Takara Tomy (Japanese: タカラトミー ) is a Japanese toy company and the original creator of the Kamiwaza Wanda franchise, creating it to compete with Level-5's Yo-Kai Watch franchise. It was founded by Kantaro Tomiyama in March 2006.
History[]
As Tomy and Takara[]
Tomy was founded in 1924 by Eiichiro Tomiyama who is Kantaro Tomiyama's grandfather. Kantaro Tomiyama, a Japanese businessman, entered the Tomy company after his graduation from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom in 1982 and then became its CEO in 1986.
Its long-time rival, Takara, was founded in 1955. In June 2005, Takara purchased a majority stake in Tatsunoko Production.
Tomy's European counterpart, Tomy UK, was founded in 1982.
Tomy and its long-time rival Takara had been separately working on their toy franchises until the merger in March 2006.
As Takara Tomy itself[]
In March 2006, Tomy and Takara merged into one toy company: Takara Tomy. Following the March 2006 merger, Japanese animation company Tatsunoko Production then become the Takara Tomy's complete subsidary. Takara Tomy then continues to use both Tomy and Takara companies as the distinct brand names on the toy franchises that have originated from those 2 separate companies. The Takara Tomy company also worked on new toy franchises and stand alone products that carry the new Takara Tomy brand.
In 2015, Kantaro Tomiyama stepped down from Takara Tomy as CEO and was replaced by the Dutch businessman Harold Meij who became Takara Tomy's new CEO.
In February 26th 2019, Takara Tomy's founder from the Takara side, Yasuta Sato, died from senility at the age of 94.
In 2024, Takara Tomy celebrates their Tomy side's 100-year anniversary. At the Tokyo Big Sight from August 31st to September 1st of that year, Takara Tomy held a special booth in the 2024 Tokyo Toy Show.
List of notable franchises and products by Takara Tomy[]
- 'Tomica' (Toy car series/franchise introduced in 1970; Its two spin-offs are 'Tomica Hyper Rescue Drive Head Kidō Kyūkyū Keisatsu' (or 'Tomica Driveheads' for short) which debuted in 2017 and 'Tomica Kizuna Gattai Earth Granner' ('Tomica Earth Granner' for short) which debuted in 2020.)
- 'Plarail' (Toy train series/franchise, also known outside of Japan as 'Tomica World', introduced in 1959; Its spin-off 'Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion' debuted in 2015 which an anime series introduced in early 2018.)
- 'Duel Masters' (A trading card game franchise.)
- 'Pretty' franchise (Multimedia franchise introduced in 2010; Incarnations of the franchise include 'PriPara', 'Kiratto Pri Chan' and 'Himitsu no AiPri'.)
- 'Licca-chan' (Japanese fashion doll franchise introduced in 1967; A television anime, 'Super Doll Licca-chan', aired from 1998 to 1999.)
- 'Zoids' (A toy robot franchise introduced in 1983; It spawned into various manga and anime titles such as 'Zoids Wild'.)
- 'Pop-up Pirate' (A popular luck-based game for children first originated in Japan in 1975 under the name 'One Shot Blackbeard Crisis'.)
- 'Beyblade' (A top fighting game franchise introduced in 1999.)
- 'Plusterworld' (A toyline which Takara Tomy's Takara side has done for the 'Journey To Adventure: Plusterworld' TV anime that aired from 2003 to 2004.)
- 'Princession Orchestra' (A musical magical girl franchise due to be introduced in 2025.)
- 'Kamiwaza Wanda' (A monster-collecting franchise introduced in 2016.)
Takara Tomy products made for non-Takara Tomy franchises[]
- 'Thomas and Friends' (A British children's franchise since it was first introduced as a book series, under the name 'The Railway Series', by Rev. W Awdry in 1945; Takara Tomy works on Japanese Plarail, Capsule Plarail, Tomica, and Tomix toys plus preschool products based on that franchise.)
- 'Teletubbies' (A British preschool franchise introduced by Ragdoll with help from the BBC in 1997; Takara Tomy works on Japanese toys and preschool products based on that franchise.)
- Disney franchise (An American multimedia franchise created by the film studio/company of the same name following the film studio/company's foundation in 1923; Takara Tomy produced toys for the Disney franchise, especially for the film studio/company's animated films such as 'Zootopia'.)
- 'Pokemon' (Takara Tomy produced their part of the toyline for Nintendo's monster-collecting franchise.)
- 'Furby' (Takara Tomy's distributation of Hasbro's 'Furby' toys which was first introduced by Tiger Electronics in 1998.)
Working for the Kamiwaza Wanda franchise[]
In January 2016, the Takara Tomy company announced a new monster-collecting franchise: Kamiwaza Wanda. In June 2016, 5 months later, Takara Tomy launched the Kamiwaza Wanda toyline.

English 'Tomy' logo
Trivia[]
- Takara Tomy is known for it's toy, video-game and children's products in Japan.
- In the United States and in the UK, Takara Tomy would just be called 'Tomy'.
Links[]
- Takara Tomy website (Japanese)
|