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Next year, Daiki Shoe Store, a long-established shoe shop in Kanda, marks its 75th anniversary. Owner Terujiro Kitashiro, who was born into a shoemaking family, stocks everything from carefully chosen French, Italian and American shoes to sneakers, and helps each customer find shoes that fit their feet. Photographer ELLI paid a visit. (From the August 2026 issue of Hon no Machi, “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks” installment 15)
“People pay attention to how shoes look, but what the wearer actually touches is the inside of the shoe.”
—Terujiro Kitashiro, owner
In this series, ELLI visits shops in Kanda and Jimbocho. Installment 15 takes her to Kanda Daiki Shoe Store, a shop devoted to genuine, well-made footwear that also carries a wide range of affordable shoes and sneakers for younger customers.
The Shoe Store Behind Kanda’s Dandyism
About the Shop: A Long-Established Store with Shoes of Every Kind
Last year marked 150 years since Western shoes arrived in Japan. In a history still that young, Kanda’s Daiki Shoe Store, which turns 75 next year, is a long-established shoe shop in every sense.
How to Choose Shoes That Fit Your Feet
Everyone’s feet have their own quirks of shape. Finding shoes that suit you helps keep your feet—and your whole body—healthy. “Leather, which has been used since ancient Egypt, is the material most in tune with the human body,” he says.
How you use your shoes matters, too. “Your feet sweat 80 cc a day, you know.” To let shoes dry out after soaking up that sweat, he says, it’s best not to wear the same pair the next day but to give them a day’s rest. Ideally, you should rotate between three or four pairs a week.
About the Owner: Terujiro Kitashiro
Kitashiro’s father, the founder, died young when Kitashiro was eight. He later took over the shop, which his mother had been running in the meantime. The family home in Kanda-Sarugakucho, where he was born and raised and still lives, also served as a workshop where shoemakers worked when he was a child.
He is not a craftsman himself, but because he grew up watching shoes being made, repaired and adjusted, Kitashiro can give customers precise advice on choosing shoes that fit their feet.
Kitashiro says he “can’t thank enough” his four staff members, starting with his wife, Junko. “Even when I’m away for things like local neighborhood association activities, I can leave the shop in their hands with complete confidence,” he says.
Shop Information
Kanda Daiki Shoe Store
Address: 1-1 Kanda-Ogawamachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-3292-0704
Closed: Sundays
▶Shop page (map and related articles) ▶View on Google Maps
*Address, phone and closing days are from the Hon no Machi member shop list (October 2026 issue). Please check with the shop before you visit.
Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks All installments
#1 Luncheon
#2 The Adirondack Café
#3 Hasebe
#4 Toyodaen & Daisen
#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 (this article)
#16 Sakaiya Sports
#17 Fuji Record Sha
▶See every installment and a map of the shops ELLI has visited on the series page
Eri Ito (ELLI)
Photographer. She writes the series “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks” for Hon no Machi, visiting a different shop in Kanda, Ochanomizu and Jimbocho every month.
This article introduces installment 15 of “Photographer ELLI’s Town Walks” (photos and text by Eri Ito), published in the August 2026 issue of Hon no Machi, the community salon magazine of Kanda, Ochanomizu and Jimbocho.
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