Quick answer
Ginza is Tokyo''s main luxury shopping district, named after a silver mint that operated here from 1612 during the Edo period. The neighborhood became Japan''s first Western-style shopping area in the late 19th century. Ginza Station serves the Ginza, Marunouchi and Hibiya Lines. A free audio sample is available at the top of the page.
Full transcript
INTRO
This neighborhood is Tokyo's luxury district — Hermes, Chanel, the flagship stores of every Japanese department store chain. But the name gives away the history. "This neighborhood" means "silver mint." From 1612, the Tokugawa shogunate minted silver coins right here. The neighborhood was named after the money. That mint moved, but This neighborhood kept the name and the association with money. By the late 19th century, it had become Tokyo's first Western-style shopping district, with brick buildings designed by an Irish architect named Thomas Waters. The brick was a deliberate choice: after the Ginza area burned down in an 1872 fire, the Meiji government ordered that all new buildings must be made of brick, to make them fireproof. It was Tokyo's first experiment in modern urban planning.
SECTION: The crossing at Ginza 4-chome
The intersection you are probably standing at — Ginza 4-chome crossing — is anchored by the Wako building, the one with the clock tower. It was built in 1932 by the Hattori Clock Company, which later changed its name to Seiko. The clock tower survived the 1945 firebombing and still keeps time. After the war, General MacArthur's occupation forces requisitioned the building as a PX — a military department store for American soldiers. For seven years, the most famous building in Ginza sold American cigarettes and Hershey bars. The Mitsukoshi department store across the street is the oldest department store chain in Japan, founded in 1673 as a kimono shop. It has been selling things on this approximate spot for over 350 years. The grocery store in the basement — every Japanese department store's basement is a gourmet food hall — is one of the best places in Tokyo for gifts you cannot get anywhere else.
CLOSE
Ginza started with silver coins, survived fire and war, hosted American GIs eating chocolate, and ended up selling Hermes scarves. A neighborhood that has been about money for over 400 years, in a city where everything else has been torn down and rebuilt at least twice. Find your way.