What was Rakuten’s original Japanese marketplace name when it launched in 1997?

Rakuten’s original Japanese marketplace name was Rakuten Ichiba when it launched in 1997.

Hiroshi Mikitani founded the company in Tokyo in 1997, initially operating an online shopping mall with a small number of merchants. The Japanese word “ichiba” means “marketplace” or “market,” making the name a direct description of the service’s role.

Rakuten Ichiba became the foundation of Rakuten’s wider internet business. The group later expanded into financial services, travel, digital content, communications, and other consumer businesses, while the marketplace remained one of its best-known properties.

Rakuten is the corporate brand, but Rakuten Ichiba is the specific Japanese e-commerce service. The names should not be treated as interchangeable when identifying the original marketplace launched in 1997.