On August 7, 1842, Chubei (the first) was born as the second son of Chobei ITO (the fifth); his family had been running a store 'Bencho' that had been selling some fabrics and products called 'mimitsuki-mono'; they were also a landowner of a large field including fields of 9,918 – 19,836 square meters for their own.
初代忠兵衛は天保13年7月2日に五代伊藤長兵衛の次男として生まれ、生家は「紅長」（べんちょう）の屋号で、耳付物という繊維品の小売をなし、また一、二町の田地を自作する手作りの地主でもあった。