Kuramae - Secrets of the Old Storage District

Hi. Welcome to "Dive in Tokyo."

I'm your reporter Arisa Adams.

In this program we'll be taking a dive into the history of uncommon areas in Tokyo.

Today we're in Kuramae.

It's next to the popular sightseeing spot Asakusa.

And with me is another reporter...

Arisa!

- Here.
- Moctar.

What are you doing over there?

I see horses here.

Horse? What do you mean?

There's got to be a meaning behind this.

What's the name of the bridge?

Umayabashi.

"Uma" means "horse."

Exactly. So,

in this program, we explore the history and the cultures of Tokyo

that even the locals overlook.

Right. That's what me and Moctar are going to be doing today.

So, are you ready?

Let's Dive in Tokyo!

Let's dive into the Kuramae area by the Sumida River.

You can find tons of retro toys here.

Why? The reason lies in the past.

These old boats are part of the tale of how this used to be a geisha area.

In the old days, canals supported the city's growth.

How beautiful!

We visit a local Hindu temple.

Today we'll explore the origins of this fascinating area.

"Dive in Tokyo."

- Sumida River, right?
- Yeah.

I heard it's connected to Asakusa.

Oh, really? Oh, I didn't know that.

Kuramae is downstream from Asakusa.

Our two reporters are strolling along the banks of the Sumida River.

Look at this huge wall!

It is really huge.

And it goes on for so long.

- You can't see the end. No?
- Right?

- It's so long.
- Yeah.

What is this for?

There's a large, ornately decorated wall along the riverbank.

Moctar, look at this.

Oh, what's this?

It looks like a design of maybe a village or a town.

The painting shows scenes of a large town from the past.

I see there's white buildings that kind of look like houses maybe?

These white walls, they kind of look like what we just saw, no?

- Right.
- Also, there's the gated...

- Well, they look like gates, right?
- Yeah.

What are they for?

Maybe it's sort of to keep people out of... I'm guessing

it's a sacred area?

There's also a drawing to the right.

It looks like a map of the drawing we just saw, no?

And speaking of a map,

- I have something good.
- What? What?

- What are you going to do with it?
- This is a map of current-day Tokyo.

But if you slide it over here,

- it takes you back to the Edo period.
- Wow, that's so cool.

Right?

The app allows you to compare modern Tokyo

with how it looked in 1860 during the Edo period.

Right now, the two are here.

It looks like it could be a pier of some sort.

If we line up this map with the drawing on the wall...

It looks like the same shape as this.

This must be a pier!

That's right. Ships came and went here in the Edo period.

Hey, check this out.

It says "okome-gura."

- Okome-gura?
- "Kome-gura"

which means "rice storage," right?

So I'm guessing what we thought were houses over here

are actually places where they stored rice.

Okay! So the boats came into the piers

and brought the rice into the storages.

This was a huge facility.

During the Edo period, this was a rice storage facility for the shogunate.

At its peak, there were over 350 storage buildings.

Rice used to be taken as a form of tax.

It was gathered from across Japan to pay the wages of the samurai

or to be put into the government stockpile.

The rice from Osaka is almost here.

Make way.

Here we go.

Good work. Bring it in.

Business boomed around the rice storage area,

and eventually a town formed there.

This is how Kuramae got its name.

"Kura" means "storehouse," and "mae" means "in front."

"The town in front of the storehouse."

So now we got the history of Kuramae.

- It was named after rice storage.
- Yes.

But actually, I'm really curious how it became what it is today.

You know, I agree. You know, I'm really curious

about these really narrow canals.

Oh, really. I'm actually more curious about this main street.

Oh, I see. So how about we split up into two

- and dive into Kuramae.
- Good idea.

- Let's go.
- Let's go.

Dive into Kuramae.

Moctar heads for the area's biggest street.

It's called Edo Avenue.

Nice.

There's a...

toy shop.

And I see many retro classic...

toys here.

Interesting.

The store has toys made from tin, uncommon nowadays.

Excuse me, what kind of store is this?

We specialize in fireworks and tin toys.

This is the fourth-generation owner of the shop, Yamagata Tsunehiro.

It's been in business for 110 years.

They sell retro toys and fireworks.

The store is located on the main street of Kuramae, Edo-dori Avenue.

This street is also home to numerous other toy shops.

Can you guess why?

This street led to Sensoji Temple. People shopped here for souvenirs.

Edo-dori Avenue connected the center of old Edo

to Sensoji Temple in Asakusa.

During the Edo period, people stopped in Kuramae

to buy toys and dolls as gifts.

That gift culture has continued in Kuramae,

establishing many toy stores in the area.

Gifts that were popular during the Edo period are still sold here.

