These tonya were originally sales offices that sakaya in kamigata (the Kyoto/Osaka area) opened in Edo to sell their own sake, and important personnel, such as clerks, were sent to these tonya.
だが、これもじつはそもそも上方の酒屋が自分のところの酒を江戸市民に売りこむため、手代など重要な人材を派遣し江戸に開店させた「営業所」であった。