Gin Tonbo

The is a store operating in Seireitei that specialises in eye-wear.

Overview
The Gin Tonbo is owned and operated by Ginjirō Shirogane and his daughter Mihane Shirogane. Ginjirō started the business while he was still the lieutenant of the 6th Division but since the business was highly successful, he resigned his post to concentrate on the business. His daughter Mihane, however, is still an active member of the Gotei 13 and the 6th Division. Still, Mihane has been shown to work regularly at the store.

The Gin Tonbo is Renji Abarai's favourite story and supplies all his goggles. He commands a discount at the store due to being Ginjirō successor to the 6th Division vice-captaincy. However, Renji still cannot purchase regularly from the store due to the high prices. Tetsuzaemon Iba is also a regular customer of the store and sources the sunglasses for the Shinigami Men's Association from the store. The stores eye-wear is also available through the mail-order business: Purgatory Co, and according to the Purgatory Co catalogue, Kaname Tōsen's glasses are also from the Gin Tonbo.

Both Ichigo and Ikkaku have had difficulty reading the name of the store, tripping up on the 蜻蛉 kanji. Ichigo deduced that 蜻蛉 was the name of an insect, prompting Renji to give him the hint that it was an insect that people often imagine as wearing glasses. However, despite the hint, Ichigo read name of the store as Silver Slug. Ikkaku suggested that the name might be Silver Cockroach, infuriating Renji - who pointed out that no one would put cockroach in the name of a store. Renji was further infuriated when Ichigo appeared to agree with Ikkaku that 蜻蛉 could stand for cockroach. Ikkaku and Ichigo's other guesses included Giant Silver Oak Silkmoth and Silver Waterbug, with Ikkaku also suggesting Silver Slug as an option.