\u201d printed on them. I have been told that the word \u201cbargain\u201d was first used by SAEGUSA to mean \u201csale\u201d during the Taisho period (1912-1926) before it became widely used.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n![\"\u30d0\u30fc\u30b2\u30f3\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Column_06_04.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\u201dBargain\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u3000Having studied the rare records (and convinced that I would return for other research) I headed for the store in Ginza 7-chome. The three-story building with a triangular roof stands prettily between two tall buildings almost ten stories high.
\n
\n\u3000Modern items are on display on the first floor, and I asked a young sales staff, \u201cWhere can I find traditional children\u2019s clothes?\u201d She guided me to the basement floor and said, \u201cWe only have a few pieces remaining in stock,\u201d showing me a hand-smocked jersey sweater for seven-year olds. She told me that the skillful lady who had been in charge of the smocking retired of old age a few years ago and that they could no longer produce original hand-smocked designs. The piece was of course quite expensive but the texture was indescribably fine.
\n\u3000I could just imagine an elderly lady who grew up wearing children\u2019s clothes bought at SAEGUSA coming to the store to purchase something from their grandchildren or great-grandchildren.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n\u3000Modern items are on display on the first floor, and I asked a young sales staff, \u201cWhere can I find traditional children\u2019s clothes?\u201d She guided me to the basement floor and said, \u201cWe only have a few pieces remaining in stock,\u201d showing me a hand-smocked jersey sweater for seven-year olds. She told me that the skillful lady who had been in charge of the smocking retired of old age a few years ago and that they could no longer produce original hand-smocked designs. The piece was of course quite expensive but the texture was indescribably fine.
\n\u3000I could just imagine an elderly lady who grew up wearing children\u2019s clothes bought at SAEGUSA coming to the store to purchase something from their grandchildren or great-grandchildren.\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u3000GINZA no SAEGUSA. specializing in children\u2019s clothes, is one of Ginza (Chuo) Dori\u2019s oldest of long-establishe … Continue reading