Initial D: There is a signboard of “Fujiwara Tofu shop former site” Who put it?
◾️Summary
The Fujiwara Tofu shop is a tofu shop run by the father of the protagonist of “Initial D”. “Fujinoya tofu store” that once existed is a model. The store was demolished due to the land readjustment, but there was a sign of “the site”.
Table of contents
-What is Fujiwara Tofu Shop?
-Who installed the “Fujiwara Tofu Shop Site” sign?
-What is Fujiwara Tofu Shop?
The Fujiwara Tofu shop is a tofu shop run by Bunta Fujiwara, the father of Takumi Fujiwara, the main character of “Initial D”.
Takumi put fresh tofu on Sprinter Trueno (AE86), a car of the store from the time he became a junior high school student with his father’s help, leaves the tofu store every morning at 4 am and goes up the Akina Pass to Akina I delivered tofu for breakfast to a hotel near the lake (Lake Haruna). The tofu store is modeled on the “Fujinoya tofu store” that used to exist in Yorii Town, Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture. The Fujino Tofu shop is a tofu shop with a history of over 100 years.
It was used as a set in the shooting of the live-action version of the Hong Kong movie “Initial D THE MOVIE” released in September 2005. At that time, the signboards were replaced and the specifications were exactly the same as “Fujiwara Tofu Shop in Initial D”.
Even after the shooting was over, it was still open. It became a “sacred place” for fans around the world, mainly in Asia.However, the store was demolished due to the land readjustment, and due to the lack of a successor, the Fujino Tofu store closed in September 2006. (Until around 2009, only the building remained.)
My friend visited in April 2006, but the business ended five months later.
When he talked to neighbor who runs a Fujino Tofu store, he heard that there were fans who wanted to relocate the store due to land readjustment and take over the store structure including the signboard. was. though it couldn’t happened.
Who installed the “Fujiwara Tofu Shop Site” sign?
When he visited the site in early March, there are a woman, who build to the place where tofu store was there. and my friend asked the lady about the sign of “initial D historical place”and she said “her son installed the signboard. One day, suddenly he made a signboard in somewhere and brought it back to my house fence.”
“The filming of a very famous car was filmed here (the woman who responded doesn’t know the” initial D “at all), and she feels sorry if fans come and see the place but there is nothing. they will be disappointed. That made her son to decided to put a signboard. ” and she continued to speak “she was born and raised in this neighborhood and graduated from Shibukawa Girls’ High School near here, so she knew about the tofu shop here, but it was an old tofu shop.”
“many people come here to see the store not only from Japan but from all over the world. It seems that many people come from China and Taiwan. Everyone will take a photo in front of this sign and go up to Harunayama.” where they can feel the initial race battle.
she said she heard initial D is such a famous movie,It’s about a car and a tofu shop. and if its that famous she would like to see it once and she giggled.
It was a resident who built a house on the site of the former Fujiwara Tofu store who installed the sign of the site of goodwill.
Since the surrounding area is a quiet residential area, please be quiet so as not to bother the community when you visit.
Discover the signboard of “Fujiwara Tofu store” historical place “!
“Fujiwara Tofu Shop” is registered as a “historic site” on Google Maps. (It’s not clear who registered and when, but anyone can register on Google Maps, and it won’t be deleted unless they’re notified for reasons such as offensive to public order and morals.)
so when you type into google map fujiwara tofu shop, you will actually see the photo of initial D, isnt this very cool? I think it is amazing way to keep memory and it also reminds me of how great the story was.
And the top signboard is “Fujiwara Tofu Shop Site”. I was very surprised when I first discovered it on google map. To be sure, the Fujiwara Tofu store has been demolished, so it’s no longer there. (The Fujiwara Tofu store signboard, the handrail on the door on the second floor of the entrance door, the various tools used to make tofu, etc. have all been relocated to the Ikaho Toys, Dolls and Automobile Museum. )
In other words, even if an Initial D fans visit the place, there is no new trace of the Fujiwara Tofu store, just a new house.
Therefore, the signboard that tells us this “historical site” would be a very welcome presence to the visitors.
The sign is installed on the fence of a newly built detached house. Next to it, there was a Japanese-style restaurant called “Umetsuki”, but the restaurant is not currently open.
By the way, “Meigetsu” is not subject to land readjustment, it has been in the same place since the tofu shop was open, and the building still exists.
As we learned later, the first signboard of the “Fujiwara Tofu Store” was installed on the fence of this Umetsuki.
There was a time when the owner of Umetsuki was holding a handmade sign with a picture of the car that appeared in the story, saying, “I’ve been neighbour to Fujiwara tofu store but I’m sorry there is no more store.”
However, the store was closed in Umetsuki, and the first signboard on the site was removed.
