Meiji Era liquor store in Tokyo
On a bike ride around the Yanaka area of Tokyo I spotted this old style building. Yanaka was spared the fire bombings of WW2 so you do sometimes see buildings more than 60 years old, a rarity in Tokyo. I didn’t know if this was built before the war or just made to look old. Given the concrete base I figured the latter.
However, thanks to the sign on the front (吉田屋酒店) and with a little internet research, it turns out that this Yoshida Liquor Store was built in Yanaka in Meiji Jidai, Year 43 (1910). In the 1980s it was moved to its present location. You can check it out in person at this address: 〒110-0002 東京都 台東区 上野桜木2-10-6.
February 9th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Yeah, I have seen a few of these Meiji era or older liquor stores in Gifu. There are quite a few in Takayama.