One day · Nihonbashi
Nihonbashi, the old firms: a department store opening, a woodblock in the paper shop, sake from a merchant, a kintsugi lesson and a kimono measured for you
Published 2026-09-26 · Season: any · Who it is for: Travellers who like a shop with a founding date over the door, and would rather learn one craft than glance at ten
Nihonbashi is where Tokyo's oldest businesses are, and where most of them still trade from the same block. The day below is built on operators we have verified one by one: the bell at Mitsukoshi, a woodblock workshop in a paper merchant's gallery, sake at a shop that has sold it since the Edo period, a lesson in mending with gold, and a kimono shop that will measure you. It ends on the water. Book the woodblock, the kintsugi and the kimono; the rest are open doors.
Numbers follow the mapped places in order; experience and operator stops link to their own maps.
The day
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10:00
The lion at the door
Mitsukoshi's main store is the oldest department store in Japan, and at ten the doors open with a bow from every floor. Go in past the bronze lions to the central hall, look up at the five-storey statue and the pipe organ, and be in the food basement before the queues.
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11:00
A woodblock in the paper shop
Takumi Mokuhanga Kobo runs its group workshops in Nihonbashi venues including the gallery of Ozu Washi, a paper merchant founded in 1653. Carve a small block, ink it, print it on paper made a few doors away. Book by the site's form; the sessions are small.
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13:00
Lunch among the founding dates
The streets around the bridge hold the tempura, eel and soba houses that opened before the trains did. Pick one with a date over the door and the lunch set on a board outside. Unagi over rice takes twenty minutes to arrive and is worth every one.
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14:30
Sake from a merchant
Hasegawa Saketen is a sake merchant with a standing counter inside the Coredo building: choose three from the day's list, drink them at the bar with a small plate, and buy the bottle you liked with an English label on the shelf. The staff speak sake fluently and English well enough.
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15:30
Mending with gold
Mutoh's kintsugi class puts a broken cup in your hands and teaches the join: lacquer, powder, patience. You leave with a mended piece and the idea that a crack can be the best part of a bowl. Two hours, small groups, aprons provided.
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17:30
Measured for a kimono
Tsuzureya is a kimono shop that will make you one: fabric chosen from the bolts, measurements taken, the finished piece shipped in a few weeks. Even if you order a yukata, the hour of being measured and advised is the most personal shopping in Tokyo. Make an appointment.
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19:00
Under the bridge, by boat
From the pier beside the bridge, a small boat runs the old canals under the expressway and out to the Sumida as the lights come on. Forty-five minutes, no commentary needed. Dinner in Ningyocho after, five minutes' walk.
A bell, a block, three cups, a gold seam and a tape measure: Nihonbashi sells the same things it sold three hundred years ago, and lets you make a few of them.
Before you go
- Mitsukoshi's tax-free counter is on the upper floors; bring your passport.
- The kintsugi piece must dry; the studio ships it or you collect it the next day.
- Kimono tailoring takes weeks; give a home address and ask about customs paperwork.
Areas: Nihonbashi