For example, at this shop, Japanese kites, masks and dolls,

all gifts that children in the Edo period loved.

So, will you kindly tell me a bit about these toys?

These toys were exported to America after WW2.

This robot was the number one leading toy export after the war.

Number one?

In the 1950s, tin toys like these

turned "Made in Japan" into a household term.

Toy exports contributed greatly to Japan's economic development.

It was Kuramae toy stores

that helped make Japanese toys popular overseas.

Excuse me. I have a question about this photo.

This view is not really familiar with me.

When and where is this from?

This is a photo from the mid-60s of a dining area called Yanagibashi.

You could watch the fireworks on the Sumida River from here.

It was the most major geisha area in Tokyo.

Moctar is going to see what's become of the geisha area from the photo.

This bridge is called Yanagibashi,

the same as the area in the photo.

Look at the view of boats.

It makes me feel like I'm traveling to a hundred years ago.

And all the buildings.

It's wooden and...

This is romantic.

There are many classic boats in the river,

and a classic looking shop on the side.

This store looks old.

This "tsukudani" shop was founded in 1881.

Akimoto Osamu is the current owner.

Tsukudani is a preserve that's eaten with rice.

Seafood and vegetables are simmered for many hours in a sweet soy sauce.

This is "anago" or conger eel.

The shop is known for using only the best of what's in season

with recipes and methods passed on for generations.

Akimoto shows us drawings and photos from the past

that reveal the history of the area.

Ryogoku Bridge by Hiroshige.

Fireworks have been launched here since the Edo period.

Just like now, you could watch from a boat.

A summertime staple of the Sumida Riverside is fireworks.

Geisha entertained at the dining area by the water.

The literati of Kuramae were also said to visit.

"Fudasashi" or rice brokers exchanged rice for money.

They were the patrons of the literati.

Samurai were paid in rice, so they needed to exchange it for money.

The fudasashi would earn a fee off the exchange

and also acted as moneylenders for the samurai.

This is how the fudasashi made large amounts of money.

They were also famous for spending money indiscriminately,

a behavior that became known as the "Kuramae way."

This is Yanagibashi during the 1960s.

It was the top geisha area in Tokyo.

Just like back in the Edo period,

people took pleasure cruises on the Sumida River.

We didn't have air conditioning. But it was cool on the river.

You chartered a boat and boarded at the pier.

Customers and geisha had fun, enjoying the breeze on the river.

Before World War II,

Akimoto's family used to run a cruise and prepared food for it.

Their tsukudani became a popular souvenir

and it became their main business.

But as the city developed,

walls were built to protect against the river flooding,

and the vibrant geisha area faded away.

Akimoto's family has seen all these changes over the years.

Even though the geisha are gone,

he still gives talks at events to share the history of the area.

This place has preserved a lot of Japanese culture from the Edo period.

You can experience the real Japan here, and that's something I want to protect.

Meanwhile, Arisa has been following the old map.

All right, so it seems like where I'm standing right now

all used to be water.

This is exactly where the narrow water canals used to be.

So just imagine all of this being water,

and now it's filled up with concrete and land.

All these streets were once canals.

Look at these sewage holes!

I've never seen them look like this before.

These manholes are labeled for storm water,

and wastewater also runs under them making use of the old canals.

So that means this all used to be water.

But I wonder why there's so many water canals.

One reason was for drainage.

Storm water and wastewater from homes ran into them

just like modern sewers.

Another important reason was for transport.

Many canals were built to bring goods inland.

The canals were vital to Edo

as it developed into a city of waterways like Venice.

But as other ways to transport goods became more prominent,

the canals were covered up with manholes.

Arisa continues following one of the waterways.

Look at this place!

You know, I've been noticing some really cool shops around here.

I'm going to go check it out.

This place has such a cool atmosphere.

Is it a studio or like an antique store?

So I design and make watches here.

Araki sells the watches he designed here,

which is also his workshop.

Naturally, he designs the clockfaces

and even makes the leather straps himself.

Ten years ago, Araki had the idea to start his own workshop

and he wanted it to be in Kuramae.

Kuramae prospered as a town of craftspeople.

I thought it was a good place for my store and workshop.

Indeed, Kuramae has long been home to many workshops.

The canals were a major factor.

They offered a way to procure materials and to ship goods.

Many of these workshops made Buddhist items.

In the north of Kuramae is a street lined with many Buddhist altar shops.

There are about 50 stores here today.

This shop for Buddhist items started in 1890.

All the items here are handmade.

In order to make a Buddhist altar,

you need a whole team of craftspeople such as woodworkers,

lacquer painters, and metal ornament makers.

Many of these craftspeople used to live around Kuramae.

You could hear the clanging of metal, the distinctive smell of lacquer.

