{"id":43962,"date":"2025-12-28T21:05:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T12:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com?p=43962"},"modified":"2026-01-21T18:06:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T09:06:42","slug":"nihonbashi-benmatsu-sohonten-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/shinise-en\/nihonbashi-benmatsu-sohonten-en","title":{"rendered":"Nihonbashi Bens\u014d Main Store"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Founded in Kaei 3 (1850)<\/p>\n\t

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Boxed bentos that carry on the irreplaceable Edo-style taste to the present day<\/h2>\n\n

This is the oldest existing boxed-bento specialty shop in Japan \u2014 Nihonbashi Bens\u014d Main Store. Since the time when the fish market was in Nihonbashi, it has satisfied the appetites of Edo people who love good food.<\/p>\n\n

Bento names remain the same as in the old days \u2014 \u201cNamiroku\u201d and \u201cNamikashi-shichi\u201d named after the box size, \u201cShirozume\u201d filled with white rice, and \u201cAkazume\u201d with red rice. If it\u2019s your first time, \u201cNamiroku\u201d is the standard choice.<\/p>\n\n

When you open the sealed wrapping paper, a gentle forest scent unique to wooden sheets spreads out.The wooden-sheet box made from thinned lumber is an eco-friendly packaging that is kind to the planet.<\/p>\n\n

When you open the lid, it is filled with side dishes that bring a rush of nostalgia.The rice packed in the wooden box stays pleasantly chewy and never sticky even when cold, because the wood absorbs excess moisture.Whether it\u2019s white rice, red rice, or flavored rice like octopus rice or scallop rice, you\u2019ll find yourself scraping every last grain off the wooden sheet with your chopsticks.Why is it so delicious?<\/p>\n\n

Sweet-and-salty simmered vegetables with plenty of sugar and soy sauce, juicy tamagoyaki soaked with broth, kamaboko, ginger and kelp simmered spicy-salty, teriyaki fish, and finally very sweet sweet-potato kinton.There are several theories for why the flavor became so bold \u2014 to make the food keep longer, because proud Edo people spared no expense on costly sugar, to give high-calorie strong flavor for the laborers of Edo, or because Edo people simply disliked weak flavors and loved strong ones.<\/p>\n\n

Each side dish is seasoned with a perfect sweet-and-salty balance \u2014 the true \u201ctaste of Nihonbashi Bens\u014d,\u201d a one-and-only flavor refined by generations of craftsmen who have devoted themselves to the pursuit of deliciousness.<\/p>\n\n

That is why many customers say \u201cIt has to be Bens\u014d\u201d or \u201cI suddenly crave it,\u201d and recently its charm has been spreading to younger generations through social media.<\/p>\n\n

History<\/h3>\n\n
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In Bunka 7 (1810), Yoichi Higuchi from Echigo founded a dining place called \u201cHiguchiya\u201d at the fish market in Nihonbashi.Later, to help the busy workers at the fish market, leftover dishes were wrapped in wooden sheets or bamboo skins for them to take home \u2014 this became the beginning of Bens\u014d\u2019s boxed bento.In Kaei 3 (1850), during the era of the third owner, Matsujiro, the business became a boxed-bento specialty shop and took the name \u201cBens\u014d.\u201dIt is said to be the first boxed-bento shop in Japan that still exists today.<\/p>\n\n

Please enjoy the rich flavor that has been loved by the people of Edo.<\/h3>\n\n
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Mr. Junichi Higuchi<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The 8th-generation owner of Nihonbashi Bens\u014d Main Store<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Some people are surprised at first, but this strong flavor is exactly what makes Bens\u014d unique.We share information online and through social media so that more people can learn about Bens\u014d\u2019s worldview and dedication.We receive many wonderful comments such as \u201cI want to try it\u201d and \u201cI never knew that story.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

This Notable Item<\/h3>\n\n
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Namiroku<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

The standard bento \u201cNamiroku\u201d can be chosen with white rice, flavored rice, or red rice (the photo shows the red rice bento, 1,350 yen).The side dishes include the three main ones mentioned above, plus sweet simmered vegetables, teriyaki fish, kamaboko, and sweet-potato kinton.Seeing how the side dishes are beautifully arranged in the unpartitioned wooden box feels like witnessing the perfect form of a Japanese bento.<\/p>\n\n

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Tamagoyaki, Tsutobu, and Spicy-Simmered Ginger and Kelp<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Here are three of Bens\u014d\u2019s signature side dishes.First is \u201cTamagoyaki,\u201d made with plenty of dashi and baked to a moist and tender finish.\u201cTsutobu\u201d is soft and chewy raw wheat gluten wrapped in a bamboo mat (tsuto) and simmered sweet.The last is \u201cSpicy-Simmered Ginger and Kelp,\u201d sharply seasoned with soy sauce to blend spiciness and umami, tightening the overall flavor of the bento.These three dishes let you clearly feel the unique flavor balance of Bens\u014d.<\/p>\n\n

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Spot Overview<\/h3>\n\n
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Address: <\/strong><\/th>1-10-7 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo<\/td><\/tr>
Phone: <\/strong><\/th>03-3279-2361<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Business hours: <\/strong><\/th>Weekdays 9:30\u201316:00
Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays 9:30\u201312:30<\/td><\/tr>
Closed:<\/strong><\/th> None<\/td><\/tr>
Payment method: <\/strong><\/th>Cash only<\/td><\/tr>
External Link:<\/strong><\/th>Official Website<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Information is current as of publication and may change. Please check before visiting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Founded in Kaei 3 (1850) Boxed bentos that carry on the irreplaceable Edo-style taste to the present day This is the oldest existing boxed-bento specialty shop in Japan \u2014 Nihonbashi Bens\u014d Main Store. Since the time when the fish market was in Nihonbashi, it has satisfied the appetites of Edo people who love good food. Bento names remain the same as in the old days \u2014 \u201cNamiroku\u201d and \u201cNamikashi-shichi\u201d named after the box size, \u201cShirozume\u201d filled with white rice, and \u201cAkazume\u201d with red rice. If it\u2019s your first time, \u201cNamiroku\u201d is the standard choice. When you open the sealed wrapping paper, a gentle forest scent unique to wooden sheets spreads […]","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":40909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4040,4041],"tags":[5612],"area":[3991,4091],"class_list":["post-43962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shinise-en","category-signature-foods-en","tag-star-en","area-tokyo-en","area-chuo-ward-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43962"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44806,"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43962\/revisions\/44806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43962"},{"taxonomy":"area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agatajapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area?post=43962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}