"What day is today" has a historical anniversary, a birthday of great people and celebrities, and an anniversary of good and a little painful talk, but this "Shoe Day" commemorates the day Katsuzo Nishimura built a leather shoe manufacturing factory at Irifune 3-chome in 1870.
According to the Japanese Dictionary (Shinchosha), Katsuzo Nishimura was born in Edo in 1836 and was the third son of a servant of the Shimousa Sakura Domain. His older brother Shigeki Nishimura was a bureaucrat, moral thinker, member of the House of Peers, and head of the Kazoku school in the Meiji period. He studied Western artillery, and in 1856 he left the domain and became a merchant. Keio 3rd year (1867), opened a gun shop in Edo, and after the Meiji Restoration, it became a purveyor of the Great Governor's Office. Since 1870, Isekatsu Shoe Factory, Leather Factory, and Merriyas Factory were established. In 1875, we started manufacturing fire-resistant bricks, and in 20 years Shinagawa Hakuren established a factory, which became a pioneer of the business. "
Did you have the talent to abandon samurai and turn to merchants? The reason for starting the shoemaking industry is that the military shoes imported by Masujiro Omura, the founder of the Army, responded to a proposal to "create Western shoes that match the Japanese feet" because the military shoes imported are too large. The place where the factory was built is the current Irifune 3-2-10, and the monument of this "the birthplace of the shoe industry" stands in the entrance planting of ITOKI's building. "We also supported Masatomo Hotta of Sakura feudal lord, who is rich in enterprising spirit," said Masatomo Hotta's father was Masatomo Hotta (old man) who is familiar with history textbooks, and the Shimousa Sakura clan was deeply connected to Chuo-ku, and the place of Chanogi Shrine (Ningyocho 1-chome) was the Nakayashiki of the Hotta family and worshiped the guardian angel.
When you take a little walk, you will encounter a monument called "?!" In Chuo-ku. It's an unexpected pleasure to find Edo and Meiji living here and there. It’s been the perfect season for a walk.
Why don't you go out for a "history walk" while paying attention to pollen and PM2.5?
Monument to the birthplace of the shoe industry, Irifune 3-2-10 Soba Subway Shintomicho Station
