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      • Mino Ware >
        • Famous kilns in Tajimi - a pottery town in Gifu prefecture, Japan
        • Mino ware ceramics and pottery Shopping
        • Pottery and ceramics galleries in Tajimi, Japan
        • Courses, equipment and stores for Potters
      • Experience >
        • Pottery Workshops in Tajimi, Japan
        • Pottery painting & Tile Art experiences in Tajimi
        • Fruit Picking in Tajimi
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        • Restaurants
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    • Oribe's Dream - A VR Experience
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    • To Tajimi and back: foreign visitors' impressions of our city
    • Walking in Tajimi >
      • 01 Walking in Takata - Onada
      • 02 Walking in Tajimi - The Immovable Wisdom King
      • 03 Walking in Tajimi - Suigetsu Kiln
      • 04 Walking in Tajimi - North of Toki
      • 05 Modern day Nagase St. - flash backs from the past
      • 06 Around Oribe Street
      • 07 The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
      • 08 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 01)
      • 09 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 02)
    • Cycling in Tajimi
    • Ceramics >
      • The Story of Mino Ware >
        • The roots of the Mino ware renaissance
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 02)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 03)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 04)
        • Beyond Mino Ware (Part 05)
      • The ascending kiln
      • Kobe Kiln: Tradition-meets-innovation
      • A polar bear's pottery performance
      • Shiro Tenmoku (01): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Shiro Tenmoku (02): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Finland Meets Tajimi
      • Ceramic treats in Tajimi - a Mini Tour
      • Learning pottery at the Ho-Ca workshop
      • Master Potter Hidetake Ando
      • Brave New Pottery - 3rd Ceramics
      • English Guided Tours 2019
      • Ikuhiko Shibata - Not Your Ordinary Potter
      • Kasahara - the Tile Kingdom
      • The Mosaic Princess Tile Enthusiasts
      • Striking Gold iin Mino 2021
      • Toso - the Legacy of a Mysterious Master Potter
      • A Muromachi Style Kiln Firing
    • Food and Drink >
      • Food - Wild Yam a treat for the New Year
      • Food - Eel à la tajimienne
      • Drink - Sake in Tajimi
      • Drink - Sake. "Excellently Dry"
      • Food: Cook a local snack - Gohei mochi
      • Food: The History of the Gohei mochi
    • Life in Tajimi >
      • Tono-ben: Great Ice-breaker phrases for the traveler >
        • Tono-ben Karta - a card game
        • Tono-ben; Everybody Loves Fumi-chan
        • Learn Tono-ben (Karuta cards)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi: My Life in a Seemingly Ordinary Rural Town (Part 1)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 2): About a future where people live wherever they want
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 3): Now is the time to see the countryside
      • The Festival - Oh, What a Night!
      • The Life of an American Japanese
      • Festivals in Tajimi
      • 2018 in Tajimi - Visually
      • Film - A day in Tajimi
      • Virtual Travel - The day when Our World Shrank
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 01)
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 02)
      • Flower Viewing Beyond the Crowds
      • Manga: The Kappa Scene
      • Shidekobushi - the rare Magnolias of the Tono region
    • History >
      • A Failed Coup d'etat - And the Death of a Tajimi Samurai
  • エッセイ
    • ​多治見に訪れた人たち、そしてその後
    • 多治見ウォーキング >
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート1
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート2 不動明王の滝
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 高田/小名田 ​パート3 水月窯
      • 多治見歴史探索ウォーキング - 土岐川の北側
      • ながせ通りウォーキング 昔の姿に思いを馳せながら
      • おりべストリート周辺 - パート1
      • 多治見 銀座通り
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート1))
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート2)
    • 陶器・タイル >
      • シロクマの焼き物パフォーマンス
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 1)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 02)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 03)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 04)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 05)
      • 美濃焼ルネッサンスのルーツ
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART1
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART2
      • 登り窯
      • 焼き物の楽しみ方
      • 幸兵衛窯:伝統と革新の出会い
      • 多治見で作陶
      • 安藤日出武
      • タイルキングダム - 笠原町
      • 陶磁器の本拠地でグランプリを目指せ!
      • 柴田育彦 ボーダーレスな陶芸家
      • 新しい陶磁器産業の形
      • モザイクタイルプリンセス
      • フィンランドと多治見の出会い
      • 陶祖 - 謎めいた名工が遺したもの
      • 青山双渓氏、「白天目」の再現に挑んだ窯
    • 食べる・飲む >
      • 多治見で乾杯!
      • 五平餅を食べられるお店と作り方
      • ウナギ・ア・ラ・タジミエンヌ
      • 超辛口の日本酒への情熱
      • 多治見のお正月の自然薯料理
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 1
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 2
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 3
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 01)
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 02)
    • 夏祭り - なんて素敵な夜!
    • 人込みを避けてお花見を満喫しよう
    • 多治見のお祭り
    • シデコブシ 東濃地方の珍しい木蓮の花
    • ビジュアルで2018年の多治見を振り返ろう
    • 多治見の楽しい方言 東濃弁
    • バーチャル・トラベル
    • ビデオ - A DAY IN 多治見
    • 失敗に終わったクーデター
    • 2019年 多治見るこみち イングリッシュ・ガイドツアー
    • アメリカン・ジャパニーズとしての暮らし
    • やくならマグカップも:カッパが登場するシーン
    • 東濃弁でカルタ遊び
    • みんな大好きふみちゃん
    • 多治見でサイクリング
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07 - The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
Explore the sleeping memories of the old city centre

