Around Ginza Station: before it was Ginza

Ginza Was Originally a Government Silver Mint

Before Ginza became synonymous with luxury shopping, it was the name of a government institution responsible for silver and silver currency. In 1612, the Tokugawa government transferred its silver office from Sunpu, in present-day Shizuoka, to Shinryogaecho, approximately today's Ginza 2-chome. The institution was called Ginza, while the corresponding organization dealing with gold coins was known as Kinza. Surprisingly, Ginza was not yet the official neighborhood name. Residents used it as a familiar name for a district formally called Shinryogaecho. In 1800, the silver office moved to Kakigaracho in Nihonbashi, but the name remained attached to its former location. Only in 1869 did Ginza become an official town name. The district subsequently developed into a center of modern commerce and fashion. Its name preserves the memory of a government monetary institution that disappeared from the neighborhood more than two centuries ago.

→ Find the Birthplace of Ginza monument along Chuo-dori at Ginza 2-7, near Ginza-itchome Station.

Sources (in Japanese): 中央区観光協会・銀座発祥の地, 日本銀行貨幣博物館・常設展示図録, 銀座公式ウェブサイト・ヒストリー

Did Ginza begin as the shogunate's silver-mint district?

Ginza's famous name originally referred to an office responsible for producing silver currency. In 1612, the Tokugawa shogunate transferred its silver-mint operation from Sunpu to an area near present-day Ginza 2-chome. Money changers gathered along the surrounding streets. The neighborhood was then called Shinryogaecho; the name Ginza 1-chome was officially adopted in 1869.

The fashionable shopping district emerged from an extraordinary rebuilding project. After a devastating fire on February 26, 1872, the Meiji government decided to reconstruct Ginza as a Western-style brick town. British architect Thomas Waters helped design the scheme. The main street was widened to approximately 27 meters, with sidewalks and gas lamps. Construction was completed in 1877.

Most of the brick district was destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. Air raids devastated Ginza again in 1945. Shopkeepers immediately began rebuilding, and a Ginza Reconstruction Festival took place in 1946. Today's prestigious district is the product of repeated destruction and reinvention.

→ Explore Ginza 2-chome for markers of the district's origins, then examine the broad sidewalks and main avenue inherited from the Meiji rebuilding plan.

Sources (in Japanese): 中央区観光協会・銀座エリアの歴史, 国立公文書館・災害に学ぶ『銀座大火』, 東京都公文書館・銀座煉瓦街関係書類, GINZA OFFICIAL・銀座の歴史, 銀座通連合会・歴史年表