8 old shops in Tokyo that have been passed down for centuries

A long-established soba restaurant founded in 1789, with its head office located in Azabujuban. It is a popular restaurant with a long history, and is said to have delivered meals to the Empress and the Imperial family during the Meiji period. At the beginning of the Edo period, when soba was commonly eaten, black soba became the mainstay because it contained a lot of buckwheat hulls and cuticle. Apparently, the dough was not elastic and had a rough texture.

The restaurant offers dark soba made with hand-pulled flour from whole buckwheat hulls, so you can enjoy the original flavour of buckwheat, as well as plain white soba made only from buckwheat cores. They also offer thick noodles and, depending on the season, soba with flavours such as yuzu, mugwort and pumpkin added to the dough.

Yoshino Sushi Head Office has been serving sushi in Nihonbashi since 1879 (Meiji 12). It is known as the birthplace of toro and is highly praised by customers for its high quality. Their signature dish, toro sushi, is characterised by its melt-in-your-mouth smooth texture.

The restaurant uses the traditional method of making sushi rice, using red vinegar and salt to enhance the flavour, and fresh toppings delivered every morning. There's octopus, squid, star eel, yellowfin tuna, mantis shrimp, and more, but the best part is the tamago-yaki, which is topped with a thin fried egg.

A long-established chicken cutlet restaurant established in 1909 located in front of Shimbashi Station. It is also known as the restaurant where Yukio Mishima had his last dinner.

The unique feature of oyakodon, the "kamatsu food" served at lunchtime, is the use of minced meat. The minced meat is a mixture of Ojusi Keiran, Tokyo Keiran, Jizo Keiran and duck meat, which is sweet and moist, giving it a nostalgic flavour. It is combined in a fluffy way with eggs and mitsu leaves.

As soon as you enter Yamariki, founded in 1924, you are immediately greeted by the rich aroma of beef stew that has been slow-cooked for hours. This long-established izakaya in the heart of the city features "yakitori," the distinctive aroma of yamariki that permeates all three floors (and the stairs).

In addition to the signature menu, there are typical izakaya menu items such as yakiton with soy sauce or salt, sashimi, tofu and pickles. Each seat has a large bottle of tanshinoko juice that you can pour as much as you like to add flavour to your dish. If you taste it closely, you'll realise it's vodka-based. This original flavouring is very strong, so be careful. Payment is cash only.

A long-established restaurant founded in 1861 where you can enjoy pre-Edo sushi. It started out as a sushi stand in Nihonbashi, and the second generation operated it in a kabuki hut. When the shop burned down in the Great Kanto Earthquake, they opened the current shop.

The ground floor is small, with seven bar seats and three table seats, and only the bare essentials, giving it a clean feel. The sushi is made with red vinegar and has a unique brown colour and flavour. The small sushi rice topped with seasonal ingredients is exquisite.

A Western restaurant that opened in Ginza in 1895. This restaurant is said to be the originator of today's Western food culture. It started out as a Western-style restaurant, but after much trial and error, it developed popular menu items such as schnitzel and omelette.

The "Original Tonkatsu" is a French style tonkatsu made with beef rather than the pork familiar to the Japanese, and instead of butter, it is made with a secret blend of oils inspired by tempura. Fried Crispy. Shredded cabbage, essential to the schnitzel, was invented during the Russo-Japanese War, when cooks were taken away by soldiers and manpower was in short supply, so it was invented as a time-consuming alternative to hot vegetables.

Established in 1880, Kamiya Bar is the oldest Western-style bar in Tokyo. It's not crowded, with smooth tables under bright lights, but the lively atmosphere and the smell of cigarettes are reminiscent of the atmosphere of Asakusa, which used to be popular with workers.

We recommend trying the original cocktail "電気ブラン", which was made in the Meiji era when electricity was scarce. It is made of brandy, gin, citrus liquor and herbs, and you can feel the heavy flavour of 100 years.

This Kanto Oden restaurant was founded in 1932 and is located near Shinbashi Station. The dark broth has a strong bonito flavour, so you can taste the richly flavoured Kanto Oden.

The take-home oden is packaged in the shop's original red cans, making it perfect as an accompanying gift, and is one of the specialities of Shinbashi Odakyu. Due to its location, the shop is full of office workers enjoying the oden and sake side dishes.