Official
Interview with President Benmatsu 1-Nihonbashi Benmatsu Sohonten-
It is rosemary sea, which sitates "gifts and I enjoy myself".
According to the "First Time Monogatari Map" published by the Chuo-ku Tourism Association, Nihonbashi Benmatsu Sohonten is introduced as a "shops that originated in Ozume cuisine specialty store."
We have often introduced this shop, which was founded in 1850 (Kaei 3).
Introduction of shops ⇒ February 17
History ⇒ March 7
Old postcard of Nihonbashi 1 ⇒ March 11
Old postcard of Nihonbashi 2 ⇒ March 13
This is the first part of the interview with the president.
We took care of Junichi Higuchi, the eighth generation of Nihonbashi Benmatsu Sohonten.
Let's start the interview.
〇 The Nihonbashi Benmatsu Sohonten is said to be "the restaurant that originated in the specialty store of folding dishes."
One month earlier, there may be a shop that was founded as a "lunch shop" and broke down immediately, but there is no claim from anywhere now that "we are faster".
So, isn't it unusual for a shop that only has lunch boxes?
I think there was a restaurant where a restaurant made a lunch box in one hand, but I think it was a small shop with a lunch box alone. Other than our house.
That's why I feel that there wasn't much left to the present day.
〇 Does that mean that it is the oldest existing lunch box specialty store?
At the time of my father's time, NHK came to cover making a special lunch program, but it was to cover the Kanto and Kansai regions.
My father also thought that the old one was Kyoto. I wonder if there are some older shops of lunch boxes.
In that case, Kyoto is mainly a restaurant, and I wonder if the lunch boxer is a lower one.
〇 The oldest shop in NHK's survey is Kyoto.
I didn't know.
I think it was the show of Showa 50 years, but we are the oldest in Japan.
Based on that, I said (the oldest existing one).
If you were the founder of a lunch box shop, do you say that it is a gray part that you can't say anything?
On the other hand, I'd like you to teach me (the original). I'm glad to be number 2. (laughs)
〇 Is it the Nihonbashi that was founded?
The place here should be almost the same as when it was founded.
It was vacant twice in the Great Kanto Earthquake and the Great Tokyo Air Raid, and I probably didn't do surveying at that time.
(all family members) Luckily nobody died.
I ran away and came back, and it seemed to be an early victory, so I think it's probably wrong with the size or position.
When I was born, there was a shop built after the war, a two-story building with a store and a kitchen, and the second floor with my home.
Only my grandmother lived here. This was narrow for my family, and I rented an apartment in Monzennakacho.
How many years it was in Showa 50, it was a line of COREDO Muromachi 1.2, but we built one basement floor and five floors above ground, and everyone came to live together.
Also, 30 years later, it became obsolete, so on my behalf, I first moved only to the factory to Koto-ku.
(The place where the company was founded) was a parking lot for employees, so I returned to the place where it was founded and built the head office and home.
Completely separate manufacturing and head office.
〇 When is the sign inside the store on the first floor?
The signboard was after the war.
Even before the war, there is no way to escape with such a thing.
〇 It was taken over when the seventh generation father died.
It was more than 20 years ago.
My father's brother, uncle, adopted his son-in-law and went to Tochio, Niigata Prefecture, now Nagaoka City and was the president of a restaurant, so I left university and took care of him there for two years.
When I came back and got a job (in Benmatsu), I knew that it would be impossible for a long vacation, so I was able to save a little, so I went on a trip for about three months and got a job at my parents' home.
At the end of the year, I was always very busy with New Year's dishes, but I knew that I was part-time at home from junior high school students.
"I'll come back at dusk," so I came back before Christmas in December.
At the beginning of the year, I joined the company as a full-time employee, but in June of that year (my father) died suddenly, so I became president (in six months).
〇 Benmatsu's lunch box is characterized by its "deep taste". How much do you make a day?
(Taste) It is mainly the craftsmen who take over. The factory has less than 30 people, including part-time workers.
(Number of units) About 1,000 pieces on a base, including the amount delivered to department stores.
Plus, today I'm adding 100 pieces from a certain temple or 100 pieces from a certain university, and there are 1200 days and 2000 days.
There are more events on weekends and holidays, so the number will also increase.
〇 Which is the most popular product? What's the most popular?
The most popular is "Nami Roku". (The image above)
It's two-tiered. This may be red rice. You can cook only.
The second most popular is "Shirozume", one step.
The price range is around 1,000 yen.
Other side dishes and boiled dishes sold by Mitsukoshi and Takashimaya. There are many people who buy only egg ware.
It's a pack of kinton or a single item.
〇 The former Isao of the Meiji era, Tsugumichi Saigo, also ordered Benmatsu's lunch.
I didn't know that at all.
Some of the great and celebrities of Meiji period used to study the shops that still remain today and wrote them in books, and the writer looked up about our house.
It seems that I took the back.
・・・ Continue with the second part.
Nihonbashi Benmatsu Sohonten
1-10-7, Nihonbashimuromachi
3 minutes from Mitsukoshimae Station on the Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line and Ginza Line.
０３－３２７９－２３６１
Business hours Weekdays 9:30 to 15:00
Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays 9:30-12:30
Telephone reception Weekdays 8:30-16:00
Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays 8:30 to 13:00
Click here for the homepage of Nihonbashi Benmatsu Sohonten.