Owner Profile

Ginza Yiseyoshi Store Owner
Kimono Designer
Mie CHITANI

GREETING

Welcome to the website of Ginza Yiseyoshi.

Ginza Yiseyoshi is a boutique started in 2009 by Mie Chitani, who was born into the Chitani family, which has operated kimono and Japanese accessory stores in Nihonbashi and Ginza since the first year of Meiji era-1868.

While valuing traditional patterns and motifs, we offer products and goods with a sense of beauty and “Tokyo-ness” and “Ginza-ness” inherited from our predecessors. Since 2007, we have been holding “Small Japanese Courses in Ginza” to share our love of Japanese culture. We introduce Japanese culture centering on kimonos to beginners as well as advanced kimono wearers and customers from overseas. Please feel free to contact us.

Profile

After entering the Department of Education in the Faculty of Letters at Rikkyo University, I fulfilled a childhood dream of studying in the U.S. In 1989, I graduated from Western Michigan State University, and after graduating from Rikkyo the following year, I joined Citibank, an American-affiliated bank.

In 1999, I was Branch Manager of Citibank Ginza Branch – the first women branch manager – when I decided to leave Citibank and to join my parents’ Kimono shop. At that time, it was rare for women to be heirs of traditional Japanese businesses, and in my family of only sisters, when the time came for my parents to retire, they considered closing the shop permanently. I then felt a sense of duty to continue the family history and tradition and decided to take on the responsibility of ensuring that the business continued in the family.

Opened a casual store for young people and beginners.

When I got deeper into it, I found the Kimono business to be very enjoyable and a vocation.

However, in contrast to the fulfillment of work, the reality of the declining kimono industry is harsh, with a shift away from kimonos as daily wear and a decrease in the number of craftsmen. the “Small Japanese Culture Course in Ginza” that we held to familiarize people with Japanese culture was well received, but the number of customers who bought kimonos did not increase.
So I began to think about taking the plunge and going independent from a long-established kimono shop, whose strict adherence to traditions, I felt were a challenge to making the Kimono more popular.

In 2009, we opened ” Ginza Yiseyoshi ” to create a kimono shop for young people and kimono beginners. We have had more customers than expected, including many older customers who were not familiar with kimonos when they started.

Returning to my time at Citibank, the company was doing very well at the time, and I was able to see the company grow right before my eyes. I experienced many different types of work, but being put in charge of the Ginza branch at the end was a turning point in my life.

Ginza has been familiar to me since I was a child, but when I started working there, I learned a lot more about Ginza, and I also learned a lot about life from customers from many different fields. My attachment to Ginza has grown stronger since then.

We would be happy if you could stop by first. Please feel free to consult with us about anything.
(Please let us know at 03-6228-5875, even if it is last minute.)

The concept of “Ginza Yiseyoshi ” is here.