The story of Yojiya began in 1904. It was the Meiji period, and the influence of cosmetic traditions from the Edo period was still strong.
After leaving his place of apprenticeship, founder Shigeo Kunieda began travelling from place to place, selling stage makeup from a large cart. He eventually settled in Kyoto, where he opened a stage makeup workshop named "Kunieda Shoten" to the south of the Sanjo Gokomachi area.
Since that time, Yojiya has developed against the backdrop of Kyoto's distinctive culture of bold and refined makeup, and today, over 100 years since its founding, Yojiya continues to be one of the few cosmetic companies to carry the torch of Kyoto's traditional aesthetic ideals.