Welcome to another walk in Tajimi!

This time we are visiting an area that is quite typical of what the Japanese call a shoutengai or "shopping street" - a cluster of shops in close proximity along and around a street - in our case the Ginza Doori. It is said that the origins of Japanese shopping streets can be traced back to the old days of Rakuichi (楽市) and Rakuza (楽座) - areas of economic activity that were established in the districts ruled by local lords in medieval times. In those days the country was engulfed in a hundred year long civil war. Raku (楽) in this case means "relief", in the sense that these areas were relieved of restrictions on trade to encourage economic development.

Shopping streets also developed in the inn towns and and at temples along the roads in the Edo period (1603-1868), ports and the areas around railway stations in the modern period (1869-1912). Shopping streets in front of temples are called Nakamise (Nakamise Street), such as Nakamise Street in Sensoji Temple, Tokyo. To put it simply, shopping streets developed where there was a lot of traffic, and where shops could be expected to attract customers.

Interestingly, along the path we are walking today there is a monument raised in the honour of a local lord here in Tajimi, by the name of Tajimi Kuninaga. He has quite a dramatic and tragic life story, about which you can read in an essay we devoted to him. The Ginza Doori shoutengai and the area surrounding it does not go as far back as that, though. Before the Ginza Doori was turned into a roof covered arcade it was already a lively commercial center, and festivals such as the tanabata was held here every year. Legend tells us that each July 7 the weaver star and cowherder star traverse the Milky Way to renew their ancient bond of love. In Japan, the lovers are celebrated with lively decorations and wishes written on long, narrow strips of coloured paper.

Other forms of entertainment were available as well, such as the old Enomotoza theatre house, later turned into a cinema in the early Showa era (1926-1989). The theatre house was opened in year 15 of the Meiji era (1882). Tajimi is a ceramics industrial town, and young kiln workers, who gathered here from places far away, came to town in great numbers from the kilns in the outskirts of the city to enjoy movies during the 1940s and 50s.

We also must not forget a place that lives and speaks of the Showa era - the Morita coffee house. It is famous for being used as "Cafe Tiger" in the NHK Drama "Aishikute" broadcast in 2013.
The dimly lit interior is filled with chandeliers and shade lamps, giving it a genuinely nostalgic Showa-era feel.
Here some photographs from the start of today's walk.

​
Now we have arrived at the ​Ginza Doori. It rings with echoes from another time, when mom and pop stores flourished in the shopping arcades around Japan. Above the entrance to the street a large sign says "Shinmachi Ginza", which ironically speaks about a new town and new time coming. But that is already far back in the past.
Old picture of the Ginza doori in Tajimi, Gifu-ken, Japan
The old Ginza doori. The Sanwa shop sign can be seen up in the left corner, today it is a medical clinic with the same name. Courtesy of the Tajimi City Library Archive (多治見市図書館郷土資料室所蔵)
It's not easy to track down where old photos have been shot, but here we have help from a shop sign up to the left, that tells us that there was a shop with the same name as the medical clinic that is located there today - Sanwa. This lets us pinpoint the location to the one in the map here below.


Picture
Courtesy of the Tajimi City Library Archive (多治見市図書館郷土資料室所蔵)
Here is an image most probably from the Showa era. No arcade roof has been built yet above the Ginza Doori. There is a sale going on, because the signs lining the streets on both sides say "Market of the 7th, Ginza". The market of the 7th was a sale on every day that ends with 7 in the month, so the 7th, 17th, and 27th. To the left of the sign a futon shop can be seen. The photo must have been taken at one of the ends of the street, because a sign to the side says this is a one way street. 

