Kidai Shoran (detail) © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berlin), former collection of Hans-Joachim and Inge Küster, gift of Manfred Bohms 2002, photography: Tadao Kodaira

24Kiya

These four shops in a row are all called Kiya. The one on the far right is the forebear of the present-day Nihonbashi Kiya that sells knives and edged tools, and which still uses the same crest. Nihonbashi Kiya was given permission to become independent from the main Kiya store that sold sundries and small goods. It was allowed to continue using the Kiya name, however, regulations stipulated that the new Kiya could not deal in the same type of merchandise, and thus the change from sundries to knives.

Kiya