Shopping for heritage inside Tokyo’s legendary Imperial Hotel arcade

The old bar and arcade of Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel are pockets of calm and civility in a hurried world. Everything here deserves your time and attention: the pots of cascading orchids at florist Hibiya Kadan; the slices of sweet yokan jelly at Toraya, a confectioner founded in the early 16th century; the omakase dinner at 14-seat restaurant Torakuro. You can get a swift shoeshine and a fresh haircut too.

Mayuyama jewellers, which was one of the first occupants of the hotel’s arcade when it opened in 1923, is still here today. Its fourth-generation owner, Tatsuya Mayuyama, is its managing director and also the chair of the arcade association. “We have customers who have been coming for years,” he says. “Recently, a woman told us that she wanted to buy her granddaughter a piece of jewellery from us, just as her grandmother had done for her.”

There are six jewellers here among more than 40 shops, including Uyeda, another of the original arcade outlets. “There’s a camaraderie,” says Mayuyama. “If we don’t have something that a client is looking for, we will ask other shops whether they have it.”

When Monocle visits, the owners here are happy to share anecdotes about their businesses, many of which date back decades. Kazutaka Takahashi is in charge of Tani Shirt, a custom shirtmaker that was founded in Yokohama in 1930. Hollywood stars have snapped up its pieces and dapper Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts was a regular. Kashiko Tomita, meanwhile, runs her family souvenir business, Torii, another arcade veteran that sells bags crafted from silk kimono sashes, hair clips and decorative fans and pouches, all made in Japan. Her family had connections with Kihachiro Okura, one of the hotel’s founders.

Atsushi Tomidokoro looks after Sokendo, his family’s 70-year-old sword and armour shop. In the window is a katana from 1549 and another handsome blade by a modern master. “Collectors and museums like having the full story behind a piece,” says Tomidokoro. A good sword is marked with the name of its maker and often its past owner. Elsewhere in the shop, a 300-year-old suit of samurai armour stands to attention.

Koichi Nakayama is the president of Antique Tei, an art business started by his grandfather. He is surrounded by traditional Japanese screens and pristine ceramics by Edo-era craftsman Ogata Kenzan. “My clientele is Japanese and international,” he says. He can also source specific pieces on request. “Foreign clients are often looking for full-size folding screens, while Japanese collectors might go for something smaller, often connected to chanoyu [a tea ceremony].”

The hotel, which occupied a Frank Lloyd Wright building from 1923 to 1967, has been in its current home since 1970; it is undergoing change again and will be reborn in the mid-2030s in a new building designed by Tsuyoshi Tane. For all its heritage, Tokyo doesn’t fear change.
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