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Chiharu Numata had a lot to celebrate when his store turned 100 in 2024. Masatoyo Knives had been in his family for four generations and had spent decades in the same location on the second floor of a commercial building in downtown Shizuoka.<\/p>\n
\u201cJapanese kitchen knives are truly excellent products with high quality,\u201d he says. \u201cBut in Shizuoka, there are no other speciality shops like ours left any more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike Japan\u2019s world-renowned draws like Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, Shizuoka\u2019s economy is largely dependent on customers closer to home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe largest customer base is people from Shizuoka city. We have a lot of customers from there,\u201d Numata says. \u201cThe next largest is people from within Shizuoka prefecture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city of Shizuoka lies just an hour south of Tokyo on the Shinkansen (bullet train), where, on a clear day, Mount Fuji is visible in picture-perfect glory. But here, the streets are often quieter and tourists are harder to come by than in major cities across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistorically, the central part of Shizuoka prefecture, including Shizuoka city, has not prioritised tourism,\u201d says Akazawa Nobuaki, who works for CSA Real Estate that handles many of the rental listings in Shizuoka. \u201cSo it sees less tourists as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n