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Ibasen's 430-year history

伊場仙について

Tensho 18 (1590)

Tokugawa Ieyasu is given the eight provinces of Kanto by Hideyoshi and moves from Mikawa Okazaki to Edo. Tokugawa Ieyasu begins building the town of Edo. During the construction of Edo Castle Town, the upstream river was filled in and opened to waterways.

IbasenThe father of Ibaya Kanzaemon, the first generation of Ibaya Kanzaemon, was a flood control and civil engineering craftsman for the Matsudaira family in Okazaki, Mikawa Province. He went with Ieyasu Tokugawa to Iba-mura in Enshu (present-day Iba-machi, Hamamatsu City) and became the firstIbaya Kanzaemon (Ibaya Kanzaemon)was born. Since the exact year of establishment is unknown, the year of the founder's birth is used as the year of establishment.

Iba Village, Enshu

Present Higashi Iba-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture

Edo shogunate founded in 1603

Tokugawa Ieyasu is appointed Seiyo-tai shogun and establishes the Edo shogunate.

Ibaya Kanzaemonmoved to Edo with Ieyasu's entry into the Edo shogunate and engaged in pioneering work. The land he cleared was given to him as a gift, so he settles in this area and begins his business. The name of the store was taken from the village of Iba, with which he was associated.

At the time of its establishment, the shop dealt in Japanese paper and bamboo, and as an official merchant, it delivered materials and Japanese paper to the shogunate, which was also used for baskets and wicker baskets.
The washi was not made but purchased from paper-making regions such as Tosa and Awa, and the bamboo was from Boshu.

Meireki 3 (1657)

The Great Meireki Fire (Furisode Fire) damaged most of Edo and destroyed the Edo Castle keep. It was the most devastating fire in the Edo period and had a major impact on the city planning and firefighting systems of Edo. Old documents and other items were destroyed by the fire.

Around the 13th year of Genroku (around 1700) Mid-Edo period

Bamboo and Japanese paper were used as materials to add value.round fanThis was the beginning of the Edo period. This was the Edoround fanThis product became known as the "EdoIbasenofround fanproduction in the mid-Edo period; the business has been around since the 1700s.
Edoround fanandfolding fandealing withround fanpublishers under the authority of the Edo shogunate as a wholesalerround fanThe company began to frequent Edo Castle as a merchant.

Around Nihonbashi in the Edo period

In Nihonbashi Horie-cho, a riverside street surrounded by iribori, the two banks of the Horitome River, was created, and each was given a name that indicated its characteristics. Nihonbashi Horie-choround fanThe name of each riverbank was given to a particular type of fish, such as the rice and dried bonito riverbanks in Kobunacho. (From "Nihonbashi Shigyo-ki")

Nihonbashi Horie-cho, Edo is now called Kobunacho

Kansei 4 (1792)

Senzaburo IbayaHorie-cho 1-chomeround fanOpened a wholesale store in Horie-cho 1-chome.

Late Edo Period

round fanPaste ukiyoe ofround fanpictures become popular.
round fanThe company begins to deal with Ukiyo-e in earnest in popular Ukiyo-e artists at that time.Toyokuni Utagawa Iand other genius painters.Kuniyoshiand his contemporariesHiroshigeand others, and spread the name "Ibaya" throughout Edo.

From around the first year of Bunka era (1804~1818) to the end of the Edo period

Kyubei IbayaShop name "Ibayakyu" and "Kinmasaido", Horie-cho 2-chomeround fanMany works of painting can be seen.

From Bunsei (1818~1830) to Meiji era (1868~1912)

Senzaburo IbayaShop name ".Ibasen」「round fanDansendo" "Dansendo" Horie-cho 1-chome Gonin Gumi Mochi Shopround fanwholesale store
Store name taken from Saburo 10th generation「IbasenIBA-SENIbasen" (Ibasen).

Ansei 2 (1855)

Great Ansei Earthquake. Lost successor.

Meiji Restoration (1868~1889)

Although affected by the loss of the "Shogunate warrant" business, the company continued to work as a publisher of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and sell calendars.
Naokichi Yoshida 13th Naokichi Yoshida pushes forward the calendar table business as a semi-main product.

1923 (Taisho 12)

The store is destroyed by fire in the Great Kanto Earthquake.

1934 (Showa 9)

Corporation Ibasen Reorganized as a joint-stock company.

1945 (Showa 20)

World War II: The store was spared from damage in the Tokyo Air Raid.

