Tok yo ’ s Co r n e r of
Refinement b y Michael Kanert
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gourmet tour including a cooking lesson. Some tours require advance reservations, while others can be joined on the spot.
hile it may be little-known among tourists, Nihonbashi is a melting pot of Japan’s regional cultures. This stately area just northeast of Tokyo Station stands as the zeromile point of the Gokaido, the Five Routes that stretched across Japan in the Edo period (1603-1868), making it the nexus where goods from all across the country converged.
While Ginza, located just to the southwest, is the longstanding byword for high-end shopping in Tokyo, Nihonbashi exudes a classic refinement that you won’t find elsewhere in this bustling metropolis. Traditional lanterns line stone-paved Naka-dori, the district’s central avenue, with designs rotated to match the seasons. Rarefied merchandise can be found among the various shops of Mitsukoshi, Japan’s first department store, and the three stately Coredo Muromachi buildings, home to both modern styles and centuries-old businesses specializing in everything from high-end chopsticks to old-fashioned wagashi sweets.
We first learned how to purify ourselves at Fukutoku-jinja, a historic site known for providing good luck in lotteries, then saw a knifesharpening demonstration at Kiya, a knife-making shop dating back to 1792. We tried our hands at making katsuobushi (bonito flakes) at Ninben, a shop that revolutionized Japanese home cooking by being the first to seal these essential flakes in airtight packages so people would no longer have to shave them by hand to make miso soup every day. We then played with unique chopsticks at Hashicho, including a massive sumo-sized set and an unscrewable portable pair, and gaped at a paired
To get the most out of the district, we signed up for an area tour at the Nihonbashi Information Center in Coredo Muromachi 1. Programs range in price from ¥1,000 (about CAD$11) for a 90-minute “cultural experience” tour to ¥8,000 (CAD$91) for a 3.5-hour
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