The Ginza Mitsukoshi building's full-scale renovation, which began in stages in September, was completed on October 14th, marking its grand reopening. The sixth floor, which houses men's clothing and general merchandise, and the seventh floor, which houses living, are currently open. An airport-style duty-free store is scheduled to open on the eighth floor later this year. The opening ceremony featured guests Hiroshi Onishi, President and CEO of Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, Makoto Asaga, General Manager of Mitsukoshi Ginza, and Noriko Maeda. Instead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a "tug-of-war" ceremony lowered the curtain, revealing a silver logo noren curtain on a white background, celebrating the store's 85th anniversary this year. "It's almost miraculous that we've been able to do business at the 4th intersection of Ginza, the world's capital, for so many years. This is not the end, but a new start. We want to create a store that satisfies customers from all over the world," said President Onishi, welcoming eager customers at the entrance.
"Under the theme of 'the latest global department store,' we want to take on the challenge of creating a new style of department store," says store manager Asaga, who is excited about the "Global Message" zone, the information dissemination base on the 7th floor living room floor, saying, "I would love for everyone to come and see it."
The opening exhibition, "Tea Box Exhibition Connecting to the Future," is on display until October 27th, featuring works by creators and producers on tea boxes made from old wood excavated during the restoration of Tai-an, a national treasure tea house associated with Sen no Rikyu. Participants included a diverse range of names, including fashion designers Tamae Hirokawa of SOMARTA, Hiroyuki Horibata and Makiko Sekiguchi of matohu, artists Koichiro Kimura, Shinichiro Ogata of SIMPLICITY, product designer Toshihiko Sakai, Yoko Kawashima of ifs Future Research Institute, Yves Bougon, president of Hearst Fujingaho, pastry chef Hironobu Tsujiguchi, and ceramicists Morimitsu Hosokawa and Koichi Uchida. The theme of tea ceremony also included a corner in the Japan Edition zone featuring a selection of tea utensils and crafts based on actor Arata Iura's "mite" (viewing) techniques. An invitational tea ceremony supervised by Arata Iura is also scheduled for October 23rd for purchasing customers.
