Food and drink
Toraya 虎屋
Wagashi confectioner to the imperial court
Toraya began in Kyoto in the early 16th century and became a supplier of Japanese sweets (wagashi) to the imperial court. It is best known for yōkan, a firm block of sweet red bean jelly, and is still run by the Kurokawa family.
- Founded
- Early 1500s
- Founder
- The Kurokawa family
- Started in
- Kyoto
- Status
- Still trading
- Age About 506 years
Timeline
-
1869 (Meiji 2)
Follows the emperor to Tokyo when the capital moves, opening a shop there.
-
1980 (Shōwa 55)
Opens a shop in Paris, bringing yōkan to Europe.
Years in brackets are the Japanese era year. Japanese era converter →
Did you know?
Toraya still keeps sweet design books from the late 1600s, showing the confections it made for the court.
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