Revitalizing the Ginza doori

The seeds of a movement to revitalize this area are beginning to sprout in Tajimi. Chuunichi Shinbun wrote the following in a piece about one of the young entrepreneurs involved in this.
"​Kazuya Hanayama (35), a ceramics salesman, is building a rental studio and a share house in a vacant shop in Tajimi Ginza shopping street in Shinmachi, Tajimi City. He is enthusiastic about the project, saying, 'I want to make it a place that will be a catalyst for various things, such as revitalizing the shuttered shopping street [Ginza Doori] and the activities of ceramic artists' ".

Find you way using our landmarks

We have charted a route around the area following Oribe Street and the old Shita-Kaido. Now it’s your time to go and explore!​
Click the icon in the upper left to view a list of all locations.
​

The tajimi kuninaga memorial - in memory of a local hero

Location of the tajimi kuninaga memorial

Some of the shops, cafes, and places of historical interest

Tajimi Kuninaga Memorial
Tajimi Kuninaga was a member of a clan which was descended from the Toki clan (Mino Genji clan). They were based in Tajimi-go, Toki-gun, Mino Province (now Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture).
This memorial is raised at the remains of his residence. Kuninaga took part in Emperor Go-Daigo's plan to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and entered Kyoto in 1324 at the invitation of Hino Suketomo.
The plan came to their opponent's knowledge, and they attacked Kuninaga and his allies in the compound where they stayed. The fierce battle continued past noon. A thousand warriors went around the compound and tore down the wall in the back street, pouring into the scene. Kuninaga must have realised this was the end. He lined up the defenders by the inner gate, and they cut each other down, falling dead to the ground. The attackers rushed in and took their heads, carrying them back to their base. The four-hour-long battle left 273 men dead.. You can learn more about Kuninaga in our article on the failed coup attempt.

Morita (モリタ)
Coffee shop
Morita is located in the middle of the arcade of the Ginza shopping street, next to the Tajimi City Industrial Culture Center.
It is also famous for being used as "Cafe Tiger" in the NHK TV drama "Aishikute" broadcasted in 2013.
The dimly lit interior is lit with chandeliers and shade lamps, giving it a retro Showa-era feel.


Tobun-do Book seller/publisher
This is the book seller that published the Tajimi-ben karuta cards, a card game we base our courses in the Tajimi/Tono-ben dialect courses on. The course has been a hit on YouTube, with the most popular post now having close to 300,000 hits. 14 Shōjimachi, Tajimi. Map here.
Note that the place they actually sell books is different - HirakuBiru, which you will find here.


​Hishiya Cafe (喫茶ひしや文具店) 
From the company home page: "We are a stationery shop with a café in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture. The café is a peaceful space decorated with mosaic tiles by the late Ken Sone. The café is decorated with the mosaic tiles of the late Ken Sone and offers a relaxing atmosphere with coffee, tea and cakes. The stationery shop, which has been in operation for over 80 years, displays old-fashioned stationery, office supplies, Japanese paper and stationery goods." Map here.

