This audio is generated by AI, so pronunciation and expressions may not be fully accurate. The narration is only in English.
The history of Shuetsu began in 1675 during the Edo period. Noda Seiuemon, a native of Yamada, in present-day Ise City on the Pacific coast, opened a store called Yamada-ya in Edo (now Tokyo) that mainly sold seafood from the Ise area. At that time, it took about 15 days to walk from Ise to Edo, so it is believed that the store was selling salted seafood with a long shelf life.
Later, it began to sell a variety of delicacies to be enjoyed with alcohol and was therefore renamed as Shuetsu, which can be translated literally as "Alcohol Pleasing," meaning that its food is so delicious that even drinks would be pleased.
In the Meiji era (1868-1912), Shuetsu went through a major change. The fifteenth-generation owner, Noda Seiuemon, loved to explore new ideas and developed a series of new products such as tsukudani made with nori seaweed. Among them were soy sauce pickles that later became fukujinzuke.
"Back then, tsukemono was mostly pickled with salt, rice bran, or rice malt, so soy sauce pickles must have been quite revolutionary," says Shuetsu's current manager Yanaka Shuichi.
The original fukujinzuke was born after 10 years of trial and error. It had a depth of flavor and umami that were not found in salted pickles and suited the palate of Japanese people at the time.
One characteristic ingredient of fukujinzuke is natamame (sword bean), but according to Yanaka, "natamame is what makes the texture crunchy, but it is actually dried daikon radish that produces the most umami in fukujinzuke." The condensed umami of dried daikon blends with soy sauce to create a unique sweetness, he explained.
There are multiple theories about the origin of the name fukujinzuke. One of them is that it was named by Baitei Kinga, a popular novelist at the time, because it contains seven kinds of vegetables (daikon, eggplant, turnip, gourd, perilla leaves, lotus root, and natamame) and because Benzaiten, one of the Shichifukujin (Seven Lucky Gods), is enshrined at the Benten-do Temple that sits at the center of Shinobazu Pond in Ueno.
Shuetsu is located in Ueno, a major Tokyo tourist spot, and visited by many international travelers. Their interests are different from the Japanese who come here to buy fukujinzuke and tsukemono.
"Simmered beans are the most popular among international customers. They are soft and sweet, so I imagine they are more like sweets than a side dish for them," says Yanaka. Among the six types of simmered beans Shuetsu offers, white runner beans are the most popular.
Many customers also stock up on yakiagodashi (grilled flying fish stock powder), a new product launched in May 2025, after trying a free sample at the store. The dashi stock used in miso soup and other dishes is regarded by many as a staple flavor base in Japanese cuisine.
"In conversations with customers from overseas, we are often surprised by their unexpected methods of eating our products," says Yanaka. A regular customer who bought many packs of amazake (a sweet fermented rice drink) said that it would be used as a seasoning for cooking. Another regular customer uses the marinade in fukujinzuke as a sauce on vanilla ice cream.
"I tried it myself and was impressed that soy sauce and ice cream go surprisingly well together. It is interesting because they have ideas that we would not have thought of. We sometimes discover new possibilities in food through interactions with customers from overseas," says Yanaka.
To commemorate its 350th anniversary in 2025, Shuetsu has embarked on a variety of projects led by younger employees. It has launched products with labels that recreate old designs. Many find the retro packaging nostalgic and cute and decide to try the products. The store has also begun selling larger jarred products called the Noren series. Finally, it plans to revamp its website in the fall of 2025.
When Yanaka was appointed as the manager of Shuetsu in his thirties, he felt tremendous pressure inheriting a history dating back to the Edo period. He was overwhelmed by the responsibility of protecting its legacy, but that changed when a close friend, the owner of a nearby tempura restaurant, told him, "It's not about protecting it, but about passing it on."
Yanaka says, "This opened my eyes. Times are bound to change, so just protecting it will not make it last. We must pass it on to the next generation."
Yanaka decided to "create my own Shuetsu and pass it on to the next generation." Since this decision, he has been able to take on challenges, like developing ambitious products and accommodating inbound tourism with flexibility, without fear of change.
Shuetsu aims to spread tsukemono, a part of Japanese food culture, from Tokyo to the world. In the modern multicultural metropolis of Tokyo, Yanaka wants to "please all kinds of alcoholic drinks," just as the store is named. In addition to complimenting sake, he is also looking to develop products that go well with a variety of alcoholic beverages, including wine, vodka, and Shaoxing rice wine.
Shuetsu is also developing a line of seasonal Western vegetable pickles, such as a summer-only gelée cup with a whole tomato and a Japanese-style sweet pepper pickle.
"It's been more than 150 years since Edo became Tokyo. We'll pass on the part of Japanese food culture that is tsukemono, which started in Edo, with roots as solid as ever. That is our duty," Yanaka says.
Shuetsu is constantly taking on new challenges while upholding 350 years of tradition. As food culture continues to change with the times, the store will continue to revitalize the uniquely Japanese tsukemono and tsukudani and pass them on to the next generation.
