Toyodaen and Daisen in Kanda-Sarugakucho: A Third-Generation Tea Shop and the Son’s Soba Restaurant | Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks #4

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Toyodaen, a tea shop founded in 1923, and Daisen, the soba restaurant the owner’s son opened 12 years ago. Run by two couples—the parents and their son and his wife—it is a shop with two specialties: tea and soba. Photographer ELLI heard the tea merchant’s candid take on an era when office tea has turned into bottled tea, and the care that goes into a soba dipping sauce left to rest overnight. (From installment 4 of “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks,” Hon no Machi, September 2025 issue)

Daisuke Toyoda of Daisen soba restaurant — Daisuke, who opened Daisen (photos by Eri Ito unless otherwise noted)

“Some people don’t even know what a kyusu [a Japanese teapot] is.”
—Kazuo Toyoda, third-generation owner of Toyodaen

This is the fourth walk by photographer ELLI, who says she “had no connection to Jimbocho.” The father is the third-generation owner of the tea shop Toyodaen; his son founded the soba restaurant Daisen 12 years ago. Run by the parents and by the son and his wife, it is a shop with two specialties.

Father and son: tea shop and soba shop

The shop: a tea merchant founded in 1923

Kazuo Toyoda, third-generation owner of Toyodaen — Kazuo Toyoda, third-generation owner of the shop his grandfather founded in 1923

From the 1970s through the ’90s, tea sold well. The phone rang with orders from morning on, and every day he piled a small car high and delivered tea to companies all around.

But the pandemic changed tea culture completely. The custom of brewing tea for visitors at the office gave way to “bottled tea,” and the sushi restaurants and izakaya (Japanese pubs) that once took large deliveries closed or stopped ordering. More and more people feel that brewing tea is a chore, Kazuo says wistfully.

Toyodaen when it was founded — Toyodaen in its founding days

Toyodaen’s retro cash register — A cash register brimming with retro charm

Summer teas at Toyodaen — Teas perfect for summer, too

Signature dishes: soba sauce rested overnight

Daisen, which Daisuke opened 12 years ago, has become so popular that customers keep coming until lunch service ends. His obsession is the soba tsuyu (dipping sauce). His mentor, the late Nobuo Hirasawa, taught him how to make kaeshi, the soy-based foundation of the sauce, and through repeated trial and error he refined it until it became his own flavor. The cold dipping sauce is prepared the day before, he says, and left to rest overnight.

Tendon set at Daisen — The “tendon set” (tempura rice bowl with soba), in your choice of portion size

Tempura curry udon at Daisen — Spicy “tempura curry udon”

The menu covers both soba and udon, and the so-called “seasonal special soba,” offered only a few times a year, is also popular. With a youthful sensibility, Daisuke keeps trying out all sorts of new ideas.

The owners: parents and their son’s family

The two couples of Toyodaen and Daisen — Kazuo and Takae, and Daisuke and Ayaka. The Toyodaen signboard was hand-carved by the second-generation owner, Ichinosuke

Shop information

▶Shop page: Toyodaen (map and related articles)
▶Shop page: Daisen (map and related articles)

Toyodaen (tea shop, founded 1923)
Daisen (soba)
Address: 1-4-4 Kanda-Sarugakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-3219-1355
Closed: Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays
Nearest stations: Suidobashi, Jimbocho
▶View on Google Maps
*Address, phone and closing days are from the Hon no Machi member shop list (September 2026 issue). Hours and other details may change; please check with the shop before you visit.

Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks: All installments

▶See every installment and a map of the shops ELLI has visited on the series page

◀Previous: #3 Hasebe
▶Next: #5 @Wonder

#1　Luncheon
#2　The Adirondack Café
#3　Hasebe
#4　Toyodaen & Daisen (this article)
#5　@Wonder
#6　Book House Cafe
#7　Kissa Hotaka
#8　Mamekobo
#9　Banuken
#10　Asanoya
#11　Yamagataya Paper Shop
#12　Kissa Poupée
#13　Ochanomizu Hotel Shoryukan
#14　Kanda Awahei
#15　Daiki Shoe Store
#16　Sakaiya Sports
#17　Fuji Record Sha

Eri Ito (ELLI)
Photographer. In her Hon no Machi series “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks,” she visits shops in Kanda, Ochanomizu and Jimbocho every month.

This article introduces installment 4 of “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks” (photos and text by Eri Ito), published in the September 2025 issue (Vol. 5) of Hon no Machi, the community salon magazine of Kanda, Ochanomizu and Jimbocho.

▶Read the September 2025 issue of Hon no Machi (PDF, in Japanese)

Founded in 1980, Hon no Machi brings you the latest from Book Town every month, together with Jimbocho’s bookstores, publishers, cafés and galleries.

▶Back issues of our series are being published on our note page (in Japanese)

日本語で読む — Read this article in Japanese