The First Branch “Nunoya Zenjiro”
The first branch of Azabu Nagasaka “Sarashina” was opened by the founder of Tsukiji “Sarashina no Sato,” Zenjiro Akatsuka. Zenjiro was born in 1876 (Meiji 9). His mother, Maki, was the daughter of a soba shop in Shimbashi Rozukicho (now around Shimbashi 5-chome). She married into a rice shop, but amid the confusion of the early Meiji period, the family business was closed. Zenjiro was sent to work at the main shop as an apprentice when he was eight years old.
Zenjiro’s talent as a soba craftsman stood out, and by the age of seventeen or eighteen, he had become one of the main cooks at the shop. During this time, his mother Maki moved to Ginza Shinchi (now around Ginza 5-chome) to live with her family’s relocated soba shop and raised Zenjiro’s four younger siblings.
After fifteen years of training at the main shop, Zenjiro became independent at the age of twenty-three, in 1899 (Meiji 32).
The shop was located in Fukagawa Sagacho, and its sign read “Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Branch Nunoya Zenjiro.”
Although the location was not particularly favorable as a commercial area, it was during the period between the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars, and the wartime economy had brought prosperity even to the downtown district of Fukagawa. Thanks to this background, the business grew smoothly, and by 1912 (Meiji 45), it had moved to Ushigome Kagurazaka, one of Tokyo’s most flourishing districts at that time. The new sign read “Nagasaka Sarashina Ushigome Torideramachi Branch.” The word “Azabu” had disappeared from the sign, likely because the year before, Azabu Nagasakacho had dropped the Azabu prefix and become simply Nagasakacho.
The Ushigome branch survived the Great Kanto Earthquake unscathed and further enhanced its reputation as a branch of Azabu Nagasaka “Sarashina.” In his later years, Zenjiro served as chairman of the Greater Tokyo Soba Association in 1939 (Showa 14), but unfortunately fell ill and passed away in 1941 (Showa 16).
Incidentally, only one other employee from the main restaurant besides Zenjiro was allowed to start an independent branch, which opened in the late Meiji period as the “Shiba Nihon Enokinishi-machi Branch.” That branch later produced “Kakinokizaka Sarashina” and others, but was forced to close during the wartime evacuations.
Zenjiro’s talent as a soba craftsman stood out, and by the age of seventeen or eighteen, he had become one of the main cooks at the shop. During this time, his mother Maki moved to Ginza Shinchi (now around Ginza 5-chome) to live with her family’s relocated soba shop and raised Zenjiro’s four younger siblings.
After fifteen years of training at the main shop, Zenjiro became independent at the age of twenty-three, in 1899 (Meiji 32).
The shop was located in Fukagawa Sagacho, and its sign read “Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Branch Nunoya Zenjiro.”
Although the location was not particularly favorable as a commercial area, it was during the period between the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars, and the wartime economy had brought prosperity even to the downtown district of Fukagawa. Thanks to this background, the business grew smoothly, and by 1912 (Meiji 45), it had moved to Ushigome Kagurazaka, one of Tokyo’s most flourishing districts at that time. The new sign read “Nagasaka Sarashina Ushigome Torideramachi Branch.” The word “Azabu” had disappeared from the sign, likely because the year before, Azabu Nagasakacho had dropped the Azabu prefix and become simply Nagasakacho.
The Ushigome branch survived the Great Kanto Earthquake unscathed and further enhanced its reputation as a branch of Azabu Nagasaka “Sarashina.” In his later years, Zenjiro served as chairman of the Greater Tokyo Soba Association in 1939 (Showa 14), but unfortunately fell ill and passed away in 1941 (Showa 16).
Incidentally, only one other employee from the main restaurant besides Zenjiro was allowed to start an independent branch, which opened in the late Meiji period as the “Shiba Nihon Enokinishi-machi Branch.” That branch later produced “Kakinokizaka Sarashina” and others, but was forced to close during the wartime evacuations.
