Nihonbashi (日本橋）

Nihonbashi
This bridge was the most important bridge during the Edo Period. It is a bridge over the Nihonbashi-gawa River on the north side of Chuo-ku and was the point of origin for Japan's five main streets. The Bakufu measured all distances in Japan from Edo from this point and was rebuilt in stone during the Meiji period. Many high-class department stores were built around this bridge and the area has become a very busy and popular shopping destination. This area still bears a bronze signpost with the words "Origin of Roads in Japan".






A model of the Mitsui Echigoya
During the Edo period the district was a major mercantile center and the Mitsui family, who based their wholesaling business in Nihonbashi, developed Japan's first department store, Mitsukoshi. It was founded in 1673 with the shop name Echigoya (越後屋) and sold kimonos. Ten years after being founded, door-to-door selling was abandoned and the shop was turned into a store where customers could purchase products on the spot with cash. The company experienced massive expansion and has grown to be an international department store chain. The current Mitsukoshi building completed construction in 1935 and features seven stories of stores.


Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi
[A seven story department store completed in 1935]

In the 1960s, the Shuto expressway was built over it, and it was not until recently, when Tokyo was making a bid for the 2016 Olympics, that there was talk about moving the Shuto underground. This bridge is a sign of how the Bakufu (the Shogunate) kept the daimyo under control: daimyo that the Bakufu trusted less were assigned lands further from Edo, as measured by the bridge. The Shuto Expressway also gives a glance of the modern Japanese worldview, especially their view on their heritage.

The zero mile point sign at Nihonbashi

For Social Studies Teachers the Nihonbashi Bridge relates to the Grade 8 Social Studies Curriculum on the following:

"8.1.5 analyze the effects of cultural isolation during the Edo period by exploring and reflecting
upon the following questions and issues:
• How did isolation during the Edo period lead to changes in Japan? 
• How did the changes resulting from isolation affect Japan economically, politically and
socially during the Edo period? 
8.1.6 analyze the effects that rapid adaptation had on traditionally isolated Japan during the
Meiji period by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions and issues: 
• What challenges emerged for the Japanese in maintaining traditional cultural aspects of their
society while undergoing rapid change?"(From the Grade 8 Social Studies Program of Studies)
Websites: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3033.html, http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/tokyo/ginza_nihonbasi.html, http://www.ltij.net/tokyo/nihonbashi.html, http://www.mitsui.com/jp/en/company/history/index.html


View Larger Map

BACK TO HISTORICAL PLACES TO VISIT INDEX


Comment on what you could learn related to what you have studied about Edo and Meiji Japan.