Japanese Propaganda Kimono

Beginning in the nineteenth century but especially in the 1930's, Japanese textile manufacturers produced hundreds of compelling fabrics that promoted Japan's political and military ambitions in China, Manchuria, and Southeast Asia. With maps, song lyrics, flags, and mock newsprint, and including tanks, battleships, bayonets, bombs, bombers, and fighter planes, these Propaganda Kimono promoted stories of Japanese heroism and promulgated victory, nationalism, and patriotic fervor. Wikipedia Link

Woman’s Propaganda Kimono

Woman’s haori. Meisen (warp-dyed) silk with gold metallic threads in the weft, shibori (tie-dyed) silk lining, unique purple color, with an abstraction of the battleship Mikasa, 42 x 48”, circa 1934. Almost perfect condition. The rarest type of propaganda kimono.
Price - $15,000

The Mikasa was the flagship of Admiral Togo Heihachiro (1848-1934), hero of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), the first Japanese victory in an international conflict. His death in 1934 during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria was fodder for nationalist sentiment leading to the second Sino-Japanese War of 1937. Because of this, Togo’s image appears on a few 1930’s propaganda kimono. The Mikasa, launched in 1900, is the last battleship of her type remaining in the world and now a museum.

Boy’s Propaganda Kimono

Boy’s omiyamairi. Printed or Yuzen-dyed (paste resist) silk, silk lining, 43 x 33”, with images of "gosho ningyo” - also called court dolls, in military dress, with tanks, military planes, and parachutes, 1930’s. Pristine, unworn, condition. This was bought by a Japanese dealer from the house of a high ranking officer near a naval base on Kyushu. A similar one appears on page 295 of Wearing Propaganda by Jacqueline Atkins.
Price - $6500

Boy’s Propaganda Kimono

Boy’s omiyamairi with battleship and military aircraft. Textured silk, 43 x 33”, dyed, hand-painted, embroidered with gold and silver metallic thread and other silk embroidery thread. Pristine, unworn, condition. Omiyamairi are essentially good-luck swaddling for a 30 day-old Japanese child’s Shinto naming ceremony. The design on this deluxe garment goes right around to the front where the silhouettes of two more battleships appear. Even the belts have wave designs on the tips, which is very unusual.
Price - $8500