Chuo City is historic! Visit long-established shops with a history of more than 100 years. | Tokyo Chuo City's official site for tourists, Central Tokyo for Tourism

SPECIAL EDITION
Chuo City is historic!
Visit long-established shops with a history of more than 100 years.
In Chuo City, there are many long-established shops with a history of more than 100 years. These shops, where traditional culture and proficient skills and techniques have been passed down over the generations, wish to continue to pass on traditional Japanese qualities to the modern world.

In Chuo City, there are many long-established shops with a history of more than 100 years. These shops, where traditional culture and proficient skills and techniques have been passed down over the generations, wish to continue to pass on traditional Japanese qualities to the modern world.

* Published content contains information as of November 2016. Business days, business hours, rates, etc. may be changed due to the circumstances of the place of publication. Please check with each publisher for the latest information.
[Updated on November 19, 2016]

Founded in1349

Manju (steamed bun)
SHIOSE SOUHONKE
Since the times of its foundation, SHIOSE SOUHONKE has spent time and effort to maintain the great taste achieved through its original production process. Using expensive yamaimo (Japanese yam), carefully selected azuki beans, zarame (large crystal sugar) and other raw materials most suitable for making manju, skilled confectioners make the sweets by hand. They are proud to have continued their business for more than 660 years as the first manju shop.
See more details.

Founded in1699

Katsuobushi (dried bonito)
NINBEN NIHONBASHI HONTEN
NINBEN, in its wish to hand down the great taste of dashi (soup stock), which is part of Japan's unique food culture. The professional has focused on the highest-quality hongare katsuobushi with spending time and effort for a half year. NINBEN sells katsuobushi freshly shaved by professional shavers and operates the NIHONBASHI DASHI BAR in efforts to allow customers to enjoy the good taste of katsuobushi dashi for a few coins .
See more details.

Founded in1704

Toothpicks
Nihonbashi-saruya
Nihonbashi-saruya is the only remaining toothpick specialty store in Japan. Saruya always uses Kuromoji, Lindera umbellata, as the toothpick material, because the tree smells fresh and the wood is bendy, which makes it resistant to breaking. Saruya artisans make toothpicks manually piece by piece from Kuromoji. As the toothpicks are sold in wooden boxes with Kabuki and Japanese writing designs, they are popular as souvenirs.
See more details.

Founded in1792

Kitchen knives
KIYA Nihonbashi Main Store
KIYA sells kitchen knives and other living utensils. A picture scroll still remains depicting KIYA soon after its foundation. The store sells rows of kitchen knives made from various raw materials and created by skilled artisans for a variety of use. To ensure that each knife remains sharp for many years, KIYA provides advice and support on how to care for the knives at the time of shopping. The store also exhibits household goods to support household tool makers.
See more details.

Founded in1806

Washi (Japanese paper)
HAIBARA
HAIBARA, with “the desire to establish communication between people through paper,” suggests “A life with Washi.” The store has a delightful atmosphere with arrays of washi and chiyogami (paper printed with traditional Japanese designs) in a variety of colors, as well as wakomono (Japanese trinkets). The letter pads created with the idea of traditional rolled letter paper can be used for both vertical and horizontal writing. Moreover, HAIBARA is particular about patterns, reproducing those that were popular in the Edo period.
See more details.

Founded in1849

Nori (edible seaweed)
YAMAMOTO NORITEN CO., LTD.
YAMAMOTO NORITEN has specialized in nori ever since its foundation. We use only good quality nori carefully selected by experienced connoisseurs. Whilst maintaining high quality, we seek new ways for people to enjoy eating nori. We were the first to create Ajitsuke nori (flavored nori) and sell a wide array of products, including Otsumami nori, which is nori that goes especially well with alcoholic drinks, and nori sprinkled with various ingredients.
See more details.