History

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 is filled in and opened to waterways.
Tensho 18
(1590)		 The father of Ibaya Kanzaemon, the first generation of Ibasen, 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 first generationIbaya Kanzaemonwas born. Since the exact year of establishment is unknown, the year of the founder's birth is used as the year of establishment.

Iba-mura, Enshu (currently Higashi Iba-cho, Chuo-ku, Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture)
Edo Shogunate
Founded
Keicho 8
(1603)		 Tokugawa Ieyasu is appointed Seiyo-tai shogun and establishes the shogunate in Edo.

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 for use in baskets and wagura (bamboo hanger).
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.
Mid-Edo Period
Around the 13th year of Genroku
(circa 1700)		 In an effort to add value, the company began producing fans made of bamboo and Japanese paper. These became the products known as Edo uchiwa fans. Ibasen's production of uchiwa fans dates to the mid-Edo period; the company has been in business since around the 1700s.
As a wholesaler of fans, dealing in Edo fans and fans, Ibasen began to go to Edo Castle as a publisher of fans for the Edo Shogunate.

Around Nihonbashi in the Edo period

*In Nihonbashi Horie-cho, a riverside district surrounded by iribori, or the two banks of the Horitome River, was created, and each was given a name that indicated its characteristics. The names of the riverside streets in Nihonbashi-Horie-cho were "Dangan-kawagishi" and "Yone-kawagishi" and "Datsuo-kawagishi" in Kobunacho. (From "Nihonbashi Shigyo-ki")

Nihonbashi Horie-cho, Edo is now called Kobunacho
4th year of Kansei era
(1792)		 Senzaburo IbayaOpened a fan wholesale store in Horie-cho 1-chome.
Late Edo period Ukiyoe pasting of ukiyoe on fans became popular.

Ukiyoe on fans begins to be handled in earnest. At the time, popular ukiyoe artistToyokuni Utagawa Iand other genius painters.Kuniyoshiand his contemporariesHiroshigeand others, and spread the name "Ibaya" throughout Edo.
Around the first year of Bunka era
（1804~1818)
From
to the end of the Edo period 		Kyubei IbayaShop name "Ibayakyu", "Kinseido", Horie-cho 2-chome Many works of fan paintings can be seen.
Bunsei
（1818~1830)
From
to the Meiji era (1868-1912) 		Senzaburo IbayaShop name "Ibasen", "Danzen-do", "Danzen-do", Horie-cho 1-chome, five-man-mochi Mochi store, wholesaler of fans
Name taken from Saburo 10th generationIbasenIbasen.
2nd year of Ansei era
(1855)		 Ansei Earthquake.
Meiji Restoration
(1868~1889）		 The company is affected by the loss of its "shogunate warrant" business, but continues to work as a publisher of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and to sell calendars.
Naokichi Yoshida 13th Naokichi Yoshida pushes forward the calendar business as a semi-main product.
Taisho 12
(1923)		 The store was destroyed by fire in the Great Kanto Earthquake.

Ibasen in Taisho after the Great Kanto Earthquake
Click here to see the relocation notice immediately after the Great Kanto Earthquake.
The 9th year of the Showa Era (1934)
(1934)		 Reorganized as Ibasen Co.
1945 (20th year of the Showa Era)
(1945)		 World War II: The store is spared from damage in an air raid on Tokyo.
1976 (Showa 51)
(1976)		 Nobuo Yoshida became the 14th generation to work in the family business.
1985
(1985)		 Nobuo Yoshida became the 14th representative director.　The calendar business was discontinued. He concentrated on his main business of selling fans and folding fans.
2008
(2008)		 Website launched.
2012
(2012)		 Ibasen Ukiyoe Museum opened on the first floor of the building by Chuo City's Machikado Exhibition Hall project.
Currently Began selling fans in the late Edo period, and has continued to the present as a long-established shop for fans, folding fans, and Japanese paper products.

The "Ibasen version" paintings from those days can now be seen not only in museums in Japan but also in famous museums abroad such as the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Van Gogh Museum.