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  • Home
  • About Tajimi
    • Tajimi Tourism Association
    • Free E-books
    • Navigate >
      • Plan your trip to Tajimi and Gifu
      • See >
        • Places
        • Historical figures
      • Mino Ware >
        • Famous kilns in Tajimi - a pottery town in Gifu prefecture, Japan
        • Mino ware ceramics and pottery Shopping
        • Pottery and ceramics galleries in Tajimi, Japan
        • Courses, equipment and stores for Potters
      • Experience >
        • Pottery Workshops in Tajimi, Japan
        • Pottery painting & Tile Art experiences in Tajimi
        • Fruit Picking in Tajimi
      • Eat & Drink in Tajimi >
        • Restaurants
        • Cafes & Confectionaries
        • Unagappa Sweets
        • Tajimi Yakisoba
      • Souvernirs
      • Currency Converter
      • Getting around
      • Lodging
    • Event Calendar
  • VR
    • Oribe's Dream - A VR Experience
    • Guided VR Tours
  • Manga
  • News index
  • Essays
    • To Tajimi and back: foreign visitors' impressions of our city
    • Walking in Tajimi >
      • 01 Walking in Takata - Onada
      • 02 Walking in Tajimi - The Immovable Wisdom King
      • 03 Walking in Tajimi - Suigetsu Kiln
      • 04 Walking in Tajimi - North of Toki
      • 05 Modern day Nagase St. - flash backs from the past
      • 06 Around Oribe Street
      • 07 The Tajimi Ginza Arcade Area
      • 08 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 01)
      • 09 Ichinokura - The Pottery Town (Part 02)
    • Cycling in Tajimi
    • Ceramics >
      • The Story of Mino Ware >
        • The roots of the Mino ware renaissance
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 1)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 02)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 03)
        • The Story of Mino Ware (Part 04)
        • Beyond Mino Ware (Part 05)
      • The ascending kiln
      • Kobe Kiln: Tradition-meets-innovation
      • A polar bear's pottery performance
      • Shiro Tenmoku (01): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Shiro Tenmoku (02): The first reproduction in 500 years
      • Finland Meets Tajimi
      • Ceramic treats in Tajimi - a Mini Tour
      • Learning pottery at the Ho-Ca workshop
      • Master Potter Hidetake Ando
      • Brave New Pottery - 3rd Ceramics
      • English Guided Tours 2019
      • Ikuhiko Shibata - Not Your Ordinary Potter
      • Kasahara - the Tile Kingdom
      • The Mosaic Princess Tile Enthusiasts
      • Striking Gold iin Mino 2021
      • Toso - the Legacy of a Mysterious Master Potter
      • A Muromachi Style Kiln Firing
    • Food and Drink >
      • Food - Wild Yam a treat for the New Year
      • Food - Eel à la tajimienne
      • Drink - Sake in Tajimi
      • Drink - Sake. "Excellently Dry"
      • Food: Cook a local snack - Gohei mochi
      • Food: The History of the Gohei mochi
    • Life in Tajimi >
      • Tono-ben: Great Ice-breaker phrases for the traveler >
        • Tono-ben Karta - a card game
        • Tono-ben; Everybody Loves Fumi-chan
        • Learn Tono-ben (Karuta cards)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi: My Life in a Seemingly Ordinary Rural Town (Part 1)
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 2): About a future where people live wherever they want
      • From Tokyo to Tajimi (Part 3): Now is the time to see the countryside
      • The Festival - Oh, What a Night!
      • The Life of an American Japanese
      • Festivals in Tajimi
      • 2018 in Tajimi - Visually
      • Film - A day in Tajimi
      • Virtual Travel - The day when Our World Shrank
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 01)
      • Blessings in a calamitous year (part 02)
      • Flower Viewing Beyond the Crowds
      • Manga: The Kappa Scene
      • Shidekobushi - the rare Magnolias of the Tono region
    • History >
      • A Failed Coup d'etat - And the Death of a Tajimi Samurai
  • エッセイ
    • ​多治見に訪れた人たち、そしてその後
    • 多治見ウォーキング >
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート1
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 小名田/高田 ​パート2 不動明王の滝
      • 焼物の町、多治見まち歩き 高田/小名田 ​パート3 水月窯
      • 多治見歴史探索ウォーキング - 土岐川の北側
      • ながせ通りウォーキング 昔の姿に思いを馳せながら
      • おりべストリート周辺 - パート1
      • 多治見 銀座通り
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート1))
      • 市之倉町 多治見の小さな陶器の町(パート2)
    • 陶器・タイル >
      • シロクマの焼き物パフォーマンス
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 1)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 02)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 03)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 04)
      • 美濃焼物語 (Part 05)
      • 美濃焼ルネッサンスのルーツ
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART1
      • 白天目 500年ぶりの再現 PART2
      • 登り窯
      • 焼き物の楽しみ方
      • 幸兵衛窯:伝統と革新の出会い
      • 多治見で作陶
      • 安藤日出武
      • タイルキングダム - 笠原町
      • 陶磁器の本拠地でグランプリを目指せ!
      • 柴田育彦 ボーダーレスな陶芸家
      • 新しい陶磁器産業の形
      • モザイクタイルプリンセス
      • フィンランドと多治見の出会い
      • 陶祖 - 謎めいた名工が遺したもの
      • 青山双渓氏、「白天目」の再現に挑んだ窯
    • 食べる・飲む >
      • 多治見で乾杯!
      • 五平餅を食べられるお店と作り方
      • ウナギ・ア・ラ・タジミエンヌ
      • 超辛口の日本酒への情熱
      • 多治見のお正月の自然薯料理
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 1
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 2
    • 東京から多治見へ - PART 3
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 01)
    • 厄年の御祈祷 (part 02)
    • 夏祭り - なんて素敵な夜!
    • 人込みを避けてお花見を満喫しよう
    • 多治見のお祭り
    • シデコブシ 東濃地方の珍しい木蓮の花
    • ビジュアルで2018年の多治見を振り返ろう
    • 多治見の楽しい方言 東濃弁
    • バーチャル・トラベル
    • ビデオ - A DAY IN 多治見
    • 失敗に終わったクーデター
    • 2019年 多治見るこみち イングリッシュ・ガイドツアー
    • アメリカン・ジャパニーズとしての暮らし
    • やくならマグカップも:カッパが登場するシーン
    • 東濃弁でカルタ遊び
    • みんな大好きふみちゃん
    • 多治見でサイクリング
  • Access
  • Contact
  • Downloads