, (from
The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō) The Nihonbashi district was a major
mercantile center during the
Edo period: its early development is largely credited to the
Mitsui family, who based their wholesaling business in Nihonbashi and developed Japan's first
department store,
Mitsukoshi, there. The Edo-era fish market formerly in Nihonbashi was the predecessor of the
Tsukiji and
Toyosu Markets.
Yamamotoyama began as a tea house here in 1690. In later years, Nihonbashi emerged as Tokyo's (and Japan's) predominant financial district. The Nihonbashi bridge first became famous during the 17th century, when it was the eastern terminus of the
Nakasendō and the
Tōkaidō, roads which ran between
Edo and
Kyoto. During this time, it was known as
Edobashi, or "Edo Bridge." In the
Meiji era, the wooden bridge was replaced by a larger stone bridge, which still stands today (a replica of the old bridge has been exhibited at the
Edo-Tokyo Museum). It is the point from which all distances are measured to the capital;
highway signs indicating the distance to Tokyo actually state the number of kilometres to Nihonbashi. The area surrounding the bridge was burned to the ground during the massive
March 9–10, 1945 bombing of Tokyo, considered the single largest air raid in history. Despite careful maintenance and restoration, one area of the bridge still has scars burned into the stone from an incendiary bomb. It is one of the few traces left from the fire bombing that leveled most of Tokyo. Nihonbashi was a ward of
Tokyo City. In 1947, when the 35 wards of Tokyo were reorganized into 23, it was merged with
Kyōbashi to form the modern Chuo ward. Shortly before the
1964 Summer Olympics, an
expressway was built over the Nihonbashi bridge, obscuring the classic view of
Mount Fuji from the bridge. In recent years, local citizens have petitioned the government to move this expressway underground. This plan was endorsed by Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi in 2005, and the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government and
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced in 2017 that they would begin a detailed study of the project, with a goal of beginning construction following the
2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The operator of the
Shuto Expressway received approval for construction in May 2020, which will relocate 1.8 kilometers of the expressway underground between Kandabashi and Edobashi Junctions. Construction has commenced and is expected to be completed in fiscal year 2041. Skyscrapers will also be built in the area, transforming its overall image. Nihonbashi Bridge Ichiryusai Hiroshige 1830s.png|Nihonbashi bridge 1830s by
Hiroshige ==Places in Nihonbashi==