SHOP INFO

History of KOEDO CHAYA

Roots of the "KOEDO CHAYA" dates back to the early Meiji period, when Tokusaburo Morita was apprenticed to Tozaemon Suzuki, who opened "MATSUMOTOYA."
After being trained by Tetsugoro "Sudatetsu" Suda, a senior apprentice at MATSUMOTOYA, Tokusaburo Morita opened "MORITOKU" (named after his name MORIta TOKUsaburo) in the alley in 1885 (Meiji 18).
moritoku
Tokusaburo Morita, the founder of MORITOKU
Then the founder of MORITOKU trained four disciples. He allowed each of them to use the letter 森 (MORI) for their shops, MORIHAN, MORIZEN, MORIMATSU, MORIFUJI, opened on the alley to comprise an important part of it.
(Reference) "Table 1 pastry shop alley up to the Second World War."
With the specialties including candy-filled Castella (sponge cake), kiripan, mizoita and usagidama (rabbit-shaped sweets), MORITOKU became well established in the alley. The second generation Ichitaro Morita started to make candies after the World War 2 and inroduced new products, shibakantou, kinshitou, and uchimono.
ichitaro
Second generation "MORITOKU" Ichitaro Morita, back row center.
～Those that have been piled up in the back stuffed with potato "Imotawara"～
Taking over their technique and tradition, the third owner Youzo Morita continued making sweets on the alley until the mid-1970s. After that the shop changed its business once but later it returned to the alley, where it reopened as "Koedochaya," selling sweets at retail. The fourth owner, Setsuko Morita, who has taken over the business, currently runs the shop.