銀座
1612
Ginzaぎんざ
the silver mint
- 銀gin — silver
- 座za — guild / seat (of the mint)
The world's most expensive shopping street is named after a money factory — which got kicked out for fraud in 1800. The mint left; the name stayed.
In 1612 the shogunate moved its silver mint (ginza, 'silver guild') here from Sunpu. The official town name was Shin-Ryōgae-chō — 'Ginza' was just a nickname. In 1800 the mint was expelled to Nihonbashi over a fraud scandal. The nickname refused to leave, and in 1869 it became the official name.
Modern proof
A 'Birthplace of Ginza' monument stands in Ginza 2-chōme. Every '◯◯ Ginza' shopping street across Japan — hundreds of them — descends from this nickname.
sourceThe Edo grid of 60-ken square blocks survives in today's street plan, and in Ginza's famously narrow 'pencil buildings.'