Korea Town is at the heart of an area once called Ikaino. The name Ikaino originates from the older place name Ikaino-tsu, or the “Port of Ikai.” It was here that people from Baekje and other states on the Korean Peninsula settled after crossing to Japan.

In the 1920s, it is said that mail from the Korean Peninsula, particularly Jeju Island, would arrive safely here with just “Ikaino, Japan” written on the envelope. At that time, Osaka was being transformed into a great industrial city nicknamed the “Manchester of the East.” People suffering hardships under Japanese colonial rule crossed over from the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island, seeking a more prosperous life.

In the 1990s, the streets of Miyuki-dōri Shopping District, formally known as the “Joseon Market,” were redeveloped. In the 2000s, with the co-hosting of the Korea-Japan World Cup and the Korean Wave cultural boom, Korea Town became a major tourist destination with more than two million people visiting annually.

Even before that time, many elementary, middle, and high school students visited Korea Town on field trips. Seeing children learning about the town in a park on a rainy day, Hong Yo-pyo, the founder of the food company Tokuyama, created Panga Shoku Kobo, a Korea-Japan cultural exchange facility in 2003. In Mr. Hong’s words, in KoreaTown one can learn the history of the Korean Peninsula and Japan through one’s own experience – from “one rice-cake on!”.