A. We opened Ichiban Kan El Cerrito Store as a franchise of San Francisco Ichiban Kan in May 2004. After a couple of years, we became independent, but still have been doing business under the same name because "Ichiban Kan" had been well known.
In November 2010, we started importing merchandise by ourselves, and now there are many differences in many aspects, so we decided to change our name.

A. No. Zipang will serve you as before; the same owner, same merchandise, and the same good services since we have been independent for many years.

A. Yes, there is no change at all!

A. It is considered as a legendary name of ancient Japan. A Chinese word for Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as "Zipangu*" in 13 century. We modified it to "Zipang" for better fit in English spelling and pronunciation.
By Marco Polo, Zipang was introduced as a country of gold. We hope you will be able to find many treasures here, and we try to make this store somewhere you always want to come!
*There are many other hypothesises.