To Hachimaki Okada with hopes for the restoration of Ginza

　The restaurant stands “as it always has” since February 1968 (Showa 43), when the three-story building was built. It was just after the tram disappeared from Ginza-dori. Before moving to the current location, for a time after World War II, the restaurant stood on the same street, but around where the Matsuya parking lot is now. They first started business in 1916, in a spot next to what is now the CORE Building, down the alley where Wakamatsu, famous for their “anmitsu,” stands now. It was presumable after the great earthquake that this alley came to be known for good food and sake, and was nicknamed “Shokusho-jinmichi,” after the one by Shirokiya in Shinbashi.
　The founder, Shoji Okada was born as the son of a shipbuilder in Fukagawa. When he worked for a grocery store as the head-clerk, he would often go to ”Shinkiraku” in Tsukiji, where he met Ko, who he would later marry. Ko, being a daughter of a milk store owner in Asakusa, the couple was an authentic “Edokko” couple, born and raised in Edo (Tokyo). Shoji had an unusual background of having voluntarily fought in the war against Germany during World War I, a few years prior to opening the restaurant. Fighting on the Western Front, where the total count of Japanese military men are said to have been only around 200, he must have been quite the patriot。

　Hitomi Yamaguchi, Kenichi Yoshida… Many people have wrote about Okada. The book that contributed to widely spreading Hachimaki Okada’s name was aforementioned Ginza Fukko (Restoring Ginza) by Takitaro Minakami. The novel narrated the restoration of Ginza from burnt ruins, featuring Okada, who had lost his store in the Great Kanto Earthquake after seven years since its opening, as the main character. The novel was serialized in Miyako Shimbun from 1931 (Showa 6). The author later commented that the characters and events were all fictional, but it is a fact that the motto “Restoration begins from good food. Good food that prioritizes nutrition lies in the hachimaki.” was posted on the reed screen of the small building and the description of Okada is, as aforementioned, very true to the facts.
　The narrator, a young man named Muta, is Minakami, the author himself. In the novel, Muta works for Mitsubishi Corporation, but Minakami, whose real name was Shozo Abe, worked for Meiji Life Insurance. Another character from the novel is Yamagishi, Muta’s friend from university and second-generation owner of an accessory store in Ginza. Judging from the name “Yamatoku,” I would imagine that the model was “Daitoku,” a hat store that was located in Ginza 8-chome near Shinbashi.
　Ginza Fukko was performed at Teigeki Theater just after the war in October 1945 (Showa 20), adapted by Mantaro Kubota and featuring Kikugoro VI. The setting was changed to the aftermath of the World War II air raids. The 1965 roundtable dialogue (among Ko Okada, Fumiko Enchi, Koji Tosaka and Yajiro Ikeda) first discusses this play, so Kikugoro’s performance may have contributed to making Hachimaki Okada known to a wider audience. Just when the show was making a hit, Kikugoro happened meet Ko in Ginza and told her, “How long are you going to keep the restaurant closed? I don’t want to be acting a lie.” This encouraged her to reopen the restaurant in Ginza 3-chome.
　In 1948, when the restaurant was reopened, Shoji fell ill and passed away at the end of the year at the age of 58. That marked the beginning of an era when the restaurant was run by the famous widow and her son Chiyozo.
“Second-generation owner Chiyozo, a student at Keio University: ‘I will take the cooking knife in my hand once I graduate.’ That is how Okada-kai was organized by a group of frequent diners who agreed: ‘Let us support this reliable son.’
　The story of the debut of the second-generation chef is written in Tokyo Fubutsu Meibutsushi (Scenes and specialties of Tokyo) (by Keiji Isurugi) published in 1951 (Showa 26). I have been told that in reality, Okada-kai was a fan club launched by Takitaro Minakami in 1933 (Showa 8), but the fans became even more closely knit after Shoji’s sudden death, especially among Keio alumni, sharing the purpose of supporting the young second-generation owner. Ko played the role of producer of their activities, which were led by Shinzo Koizumi, a frequent diner from before the war and a former teacher of Chiyozo.
　Chiyozo seems to have been a taciturn person, and Hitomi Yamaguchi’s essays mostly feature Ko. However, in a dialogue titled “Hocho Shinjidai” in the July 1961 (Showa 36) edition of Ginza Hyakuten, he speaks openly with Shogo Okazoe from Kanetanaka and other young chefs of Japanese restaurants, perhaps because he was well-acquainted with his peers.