The Story of the Nakameguro Souvenir Shop

As soon as we started the Nakameguro Souvenir Shop, infectious diseases began to spread around the world, and there were no tourists at all and no souvenirs as well. In that situation, we have been doing what we could do as a souvenir shop based in Nakameguro.

Today, I would like to write about how Nakameguro Souvenir Shop was born.

It all started when I was helped by a woman living in Nakameguro.

There was a time a few years ago when I was mentally and physically overwhelmed. (I'm the kind of person who seems to have no worries. In fact, I don't have many worries.) But I had never been so trapped in my life before or since.

At that time, an elderly local woman in Nakameguro helped me. I was very touched and very grateful. It's a long story, so I won't go into it here, but she really helped me.

In addition to expressing gratitude to her, I got to feel like giving back something to the city of Nakameguro. I wanted to do something to help the city of Nakameguro, something that would benefit someone else in the same way that the woman had helped me.

What can I do for the city of Nakameguro?

(1) I work in design.
I usually work in advertising planning and design. So I can design.

(2) I have a community in Nakameguro.
I've lived in Nakameguro for a long time and have many friends here. This is why I really love it. It's hard to find a town like this.

(3) They are unusually pushy when they have something they want to do.
The Nakameguro Souvenir Shop is run together with its members, but I couldn't have done all of this if I had been alone.  I think I have the power to like people more than others, so I forcefully seduced the people I liked and brought them into the group.

(4) I have an overflowing love for Nakameguro.
My love for Nakameguro is so great. That made me even refuse to go to any drinking parties outside the city till years ago. Thanks to being blessed with friends, everyone always visit the city because Hana-chan was there, and I was always indulged by them. I still do, actually.

These are what I can do by myself.

Let's start a souvenir shop in Nakameguro!

It feels like I create a souvenir shop on a whim, but there I was, not only because I love souvenirs, but also because I wanted to contribute to the city of Nakameguro.

It's hard to find a souvenir shop in Tokyo that is so city-specific. "Japan" and "Tokyo" goods have been produced, but unless a city is a major tourist destination, it is unlikely that a single city would have a big name on its goods. Even in Shibuya and Shinjuku, there are very few.

That being the case, Nakameguro, a bedroom community of Shibuya, had no reason to have a souvenir shop. That's how I started this store. I thought that a souvenir shop would be a way to fulfill what I could and wanted to do for this town, and I hoped that the products from Nakameguro Souvenir Shop would remind visitors of fun memories they had in Nakameguro.

But more than that, I have my own feelings about Nakameguro.

Nakameguro needs to become the city of choice.

I think 2021 will be the year when the global epidemic of infectious diseases accelerates working from home, companies will ban commuting, and the idea of relocating their headquarters to local cities is advancing, and it will be also the year when they think that they will no longer need to live in Tokyo.
We can say that we live in a world where "Regional revitalization" is accelerating at a very fast pace.

In such a time, while big cities in Tokyo such as Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro and tourist spots such as Asakusa are good, bed towns such as Nakameguro, Sangenjaya and Shimokitazawa would be hard to survive if they were just continue to be high-rent "fashionable towns". I have my doubts about that.

In a world where regional revitalization is advancing as it is, urban commuter towns cannot survive. Nakameguro must be chosen as a city of tourism, entertainment and residence.

I want people who visit Nakameguro to enjoy, to come to again and again and to live in this city.

I created the Nakameguro Souvenir Shop.

"Connecting people to Nakameguro"

This was our slogan when we created the Nakameguro Souvenir Shop.

I would like to actively connect people to Nakameguro and introduce their charms so that people who visit Nakameguro will want to come back and live someday. Such a feeling is put in this slogan. Maybe it's giving people recommendations for places to eat and drink in Nakameguro, maybe it's having a drink with them. It would also be a great pleasure if the Nakameguro Souvenir Shop's products could spark a conversation without us even being there.

We hoped that our souvenirs would bring back memories of the fun we had in Nakameguro.

This is a concept illustration of what the store should look like.

It's a souvenir shop, but I hope it can be a meeting place where people can casually greet each other and gather around.

People ask me, "Do you have a physical store? We don't have a specialty shop of our own at the moment, but instead ask various shops around town to carry our products, because we think it would be more beneficial for everyone to have stores where people can purchase our products.

So that's the story of how our store came to be.

If you know Nakameguro, or are interested in it, please visit our online store.

See you soon.

Hana-chan, Nakameguro Souvenir Shop