TOKYO, Dec. 16 — Suzuki Florist, an established flower shop in Tokyo’s Ginza upscale shopping district, will close down on Dec. 31, bringing down the curtain on its 71 years of history.
The florist, which opened its main store in 1953 near the Kabukiza kabuki theater, has been promoting the attractiveness of Japan’s flower culture and Japan-grown flowers.
Its branch shop inside Sony Building in Ginza, which shut down in 2017 along with the closing down of the building, had been a place to showcase Japan-grown flowers to customers in the metropolitan area.
Akira Suzuki, the late founder and chairman of the company who also served as deputy head and a director emeritus of florists’ network Japan Florists’ Telecommunication Delivery Association (JFTD) HANA-Cupid, had long contributed to boosting sales of flowers.
He played a key role in starting a campaign in Ginza to promote sending flowers as gifts on Valentine’s Day, making the day one of the busiest days for the floral industry.
Minoru Horikiri, head of JFTD, said, “Suzuki Florist has a symbolic presence in the floral industry and without it the industry could not have become what it is today. I’m very sorry to hear that (it is closing).”
As there are many people in the florist business who trained at Suzuki Florist, Horiki said he hopes florists of younger generations will work together to promote the industry.
Suzuki Florist President Shigeyuki Nanba, who has been running the shop, said, “I have become older and now is the right time (to close down). I will continue running the shop until the very last day while expressing gratitude to everyone.”
Suzuki Florist President Shigeyuki Nanba at its shop in Tokyo’s Ginza district