You may think Sony or Toyota are among the best-known household brands in Japan, but many Japanese have even greater respect for about 200 other brands known as kunaicho goyotashi - royal purveyors chosen by the Imperial Household Agency (IHA).
These are carefully chosen merchants and producers that deliver time-honoured items from Japan's ancient tradition of painstaking and refined craftsmanship, for the emperor's family and household. Many of them have been producing handmade products for centuries - including lacquerware, one-of-a-kind umbrellas, kimono and Japanese sweets. Discretion is also a prized tradition: few Goyotashi publicise their royal patronage.
Under a rigid system from 1891 to 1954, Goyotashi was a title formally granted to chosen suppliers of long standing. If they were not established well enough, the title was withheld. No longer a formality, the name is still in general use for suppliers chosen by the IHA. It is a tacit warrant of quality for these products - many of which are available to general customers at reasonable prices.
Among the suppliers, for example, is the Marukan vinegar producer in Kobe. Its founder was a former samurai who produced a new kind of transparent vinegar in 1646 - when vinegars were commonly turbid. It was chosen as a royal supplier in 1908.
A Tokyo chopstick producer is another purveyor to the royals. Launched in l874, Hashikatsu carries more than 200 kinds of chopsticks in different sizes, colours and materials. Matsumaeya, a 600-year-old seaweed supplier in Kyoto, is known for its delicate kelp products traditionally used for Shinto religious rituals.
Other Goyotashi suppliers include a 650-year-old maker of sweet-bean buns in Kyoto; an exclusive bag-maker, Japan's answer to Hermes; and a textile producer who designs interiors for the Imperial Palace.
