A Merchant with 300 Years' History in a Historically Significant Building

The Isego rice shop in Tokyo's Bunkyo-ku dates to the early 18th century. Imai Ryuuji, its eighth-generation proprietor, is a certified "five-star rice meister," skilled at selecting rice. He sells quality Koshihikari rice from Uonuma, in northern Japan, as well as high-grade varieties Kiwami and Tsuu, which he mills in-house.

The Isego shop is a wooden structure built in the Meiji period (1868–1912), but it has features of earlier (Edo-period) merchant architecture that are visible even today. It is now a nationally designated "cultural asset." A stone warehouse built in the early 20th century stands next door.

The shop interior, decorated with rice plants and large rice tubs.