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The Tales of Katsutaro Inabata

Chapter 1 Out Now!

introduction

Over 130 years ago, during the Meiji era,
Founder Katsutaro Inabata started the company. With the desire to share the story of how he came to establish it as clearly as possible, we decided to create a manga.
The story begins with seven-year-old Katsutaro helping his family's wagashi shop before entering school.
It follows his journey, including studying in France at the age of 15, working for the Kyoto Prefectural Government upon his return, and ultimately founding his company at the age of 28.

The series will be serialized in ten chapters. The storyline is based on historical accounts published in biographical books*, with some ctional elements added for a creative twist.
The manga was produced under the direction of LEGIKA (in Japanese only), a non-profit organization managing the Tokiwa-so Project, with writer Yuko Shimada and manga artist Kazuya Ogata. We sincerely hope this manga offers a glimpse into the origins of our company and the life and vision of our founder.

*In 1931 (Showa Year 6), the Biographies of Remarkable Figures series, including “Ohotori no Su ni Aru Koro (When in the Nest of the Peng)" and Katsuhiko Kimizuka's "The Business World Conqueror: The Early Years of Katsutaro Inabata," was published by the Children's Educational Literature Publishing Association.
In this series, Katsutaro Inabata was Introduced as one of ten notable figures, including Ichizo Kobayashi.

ストーリー

  • Chapter 1

Chapter 1Katsutaro and Mantaro

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Glossary

  • Kameya Masashige
  • The Kinmon Incident (Hamaguri Gate Rebellion)
  • Ishigame (Japanese Pond Turtle)
  • Elementary School

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Glossary

Kameya Masashige

A confectionery shop run by the family of Founder Katsutaro Inabata, which was an official purveyor to the Imperial Household. When Katsutaro was just two years old, the shop was destroyed in the Kinmon Incident, plunging the family into severe hardship. By the time of Episode 1, set in the second year of the Meiji era (1869), seven-year-old Katsutaro was helping his family restart the wagashi shop, selling sweets door-to-door.
[Reference] Digital Gallery | IK Tales | Inabata & Co., Ltd. (inabata.co.jp) (in Japanese only)

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Glossary

The Kinmon Incident (Hamaguri Gate Rebellion)

This refers to the battle between the Choshu Domain against the Aizu and Satsuma Domains at Hamaguri Gate in Kyoto during the first year of the Genji era (1864). Although the battle ended in just one day with the defeat of the Choshu forces, the resulting fires continued for three days, causing extensive damage. Most of central Kyoto (stretching east to west from the Kamogawa River to Horikawa River, and north to south from Ichijo to Shichijo) was burned down. (Cited from the "Kinmon Incident" in the Encyclopedia of Japanese History.)

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Glossary

Ishigame (Japanese Pond Turtle)

A turtle species native to Japan, primarily distributed across Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Juveniles have a shape that resembles a zeni (coin or money), which is why they are also called zenigame.
Note: Katsutaro’s interactions with the turtle in this story are fictional.

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Glossary

Elementary School

In the second year of the Meiji era (1869), Japan's first 64 district-based elementary schools were established in Kyoto, driven by the belief of its residents that "building a town starts with building people." This occurred before the national school system was introduced in the fifth year of Meiji (1872) under the Education System Order. These schools were created not only by the government but also with contributions from the local townspeople. Since they were based on the units of neighborhood groupings called bangumi, which were the administrative divisions of the towns, these district schools were known as "bangumi elementary schools." Katsutaro enrolled in the Shimogyo 25th bangumi elementary school, which later became Awata Elementary School.
[Reference] Museum Overview | Kyoto City School History Museum (kyo-gakurehaku.jp), "Why Did Japan's First Elementary School Start in Kyoto?" - Q Kyoto Study Trip (Kyoto.travel)

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