And you'd notice all the sawdust from the woodworkers.

The number of these craftspeople has gone down over the years,

but there are still workshops in the area.

This metal ornament maker's name is Izumi Hiroshi.

He's making decorative pieces for a palanquin.

It's thanks to craftsmen like Izumi

that Japan's traditional crafts are alive and well.

Some workshops are also in the business of selling crafts now.

It's becoming a popular kind of store in Kuramae.

This shop is actually a renovated storehouse

which operates as a cafe and sells chocolates.

It's a popular spot with young people on the weekends.

Not only do they sell chocolates, but they also make them on location.

The shop carries on the legacy of Kuramae craftspeople.

By the way, I am on a mission to learn more about Kuramae's history.

Is there any place you could recommend me where I can learn more about it?

You have to check out the shrine back there, Torikoe Shrine.

I think I'm lost.

As Arisa makes her way to Torikoe Shrine,

she bumps into a man on his way to worship.

We have a small temple here,

so we're going to do "oinori," in Japanese.

Like, we're going to have "puja." Puja, we call in Hindi.

So it really starts soon, so I'm prepared for that.

I see. And what kind of temple?

Do you like to join? Please have a look.

- Come inside and join. Yes.
- Perfect.

Please have a look.

You need to take off your shoes.

Because shoes are not allowed in the temple.

- All right.
- Please.

From the outside, it looks just like a normal house.

How beautiful!

It's nice, no? This is our temple.

- How is this?
- It's so gorgeous.

The gold, it's really striking.

- That's right.
- This is the temple.

- Correct?
- Yeah, yeah. This is our temple, yeah.

Lord Swaminarayan, Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

We consider them as a supreme God.

This is a temple of Swaminarayan Hinduism.

Taito City, where Kuramae is located, is home to many people from India.

This temple was established five years ago

as the Swaminarayan population increased.

It's overseen by Kuldeep Mehta

who came to Japan about 20 years ago

through his work in the jewelry trade.

So we've all lived here the last many years, 20, 30 years.

So almost a hundred families, we are in Okachimachi.

We all deal in diamond jewelry and different kinds of color stone.

Okachimachi is next to Kuramae and is a center for the jewelry trade.

Some of the craftspeople that make Buddhist items

also started making accessories.

That was how Okachimachi became a popular location for jewelry.

After World War II,

followers of Jainism from India opened many jewelry shops in the area.

Two years ago, Kuldeep started offering vegetarian meals

for people that had religious dietary restrictions

like himself and the Jains.

In the jewel trade here, many follow Jainism or Swaminarayan Hinduism.

We are vegetarian, so our food contains no meat or fish.

We also don't eat onion or garlic, so we don't use them either.

In the evening, the Indian community come here for worship after getting off work.

Kuramae, basically, I'm in a jewelry business.

So the jewelry market is only in this area.

But you know, I was very happy.

Lots of, like, neighbors, they are Japanese. They're helping me a lot

to learn Japanese, to learn the culture,

to learn like what we call the etiquettes,

and, like, you know, rules and...

- Manners...
- Yeah, manners. A lot.

So I really love Japan.

Well, thank you guys so much for showing me around

and allowing me to enter the temple.

I had such a great experience.

- Thank you, guys, so much.
- Thank you so much.

After leaving the temple, Arisa arrives at the historic shrine.

I think this is the place! Torikoe Shrine.

It says it was founded about 1,300 years ago.

It has ties to Japanese mythology

and is an important place to the locals.

Moctar! What a coincidence.

Arisa, what are you doing here?

- What are you doing?
- Yeah.

Apparently, this shrine has a lot to do with the history of Kuramae.

Oh, no way. So the owner of the watch store just told me about this place,

- but I don't know anything about its history.
- Oh, really?

So why don't we ask the Shinto priest.

- Let's find out.
- Yes, let's go.

Welcome!

This is Kaburaki Hiromaro,

the Head Priest of Torikoe Shrine.

So I hear that this shrine has been around

since the early development of Kuramae.

Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Torikoe Shrine used to be on a hill.

The shogunate was developing the area, but they needed more land.

They took earth from the shrine's hill to reclaim land from the river.

Then they built the rice storehouses.

And the town that sprung up became Kuramae.

Wow, that's so interesting!

Who would have thought this shrine started it all.

We really explored a lot today, didn't we?

Yeah, really a lot. We've been to like so many places.

Having explored this deeply

the culture of Tokyo, the culture and history of Tokyo,

now even just walking around the city,

I can feel the history itself is still breathing today.

In the future of Kuramae, they're still going to cherish the history

and incorporate new history as well.

- I've got to say that was my favorite part.
- Yeah.

- Kuramae, it's alive!
- Alive!