Ginza

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Wakō department store

Mitsukoshi department store at Ginza

Kabuki-za theater

Sony Building

Yūrakuchō Center Building (Yūrakuchō Mullion) at Sukiyabashi intersection

For other uses, see Ginza (disambiguation)

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Ginza (銀座) is a district of Chūō Ward, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaicho, and north of Shinbashi. It is known as an upmarket area of Tokyo with many department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses.

1 History
2 Companies based in Ginza
3 Subway stations
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

Ginza is named after the silver-coin mint established there in 1612 during the Edo period.

Modern Ginza began in 1872 when, after a devastating fire, the district was rebuilt with two- and three-story Georgian brick buildings designed by the Irish born architect Thomas Waters, along with a shopping promenade on the street from the Shinbashi bridge to the Kyōbashi bridge in the southwestern part of Chūō Ward. Most of these European-style buildings are gone, but some older buildings are still there, most famously the Wakō building with its clock tower.

Ginza is a popular destination on weekends, when the main north-south artery is closed to traffic. This policy began in the 1960s under Governor Ryokichi Minobe.