Name: Shopping at Japan's Oldest Department Store - Things to do in Nihombashi | Tokyo Travel Guide
Uploaded: 2025-09-26T18:25:29.000Z
Duration: 10 min 31 s
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I'm here in Nihonbashi, which is one of Japan's oldest districts.

So you see a lot of salaried men around here, but also a lot of Japanese locals like to hang around here because it's not as crowded.

So if you want to visit areas where locals hang out, this is the perfect place to go.

I'm going to be showing you guys some places to go to some malls.

We're going to take a cruise, some shrines.

Nihonbashi, located in the heart of Tokyo, has a rich history that dates back to the Edo period when it was served as a central hub for trade and commerce.

The name Nihonbashi translates to Japan Bridge.

The Nihonbashi Bridge, which crosses the Nihonbashi River, was originally built in 1603 and became the symbolic center of the city's road network with all major highways surrounding from it.

The area offers a unique landscape where historic architecture coexists with modern buildings.

It's a must visit for those interested in Tokyo's history, architecture, and culture, offering a glimpse of how the city evolved from its early days to its current status as a global metropolis.

We are in front of Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, and this is one of Japan's oldest department stores.

It started off as a kimono store back in 1673.

Now this department store is very special because, I mean, these days there's a lot of international brands, but they hold a lot of the old Japanese brands that sell kimono, crafts, and food.

So if you want to see what Japanese locals get up to, what they buy without the crowds, then this is a place to check out.

In 1904, the department store declaration was issued, marking the establishment of Japan's first department store, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store.

In 1914, two lion statues were installed at the main entrance.

In the central hall stands the Angel of Penevolence statue, a wooden sculpture towering approximately 11 meters tall.

This statue symbolizes the heartfelt sincerity extended to customers and was completed after a decade of meticulous craftsmanship.

On a marble staircase leading to the second floor, you can spot fossils embedded within the stone.

Additionally, the pipe organ on the second floor balcony hosts concerts on weekends, offering a captivating musical experience.

We are on the fourth floor of the Mitsukoshi building, and here we have Japanese goods.

I'm going to show you guys around here in specific.

I'm going to show you guys the different ways you can use them.

A great traditional Japanese souvenir to take home is a furoshiki wrapping cloth.

These square cloths can be used to wrap and carry items.

They come in so many different sizes and patterns.

They can also be used to make everyday goods such as bags, wallets and coin pouches.

They even have little scented pouches which are so adorable.  My favorite designs were this adorable shibu inu as well as this karakusa design which symbolizes prosperity and longevity.

There's a kimono store on the same floor that offers traditional high-end Japanese kimono, fabrics and accessories.

Founded during the Edo period as a store specialized in kimono, it now offers a wide range of products including not only kimono, but also artworks, traditional crafts, food and various other goods.

So in almost every single Japanese apartment store on the lower level, there is a food floor.

There is such a wide variety of different stores, but here are some that we have picked out to try.

Itaro Sohonpo is a long-established Japanese confectionery shop that offers a wide range of fresh sweets.

The store's most popular item is a black bean daifuku, which is made with a generous amount of black beans.

We picked up other various desserts that we plan to eat later on in the day.

There is a rooftop at Mitsukoshi where you can enjoy the food you bought downstairs.

On the rooftop, there is Mimiguchi shrine where one goes to pray for the safety of the building, customers and prosperity in business.

There's also a bonsai store you can look at.

So i'm at the rooftop of the Mitsukoshi building and you can actually buy the food downstairs, bring it up here to eat.

Mochi is generally sweet most of the time.

It's a dessert, but you can also have it savory.

This one is wrapped around with seaweed and it's actually cooked with a fish stock.

So the flavor inside is actually katsuo, which is the fish flakes.

The mochi is really chewy, which I really like.

Next we're going to try the mitarashi dango.

Now, mitarashi is a sauce and it's kind of like a sweet soy sauce flavor.

Mmm You can tell that the ingredients they use is much higher quality.

Now daifuku is usually red bean wrapped with mochi.

This is so delicious, we actually saw them making this fresh downstairs.

We are in the heart of Nihonbashi and there is actually a shrine.

This is Fukutoku shrine and this shrine is known to give good luck when it comes to lotteries.

So this shrine was established back in the 9th century and it was one of the only shrines that was authorized to sell lottery tickets back in the Edo period.

So people come to this shrine not just to pray for good luck for lotteries.

They pray to get good luck in stuff like concerts, plays, because in Japan when you want to go to these places it's usually a lottery.

So this shrine was located only a minute away from Mitsukoshi.

The shrine actually had phone stands to help you take photos if you're alone, which is pretty cool.

It's just a little luck, you can translate it.

Disease, don't self-diagnose because I'm a doctor.

If you got a bad luck or like just you know, if you got a fortune that isn't ideal, you can tie it up to get rid of the bad luck.

So I feel like maybe I do need to get rid of it.

The first Nihonbashi bridge was built in 1603.

At that time it was a wooden drum bridge and the current stone double arched bridge was constructed in the Meiji era in 1911.

During the 100th anniversary of the bridge's construction, Nihonbashi Wharf was built at the bridge's base attracting attention as a convenient and enjoyable water transport spot in the city centre.

In recent years there has been a growing movement to reconsider the landscape along the river where the former fish market once thrived with expectations for further development.

You are able to take a cruise that departs just in the river at the foot of the bridge which is what we are going to be doing.

I am in front of Nihonbashi, but we are going to be taking a cruise.

Now what we can do is we can pick from a bunch of different courses.

We're going to be taking the Kanda course so it's going to go around to Kanda, Akihabara and looping back around to Nihonbashi.

There are a bunch of courses that are different timings so you can check that all down below but for now, let's go on to the cruise.

We had already booked tickets for our cruise in advance.

When the time came we were escorted onto our boat and were introduced to our driver.

Our cruise was 90 minutes so it was long but the driver was very entertaining the whole time stopping at some spots to point out things and giving us photo recommendations.

Whilst on the boat, we got to enjoy some of the snacks we had bought at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi earlier on in the day.

I actually never knew that we could take a boat ride here so I thought this was something really different.

My favorite parts were being able to see the trains from the boat as well as the lovely view of the sky tree.

It was such a great way to spend our afternoon.

So if you don't want to spend 90 minutes on this boat, you can choose shorter cruises and also different routes.

We took the Kanda cruise, but there are many more.

This cruise allowed us to see Tokyo in a different light.

We were able to see Akihabara and Ochanomizu districts as well as Sumida river.