Building Bridges

Nihonbashi Club Members’ sense of community doesn’t stop at the doors of the satellite hub.

As a young girl, Kaori Koide dreamed of living in Nihonbashi. Tokyo’s “zero point” and the beating heart of old Edo, Nihonbashi was the starting point for Japan’s five key roads, which funneled people and trade in and out of the future capital.

A history buff and rakugo comedy enthusiast, Koide felt a kinship with the area’s enduring traditions and its community of artisans.

“When I moved to Nihonbashi, all the memories of my childhood reading history books about the Edo period came alive,” says Koide, who serves on the Nihonbashi Committee. “And now I can serve the community and express my love of Nihonbashi to other people. It feels like my destiny.”

Together with fellow Members Geoff Bowman, Takuo Misaki and Bryan Jacop, Koide formed an outreach subcommittee to develop ties between the Club and the local community.

In recent months, Members have taken part in cleanups of the Nihonbashi River, Nihonbashi Bridge—an annual summer event—and the Muromachi area.

This month will see Members don Club happi coats and carry mikoshi floats at Fukutoku Shrine’s Shinkosai Festival and visit Bettara Ichi Market for the annual expo of pickled daikon radish. In November, the Club hosts renowned poet Kobutsu Kato for a haiku event.

“Not all the Nihonbashi Members necessarily have ties to the area,” says Koide, who plans to lead area tours. “So I felt like I could connect them to Nihonbashi and introduce them to its history and the local people.”

Azabudai Member Geoff Bowman joined the committee hoping to help the “entrepreneurial” downtown hub grow.

“We’re really getting in deeper and deeper with the local community,” says Bowman. “It’s a win-win. Nihonbashi wants to get the message about its history out to the world, which is unknown to some people, and Members want to know about this history.”

While Bowman concedes that it takes time to build relations within a neighborhood, he says “great progress” has been made since the Club opened its doors in Nihonbashi Muromachi Mitsui Tower in March 2021.

Bryan Jacop, who volunteered and devoted his time to philanthropic projects in his native San Francisco, jumped at the opportunity to immerse himself in the Nihonbashi community.

“I feel you should support the community you’re a part of, instead of just benefiting from it,” says the Azabudai Member, sharing a piece of advice once imparted by his grandfather.

One of Jacop’s initiatives was an evening of rubbing elbows beyond the Club.

“The hope was to get Members at Nihonbashi out into the local businesses,” he explains. “Ideally, we’d contact two or three pubs ahead of time and ask them to share a five-minute introduction about their business. This way, fellow Members could meet and converse with locals and, hopefully, encourage more people to join the Club.”

The Nihonbashi Club is only 18 months old, but its Members are already forging local links that should serve the Club for years to come.

“We wish to build a bridge between Nihonbashi Club Members and the local community,” says Koide. “That’s our initiative.”