ITOROKU was founded by Gisuke IMAI in Kyoto as a dealer of the silk thread and cotton thread in 1870.

In the Taisho period, Rokujiro IMAI, the third generation afterward, came to Kyoto from Shiga and joined the thread dealer. His nickname was "ROKU san" and loved by everyone. He always said, "Let's share the good-quality thread with smiles, and we can ‘continue’ to ‘sell’ the ‘thread’ forever.”
The kanji (Chinese character) "続" has a meaning of "continue" and consists of two parts. One is "糸" meaning of "thread" and the other is "売" meaning of "sell". This kanji “続 (糸+売)” is exactly expressed both Rokujiro’s words and us who are selling the thread, so we really value it.

In January 1929, our company was named “ITOROKU SHOTEN”. This name comes from "ITO" which means “thread” in Japanese and Rokujiro's nickname "ROKU san". We can always feel Rokujiro's spirit from this name.

Once, "reeled thread" was common way of dealing in the thread. But it was easy to get tangled up. So, he thought long and hard about an easier way to deal in the thread. Then finally he produced the new style that was twined the thread around the cards. Each card was printed a smiling mark as a symbol shown Rokujiro's spirit "Let's share the thread with smiles". This is still our hot item and loved by many customers.

The early Showa period, ITOROKU SHOTEN was located on Matsubara-dori Street. Gradually the shadow of war was creeping all over Japan then. Especially, during the world war II, the thread business was suffered the economic sanctions. ITOROKU SHOTEN was forced to obey the national policy and ran as a controlled company.

After the war, ITOROKU SHOTEN moved near the current Muromachi-dori Street. Freedom of business came back little by little. Rokujiro’s eldest son, Yoshiro IMAI ran the distribution-control company and ITOROKU SHOTEN in parallel and soon controlled time was over. In the Autumn of 1950, ITOROKU SHOTEN changed the company name to “ITOROKU” and took a new step forward.

The clothing material, design and purpose have been varied rapidly with the times. And that brought the change of the need for the thread. Still now, that is continually changing, but we always keep Rokujiro’s spirit and promise to share the good-quality thread with smiles.

If you ever come to Kyoto or look for the good-quality thread, please visit “ITOROKU” that is an old-fashioned building in Matsubara-dori Street. We are looking forward to your visit. And we would be happy to help you to select the best thread for you.