 | |
 Former headquarters in Tokyo | |
Native name | 株式会社タカラ |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha Takara |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Defunct | March 1, 2006 |
| Fate | Merged to Tomy |
| Successor | Takara Tomy |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Products | BowLingual, Choro-Q, Microman, Transformers |
Takara Co., Ltd. (株式会社タカラ, Kabushiki gaisha Takara) was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy Company, Ltd. to form Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was「遊びは文化」("playing is culture").
The company focused on traditional toys and board games. They created the Licca-chan dolls, which has been referred to as "Japan's Barbie" in Western press.[1] Some of the globally known toys and franchises that Takara invented include Transformers and Beyblade.[2][3] Takara also held the license to localise and distribute Hasbro products in Japan including The Game of Life, Blythe dolls, Magic: The Gathering, Duel Masters trading card games. Takara was also involved in software, publishing video games based on its toys like Transformers and Choro Q / Penny Racers, porting SNK Neo Geo games to consoles, and the Battle Arena Toshinden series.
- ^ NEWS, KYODO. ""King of Toys" and creator of the Japanese Barbie dies". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
- ^ Donohoo, Timothy Blake (2024-07-17). "Takara Celebrates 40 Years of Transformers With Nostalgic 'Our Origin' Anniversary Release". CBR. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
- ^ "Takara Acquires Atlus". www.gamedeveloper.com. Retrieved 2024-08-29.