Revived as”Sarashina no Sato"
Zenjiro’s successor was Shoji (正治), who had become an adopted son-in-law in 1936 (Showa 11). However, under the wartime regime, Shoji was drafted into military service in 1944 (Showa 19), and the branch was closed due to forced evacuation. The third-generation owner, Shoji’s (正治) son Shoji (昭二), was born in 1943 (Showa 18). Shoji’s (昭二) elder sister Masami, born in 1937 (Showa 12), vividly remembers evacuating to Sano City, Tochigi Prefecture after witnessing the Tokyo air raid of March 10, 1945.
“At that time, the only things we brought with us were items we could trade for rice or vegetables. We even gave the shop sign to a nearby chicken restaurant. When my father returned from the war and heard about it, he was furious and said he would never run a soba restaurant again.”
As he said, Shoji (正治) changed his line of work to the fruit and vegetable trade, and the once-famous “Ushigome Sarashina” soba restaurant was closed. It was Shoji’s son, Shoji (the third generation, 昭二), who revived the soba restaurant. After graduating from university, he trained at “Nunotsune Sarashina,” from the same lineage, and opened his own restanrant in 1967 (Showa 42). Shoji’s father, Shoji (the second generation, 正治), regretted closing the business, and it was he who came up with the new name “Sarashina no Sato.”
The restaurant was built on land originally inherited by Zenjiro’s mother, Maki, from her family. It had first been located in Ginza, but after the earthquake, urban redevelopment designated Tsukiji as the replacement site. Before the war, a row house had stood on the property, and upon returning from evacuation, the family temporarily shared part of it. When the restaurant first opened, it occupied half of that row house with about twenty seats. Three years later, in 1970 (Showa 45), the building was reconstructed and expanded to fifty seats. Then, in 1977 (Showa 52), a new three-story reinforced concrete building was constructed, and at that time, they stopped delivery service and switched entirely to handmade soba.
“At first, I was embarrassed to let customers see the soba-making area, so we didn’t make it glass-fronted,” Shoji (昭二) laughed. In 1990 (Heisei 2), the building was rebuilt again, and in-house milling was introduced.
Later, in May of 2003 (Heisei 15), the restaurant relocated to a nearby site in the Tsukiji area, with Shoji’s (昭二) eldest son, Shigeyuki, succeeding as the fourth-generation owner.
Excerpt from “The Genealogy of Soba Restaurant” by Shinya Iwasaki (Kobunsha Chie no Mori Bunko)
“At that time, the only things we brought with us were items we could trade for rice or vegetables. We even gave the shop sign to a nearby chicken restaurant. When my father returned from the war and heard about it, he was furious and said he would never run a soba restaurant again.”
As he said, Shoji (正治) changed his line of work to the fruit and vegetable trade, and the once-famous “Ushigome Sarashina” soba restaurant was closed. It was Shoji’s son, Shoji (the third generation, 昭二), who revived the soba restaurant. After graduating from university, he trained at “Nunotsune Sarashina,” from the same lineage, and opened his own restanrant in 1967 (Showa 42). Shoji’s father, Shoji (the second generation, 正治), regretted closing the business, and it was he who came up with the new name “Sarashina no Sato.”
The restaurant was built on land originally inherited by Zenjiro’s mother, Maki, from her family. It had first been located in Ginza, but after the earthquake, urban redevelopment designated Tsukiji as the replacement site. Before the war, a row house had stood on the property, and upon returning from evacuation, the family temporarily shared part of it. When the restaurant first opened, it occupied half of that row house with about twenty seats. Three years later, in 1970 (Showa 45), the building was reconstructed and expanded to fifty seats. Then, in 1977 (Showa 52), a new three-story reinforced concrete building was constructed, and at that time, they stopped delivery service and switched entirely to handmade soba.
“At first, I was embarrassed to let customers see the soba-making area, so we didn’t make it glass-fronted,” Shoji (昭二) laughed. In 1990 (Heisei 2), the building was rebuilt again, and in-house milling was introduced.
Later, in May of 2003 (Heisei 15), the restaurant relocated to a nearby site in the Tsukiji area, with Shoji’s (昭二) eldest son, Shigeyuki, succeeding as the fourth-generation owner.
Excerpt from “The Genealogy of Soba Restaurant” by Shinya Iwasaki (Kobunsha Chie no Mori Bunko)