Creating a vibrant atmosphere through sake

　 Izakaya, traditional Japanese-style pubs and a favourite of Japanese people for socializing and enjoying a conversation with friends or colleagues, are now beloved by foreign visitors too as a place to sit down over a drink and meal. Izakaya restaurants are said to have originated in the bustling Kanda/Kamakura Waterfront area where goods would be shipped from around Japan into the city of Edo when Juemon, the founder of Toshimaya, started a liquor store and pub. As well as local labourers, nearby merchants and samurai also regularly stopped by at the store and the rest is history.

Juemon was not out to make a fortune off of sake with his business, but rather wanted to simply entertain the customers. One such example is how he would sell sake barrels and use the profits to keep the prices of the sake and tsumami (snacks) low. Another example is where he planned an event where he would give women sweet shirozake (white sake) on Hinamatsuri (girl’s festival). The response was so great that the people would say “If you want to see a mountain, go to Fuji, if you want to drink shirozake, go to Toshimaya"

Relationships and traditions preserved by long-established businesses

　In the mid-Meiji period, Toshimaya began brewing sake. Then in the early Showa period, the Toshimaya Sake Brewery was established in Tokyo, which began making Tokyo craft sake using spring water from Mt. Fuji. For the occasion of the silver (25th) wedding anniversary of His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress of the Meiji era, the brewery created a sake called "Kinkon" (meaning golden marriage), wishing them ‘ever-lasting happiness’. To this day, this is the only sake that is dedicated as a sacred sake at the Meiji Shrine, which enshrines His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress Meiji. Toshiyuki Yoshimura, the current head of Toshimaya, explains the connection with the Meiji Shrine. "Even during the time of extreme food shortages, only Toshimaya continued to dedicate sake to the shrine", he says. An official document of the Meiji Shrine states, "As long as the Meiji Shrine stands, the only sacred sake will be Kinkon."

　 During its 430 years of business, Toshimaya almost faced bankruptcy three times due to factors such as the Meiji Restoration (1868) and the Great Kanto Earthquake (1923). However, Yoshimura recalls with a sense of gratitude: as the company followed the family motto of "customers first, sincerity first" in doing business, those around them rallied together to help them. In Kanda, Yoshimura revived the izakaya business after it closed down around 100 years ago due to the Great Kanto Earthquake. The casual, standing izakaya, with its concept of "Edo-Tokyo modern", offers a menu of traditional Edo-food such as tofu dengaku, which is made from ingredients purchased from a centuries-old store that has been in business since the Edo period. This new, vibrant restaurant takes from the Edo culture of "dropping by for a quick drink" and attracts male and female, hardy and light drinkers, young and old and foreign customers alike.