Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee

Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee (永坂更科 布屋太兵衛) is a soba restaurant brand located in Azabu-Juban 1-chome, Minato, Tokyo. The current company was established in 1959 (Showa 34), and it operates under a yago (shop name) that traces back to the Edo-period Sarashina soba house founded in Azabu-Nagasaka-chō by a man known as Nunoya Tahee. According to the Japanese Wikipedia account, that original Nunoya Tahee was actually named Horii Seiemon and was the first generation of what is today Sarashina Horii. The modern Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee presents itself as a traditional soba establishment, but its corporate history is distinct from the Sarashina Horii lineage. The brand's postwar history is closely tied to the Azabu-Juban shopping street. After the original business ceased in 1941, the traditional noren was revived in 1949 by Horii Matsunosuke (later the seventh generation of Sarashina Horii), his wife Kin, Isamu Kobayashi of the Kobayashi toy shop in Azabu-Juban, and Kimura Masakichi, the shopping street association head. In 1959, Isamu Kobayashi established the company Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee. The following year it absorbed the gōshi-gaisha Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Sōhonten and became a kabushiki-gaisha, with Kobayashi holding representative rights and the name Nunoya Tahee registered as a trademark. The restaurant is known for Sarashina-style soba, a pale, refined buckwheat noodle tradition associated with the Sarashina name. Over the decades the company also produced packaged soba dipping sauce (soba tsuyu) in cans and bottles, which became the subject of a major food-labeling scandal in 1990 when it was found to have altered production dates on unsold stock. The Tokyo Metropolitan Health Bureau ordered a three-day suspension of its soba tsuyu operations, and the company recalled and discarded large quantities of product. The brand has also been involved in long-running disputes over the use of the "Nagasaka Sarashina" name, reflecting the tangled history of the Sarashina soba houses in Tokyo. In 1984 a civil court rejected its request to bar a similar trade name, and in 1985 a dispute over the use of "Nunoya" led to the renaming of one branch as Sarashina Horii. As of 2016, the third-generation head, Kobayashi Masako, continued to run Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee. The restaurant remains a well-known soba destination in Azabu-Juban, near Azabu-Juban Station.

The name Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee derives from the Edo-period Sarashina soba house in Azabu-Nagasaka-chō, founded by a man known as Nunoya Tahee. According to the Japanese Wikipedia, his real name was Horii Seiemon, and he was the first generation of what is now Sarashina Horii. The original business was affected by the Great Kantō earthquake and the economic depressions of the early Showa period, and it ceased operations in 1941 (Showa 16). After the war, in 1949 (Showa 24), the traditional noren was revived by Horii Matsunosuke (later the seventh generation of Sarashina Horii), his wife Kin, Isamu Kobayashi of the Kobayashi toy shop in the Azabu-Juban shopping street, and Kimura Masakichi, the shopping street association head. They established the gōshi-gaisha Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Sōhonten. In 1956, the gōshi-gaisha Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Kobayashi Isamu was established, with Horii Matsunosuke and his wife investing but leaving after five years as originally agreed. In 1957, in a mediation over trade name infringement, the presidents of Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Honten and Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Sōhonten agreed that both shops could use the same title. On November 14, 1959, the company Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee was established. In 1960, Horii Ryōzō (later the eighth generation of Sarashina Horii) joined the gōshi-gaisha after graduating from university. In November 1960, it absorbed the gōshi-gaisha Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Sōhonten and became kabushiki-gaisha Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee, with representative rights held by Isamu Kobayashi, and the name Nunoya Tahee was registered as a trademark. In 1974, the Asahi Shimbun reported that the president, Nunoya Tahee (then 66), had published a book titled Azabu no Meisho Konjaku, saying that Tokyo's history must be passed on by Tokyoites. In 1979, the Asahi Shimbun quoted president Isamu Kobayashi saying that while running a traditional shop was nothing special, love for the product was important, and that the company avoided instant and frozen foods because it valued taste. In 1984, the Asahi Shimbun reported that in a civil lawsuit brought by Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee president Isamu Kobayashi against Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Honten president Baba Susumu, seeking to prohibit the use of a similar trade name, the Tokyo District Court rejected the plaintiff's claim, stating that the defendant had obtained permission to use the trade name from the plaintiff company's predecessor (the seventh-generation Horii Tahee). On December 4, 1984, Horii Ryōzō, managing director of Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee, left the company after 24 years and opened Shinshu Sarashina Nunoya Sōhonten in the Azabu-Juban shopping street. In 1985, following a lawsuit over the right to use the name Nunoya, the shop was renamed Sarashina Horii, ending the postwar dispute among the three shop names Sarashina Horii, Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Honten, and Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee. In 1990, a major scandal erupted when it was discovered that the company had been altering production dates on unsold soba tsuyu cans. The Tokyo Metropolitan Health Bureau conducted an on-site inspection, and on August 2, 1990, ordered a three-day suspension of the soba tsuyu division from August 3 to 5 for violation of the Food Sanitation Act. On September 5, 1990, it was revealed that the company would recall and discard 570,000 cans and 130,000 bottles, and that date alteration had been occurring since around 1983, affecting about 150,000 cans and 4,000 bottles annually. Isamu Kobayashi, the first generation, died on December 29, 1995. As of 2016, the third generation, Kobayashi Masako, continued to run Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee. The restaurant remains located in Azabu-Juban, Minato, Tokyo, near Azabu-Juban Station.

• Kobayashi toy shop founded in Azabu-Juban shopping street.

• Original Sarashina soba house ceases operations.

• Gōshi-gaisha Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Sōhonten established, reviving the traditional noren.

• Gōshi-gaisha Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Kobayashi Isamu established.

• Mediation allows both shops to use the same title.

• Company Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee established.

• Absorbs Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina Sōhonten and becomes a kabushiki-gaisha; Nunoya Tahee trademark registered.

• Asahi Shimbun reports president published book on Azabu's history.

• Asahi Shimbun quotes president on valuing product quality over instant foods.

• Tokyo District Court rejects company's lawsuit to ban similar trade name.

• Managing director Horii Ryōzō leaves to open Shinshu Sarashina Nunoya Sōhonten.

• Dispute over Nunoya name leads to renaming as Sarashina Horii.

• Tokyo health bureau inspects company over altered soba tsuyu production dates.

• Three-day suspension ordered for soba tsuyu division.

• Company to discard 570,000 cans and 130,000 bottles of relabeled product.

• First-generation Isamu Kobayashi dies.

• Third-generation Kobayashi Masako continues to run the business.

Traditional Tokyo soba restaurant brand with Edo-period Sarashina heritage.

• Sarashina soba

  Pale, refined buckwheat noodles in the Sarashina tradition.

• Soba tsuyu (dipping sauce)

  Packaged dipping sauce sold in cans and bottles.

• Soba tsuyu production date alteration scandal

Read more

• Absorption of Azabu Nagasaka Sarashina SōhontenOther

• Renaming to Sarashina HoriiOther

1. 1Nagasaka Sarashina Nunoya Tahee - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2永坂更科布屋太兵衛 - Wikipedia (Japanese)ja.wikipedia.org