TORAYA GINZA
A first for Toraya! A store where you can enjoy freshly made sweets by artisans
Toraya was founded in Kyoto in the late Muromachi period, and became a purveyor to the Imperial Palace during the reign of Emperor Go-yozei (1586-1611). When the capital was later moved to Tokyo, the chain expanded into Tokyo, while keeping its Kyoto store intact. Toraya's connection with the Ginza district dates back approximately 80 years, to the opening of the Toraya Ginza store in 1947 (Showa 22).
The store will be renamed TORAYA GINZA and reopen in April 2024. One notable feature is the addition of reservation-only counter seating, where customers can enjoy Japanese sweets while watching the artisans at work. This is a service that is only available at TORAYA GINZA and is not available at any other TORAYA stores nationwide.
You can enjoy the taste of freshly made cakes by artisans at tables or on the terrace. One of the most popular is the baked confectionery "Freshly Baked 'Midnight Moon'." For each order, the artisan bakes the pastry on a copper plate and sandwiches it between sweet bean paste made from carefully cooked red beans from Tokachi, Hokkaido. The pastry is then toasted with a burner to give it a fragrant aroma, and the heat of the pastry makes the sweet bean paste melt in your mouth.
Other items on the menu include seasonal fresh sweets, classic yokan, anmitsu, and oshiruko. TORAYA GINZA is also unique in that it offers products made with spices and fruit.
There are only four special seats at the counter where you can watch the Japanese confectioners making their sweets. To use these seats, you must make a reservation through the reservation system "TableCheck" on the website. 
Freshly baked "Midnight Moon" is a confectionery that was first introduced at Toraya Paris in 1994 and has been re-imported to Japan, where it is served fresh at Toraya Ginza. It comes with a drink and costs 1,958 yen. 
"TORAYA GINZA Limited Fresh Sweets" with a drink is 2,090 yen. The fresh sweets for October 2025 are "Osmanthus Flowers," which are white bean paste topped with minced meat mixed with strong osmanthus tea. Osmanthus tea leaves are also hidden in the white bean paste inside. This item is also handmade by artisans for each order. 
From the building entrance along Ginza Suzuran Street, take the elevator up to the fourth floor. There is also terrace seating where sunlight pours in. The restaurant was designed by architect Hiroshi Naito, who also designed Toraya Akasaka. 
There is a merchandise corner just before the eat-in area. Chigusakan, bite-sized yokan made with traditional Japanese sweet ingredients as well as fruits and spices, is available for 2,484 yen per box (9 pieces). It is a product exclusive to TORAYA GINZA. The flavor changes depending on the season.
Ginza Sembikiya Ginza Main Store
A fruit specialty store with a popular fruit parlor
Ginza Sembikiya will celebrate its 130th anniversary in 2024. In 1894 (Meiji 27), the first generation owner branched off from the Sembikiya Main Store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, and opened a fruit specialty store in Ginza 8-chome. In 1913 (Taisho 2), a new store was built in the same location, and the second floor of the building was named "Fruits Restaurant Fruits Parlor." Thus, Ginza Sembikiya became known as the store that opened the world's first "fruits parlor."
In 1931 (Showa 6), the company was appointed a purveyor to the Imperial Household Ministry (now the Imperial Household Agency). After the war, in 1947 (Showa 22), a sister store was opened in Ginza 5-chome. In 1999, the main Ginza store moved to its current location and continues to operate there.
The store was renovated in 2017. The layout remains the same as the original, with the fruit section on the first floor and the fruit parlor on the second floor. Parfaits are popular at the fruit parlor. For example, in autumn, seasonal fruits such as Japanese chestnuts take center stage, but the "muskmelon parfait" is popular all year round.
Shizuoka-grown muskmelons are grown using the "one stem, one fruit" farming method, which allows only one fruit to grow on one stem. They excel in sweetness, soft texture, and a wonderful musky aroma, making them a top-class product in Japan. Other items on offer include the "fruit punch," which was first served at Ginza Sembikiya about 100 years ago, and the "fruit sandwich," which has been on the menu for over 80 years. You can also enjoy these traditional flavors.
"Muskmelon Parfait" 3,300 yen. From the bottom of the glass, vanilla ice cream, feuilletine, muskmelon, elderflower jelly, white chocolate cream, melon sorbet, and whipped cream are layered beautifully, with muskmelon on top, skin and all. 
The fruit sandwich, featuring beautiful cross-sections of strawberries, apples, yellow peaches, muskmelon, and chestnuts, costs 1,540 yen. The bread is also homemade. Also available on weekdays from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM is a sandwich lunch set with seasonal cut fruit and a drink for 1,870 yen. 
Fruit punch (1,320 yen) is a glass filled with pineapple, apple, pear, and yellow peach marinated in red wine syrup, garnished with large pieces of seasonal fruit. 
Ginza Sembikiya Ginza Main Branch Fruit Parlor is located on the second floor of the building. The seats by the window offer a view of Harumi-dori Street below. 
The fruit section on the first floor is lined with seasonal fruits carefully selected by Ginza Sembikiya. The cakes and fruit sandwiches offered on the second floor are also available for takeout. 
The first floor of the New Ginza Sembikiya Building in Ginza 5-chome is the fruit section of Ginza Sembikiya Ginza Main Store, and the second floor is a fruit parlor.
