The original Toyobo was made by Chojiro, who is the first generation of the Raku family. The Raku family is unique in that they have retained the same ceramic style for the last four hundred years. The bowls are hand shaped rather than thrown.

The Toyobo is designated as an Important Cultural Asset in Japan. Toyobo is the name of a priest who lived at Shinnyodo, a temple on Kyoto's east side. There is also a tearoom named after him at Kenninji Temple, the first Zen sect temple in Kyoto, which is said to have been designed by him.

The Toyobo is one of Sen Rikyu's famous seven bowls. Of the seven, three are black and four are red. The black bowls are fired one at a time at 1000 degrees centigrade. They are fired only in the spring. The winter is so cold that the bowls would crack when they are removed from the kiln, and the summer is too hot for working near the kiln.