Ippodo (a trade name of a distributor of Japanese green tea) (一保堂)
Ippodo is the name of a distributor of Japanese green tea, located at Nijo-dori Agaru, Teramachi-dori, Kyoto City.
The origin of the shop's name
Its trade name Ippodo, which was bestowed on by the Yamashinanomiya Imperial Family in 1846, implies 'to maintain nothing but tea business.'
Business activity
Ippodo is principally engaged in processing and selling Japanese tea, and distributes the tea not only to its customers including department stores but also to the houses of tea masters.
Its merchandise ranges from the green tea to various tea utensils
Both types of powdered green tea, preferred by Omote-senke school as well as by Ura-senke school, are available at Ippodo. In recent years, Ippodo has been participating in various events in cooperation with the municipal authority of Kyoto City, by delegating its staff members to community halls to give lectures on how to make tea and how useful it is to drink tea.
History
It was founded in 1717 under the name 'Omiya' at Teramachi Nijo in Kyoto City and dealt in green tea and tea utensils. During the Meiji period, Ippodo, as a wholesaler of Japanese green tea for export, had exported teas to the United States of America, but since the Taisho period it has been engaged mainly in retail business of teas. In 1964, it reorganized itself into Kabushiki Kaisha Ippodo Chaho (Ippodo Tea Co., Ltd.).