MATSUZAKI SHOTEN (Ginza Matsuzaki Senbei Main Store)
A confectioner with over 220 years of history who pursues the possibilities of Kawara Senbei
Founded in Shiba, Tokyo in 1804 (the first year of the Bunka era), it moved to Ginza in 1865 (the first year of the Keio era). Ginza Matsuzaki Senbei, with its flagship store near the Kabukiza Theater, boasts a history spanning 220 years since its founding. Even under the current president, eighth-generation Sohey Matsuzaki, the company's signature product remains the same: "Oedo Matsuzaki Shami-do," a tile-shaped rice cracker decorated with seasonal designs. It is a traditional product made by carefully baking a dough made from wheat, sugar, and eggs.
Meanwhile, new flavors are being introduced one after another, such as "Oedo Matsuzaki Koshiki," a bold arrangement of the traditional Kawara Senbei. The eat-in space offers desserts and oshiruko (sweet red bean soup) in collaboration with Ginza Kuya Sorairo, a new brand that inherits the bean paste-making techniques of Kuya, a Japanese confectionery shop in Ginza 6-Chome. Even if you only order a drink, they also offer a service that includes Kawara Senbei as a tea snack.
"Oedo Matsuzaki Calendar 16 sheets" 2,916 yen. In early autumn, the designs include "Moon Viewing Rabbit" and "Persimmon." You can also purchase it individually (starting from 195 yen). 
"Oedo Matsuzaki Grid 6 pieces" (left) 648 yen has crushed peanuts in the dough. "Oedo Matsuzaki Black Grid 6 pieces" (right) 864 yen is a tile cracker with cocoa nibs and chocolate from Kuramae Dandelion Chocolate kneaded into the dough. 
"Matsuzaki Rour with Ginza Kuya Sorairo" (440 yen) is a collaboration sweet made with soft tile crackers from Ginza Matsuzaki Senbei, filled with in-store shiratama (rice flour dumplings), fresh cream, and Ginza Kuya Sorairo's coarse bean paste. Take-out is also available. 
The store has a deep interior, and there is an eat-in space right at the entrance. 
Located across Kobikicho Street from the Kabukiza Theatre. Look for the purple noren curtain. *Planned to move to a nearby location in 2026
Yoshiya, Kobikicho
A famous dorayaki shop loved by Kabuki actors
Located in a narrow alley just north of the Kabukiza Theater is Kobikicho Yoshiya, a Japanese confectionery shop founded in 1922. Originally, the shop sold high-quality fresh sweets, but now it only sells dorayaki, a favorite of kabuki actors.
The bean paste is made with the finest red beans from Tokachi, Hokkaido, which are left to rest overnight to allow the sweetness to settle. The wrappers are baked on copper plates every morning, and each one is sandwiched with bean paste. The dorayaki's unique semicircular shape, created by folding the wrapper in half, is "legally devised by the founder so that it would be easier for actors wearing makeup to eat," says Daichi Saito, the third-generation owner.
With a chewy skin and a mildly sweet filling, dorayaki are popular even among those with more than just a sweet tooth. Demand is also high for gifting, leading to the creation of a service that stamps them with company or personal branding marks. The editorial staff at BRUTUS often buy dorayaki as gifts. When ordering, we request that they be stamped with the letter "B" in the magazine's font. Creating your own personalized branding mark as a keepsake is sure to spark conversation with the recipient.
One dorayaki costs 184 yen. The elastic texture of the skin comes from kneading the dough by hand (no glutinous rice flour is used). On the left is Kobikicho Yoshiya. On the right is a dorayaki with a "B" branding, commissioned by the BRUTUS editorial team as a gift (dorayaki with the BRUTUS branding are not sold to the general public). The cost of making an original branding iron starts from 25,000 yen. 
Boxes of 5 pieces are available for 918 yen (the photo shows a box of 15 pieces for 2,754 yen). They often sell out, so it's recommended to make a reservation by phone. 
Saito Daichi, the third generation owner of Kobikicho Yoshiya. Behind him are a number of branding irons lined up. Including those stored in a separate location, the number of branding irons exceeds 10,000. 
Located just behind the Kabukiza Theater, the restaurant is in an alleyway that exudes a Showa-era atmosphere. It's also just a 10-second walk from Magazine House, where the BRUTUS editorial office is located.
Kyoraku
A ramen restaurant with a reputation for its simple flavor
The founder, Nakano Taichiro, started the business as a food stall. "I don't know exactly when we started business, but I heard that we set up shop in our current location in Ginza 2-Chome about 70 years ago, in 1956 (Showa 31)," says Kazuhiko, the third-generation owner who manages the shop.
Conveniently located in Ginza, the "Chuka Soba" (Chinese noodles) with soy sauce-based soup and medium-thick straight noodles is priced at 850 yen, which is enough to get change back from a 1,000 yen bill. Many fans queue up every day to get this simple yet well-balanced bowl of flavor.
The noodles are homemade, and Kazuhiko starts making them after closing time, letting them sit overnight before serving. He makes not only the large pork fillets and bamboo shoots, but also the wonton wrappers himself. If you order the "Char Siu Wonton Ramen" topped with these three ingredients, you'll be treated to a generous portion that covers the noodles. Considering the location and the portion size, it's surprising that a bowl costs just 1,350 yen.
"Bamboo shoot soba, regular size" 1,050 yen. The sight of thin bamboo shoots floating in the bowl is beautiful. 
"Char Siu Wontonmen Regular" 1,350 yen. The char siu is made from pork thigh meat. The wonton filling is made from minced meat only. The toppings absorb the soy sauce soup, further enhancing the flavor. 
Kazuhiko, who manages the kitchen, and his father, Kikuo, the second-generation owner, are also in the kitchen for about an hour every business day. 
The store reopened in 2019 following the reconstruction of the building it was located in.