1976 (Showa 51)

14th generationNobuo Yoshida(Nobuo Yoshida) Engaged in the family business.

1985 (Showa 60)

The 14th generationNobuo Yoshida(Nobuo Yoshida) appointed as Representative Director.　The calendar business was discontinued. The main business of the company isround fan、folding fanand concentrate on his main business, sales.

2008 (Heisei 20)

Website launched.

2012 (Heisei 24)

On the first floor of the building by the Chuo City Machikado Exhibition Hall projectIbasenUkiyo-e Museum opened.

Currently

From the late Edo periodfolding fanand began sellinground fan、folding fanand has continued to this day as a long-established manufacturer of washi paper products.

The company was founded in 1949 as "WashiIbasenThe "Hanban" (Japanese printing) of those days can now be seen not only in museums in Japan but also in famous museums overseas, such as the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Van Gogh Museum.

IbasenThe concept of the business of

Our company focuses on the inheritance of Japanese traditional culture, especially Edo culture, and incorporates Edo designs and colors into the design of our products. Our materials are carefully selected domestic bamboo, Japanese paper, and fibers, and these materials are commercialized by skilled craftsmen.

In addition, through 430 years of business, we value the bonds between people, and we are committed to being a company that is useful to the community and society, putting the trust of our customers first.

Ukiyo-e Printing Company

Work of the publisher

A publisher is what we would now call a publishing producer.

Ukiyo-e is engraved on woodblocks and then printed, so the publisher asks artists such as Kuniyoshi and Hiroshige to design the prints,round fanAs they print the pictures, they can also print Ukiyo-e, so their main business isround fanAs I was printing Ukiyo-e, I became a publisher of Ukiyo-e as well, although my main business was a shop.

I would like to introduce some Ukiyo-e prints. You can see the relationship between publishers and Ukiyo-e artists and the rebellious spirit of the Edo period.

"Specters by Tsuchigumo, Minamoto no Yorimitsu Koshokan" (The Spider by Minamoto no Yorimitsu Koshokan)

（Minamoto Mitsuko Yorimitsu Koukan Tsuchigumo Saku Yokai no Zu)

1843, large-format nishiki-e (brocade), 3 prints in sequence

Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who is said to have vanquished the drinking spiders on Mount Oe, is being bewildered by the monsters of the ground spiders.

Although there are other paintings of the extermination of demons on Mt. The pattern of Yorimitsu's wobbly kimono is a sheath-shaped pattern, which means that the 12th shogun, Tokugawa Iekei, is the Yorimitsu.

The common people of Edo, who had grown weary of Mizuno's prohibition policy, began to buy these ukiyo-e prints in droves.

The publisher was Ibasen. Ibasen was not to be blamed for the enthusiasm of the people, as he quickly retrieved the prints and shaved off the woodblocks. Well, well, well...

Both Ibasen, the publisher, and the Utagawa school, to which Kuniyoshi belonged, had been serving the Edo shogunate, so to speak. They were not deprived of their rights and continued to publish caricatures with a rebellious spirit and a willingness to criticize the shogunate, both before and after the Edo shogunate.

"A waste of writing on the wall of the Hago Hozang

（The Wasted Calligraphy on the Cargo Storehouse Wall)

Circa 1847 (Koka 4)

Since the Tempo Reforms, there had been an injunction against the publication of yakusha ukiyoe. In an attempt to get them published, artists and publishers devised new ways of publishing them.

The artists and publishers tried to get their works published, but the people said, "This is not Ukiyo-e, it is a graffiti. It is a graffiti.

People at that time could see Utaemon, Koshiro, and Umeko. The cat in the middle is a two-tailed cat. They are dancing happily.

Such a playful spirit is what makes us feel luxurious.

These are called nugie (nail paintings), and they are paintings that Kuniyoshi wrote in the form of graffiti scratched with a nail.
There are also other portraits of actors, such as "Shiro-menjyo-rokka-no-mudagaki" (White face laughing wall).

Other characters such as "Minna waratte iru yawada" and "Naru aika harauzu," signatures such as "Kuniyoshi egaku," and the seal of the publisher Ibasen were also written in the same style of nail paintings. This is a painful style that can be seen in today's manga as well.

IbasenRole of

Such is the humorous, chic, and also rebellious spirit of the Edo people.
We are determined to pass on the good old things to the present generation.

With the credibility of the goodwill of a long-established shop,IbasenWe believe that it is our important role as a long-established business to always be aware of the transmission of Edo culture and to preserve and pass on traditions.

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