r/japanart

I'm trying to identify the origin, period, and cultural context of this
textile bag, which was kept as a personal keepsake by a British woman born
in 1927 in Chatham, Kent.

**What I can see:**
- Embroidered or printed scenic panel featuring Mount Fuji, Japanese pine
trees, ocean waves, and a sailing or fishing vessel
- The artistic style appears to reference ukiyo-e woodblock print
aesthetics
- Envelope-style clutch format with a scalloped flap
- A chain of small elephant figurines attached — appear to be moulded
resin or early plastic, tinted pink/ivory

**My questions:**

1. Does this appear to be Japanese-made? If so, is it export ware (made
2. for Western markets) or domestic production?
3. What period does the style suggest — pre-war (1920s–30s), wartime, or
4. post-war?
5. Does the scenic style or textile treatment suggest a specific region or
6. artistic tradition within Japan?
7. The elephant chain feels anomalous — elephants aren't traditional
8. Japanese symbolic animals. Does this feel like a later Western addition,
9. or is there a Japanese context for it I'm not aware of?

Any expertise in Japanese textiles, export goods, or interwar decorative
arts would be very welcome. Happy to provide additional detail or
photographs.

Found this wooden kokeshi from my grandmother but can’t read this to find the artisan or signature bc unfortunately can’t read characters

Torii Kotondo’s Combing Her Hair (Kami tsuki) was originally published in 1933 in an edition of just 100 impressions, after which the original woodblocks were destroyed.

The print depicts a young woman quietly combing her long black hair, dressed in a gray kimono decorated with delicate pink flowers. The fine carving of the individual strands of hair and the deep blue bokashi background are wonderful examples of the craftsmanship found in Shin-hanga prints.

The example shown here comes from a later limited set produced from newly carved woodblocks in the 1980s.

My grandma purchased this scroll during the occupation circa 1946-1951. She is now 100 years old and would like some info if someone has any knowledge to share.

I recently got this carved netsuke-esque piece. I was curious if anyone could provide any information. This is my first time ever posting on Reddit so if I did something wrong or should do something in the future please let me know! Thanks!

AI says the colorful one with horses is 133 years old. Does anyone have anymore info to share or know what they’re worth? Any information on where to get a professional appraisal would be appreciated.

Hello everyone, I’m hoping someone here might have some insight around this copper plate as I can’t seem to find anything similar when searching online. Both the front and back are fully decorated with different narrative scenes. The reverse isn’t simply the repoussé impression from the front, which seems highly unusual. The front depicts a mounted samurai with attendants, military banners, and a castle landscape, surrounded by a border of twelve paired leaf motifs. It’s 8” in diameter and quite weighted for its size. I’ve attached photos of the front and back with some closeups of the detail. Any knowledge around origin, creator, or era? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

My parents run a small hand-dyeing workshop in Japan (Tachikawa Nobori) that's been making nobori banners, noren curtains, and kamon (Japanese family crests) for over 50 years. I'll be taking over the business myself before long.

Kamon are circular emblems used the way Western heraldry uses coats of arms — they represent a family or lineage, built from simple motifs like flowers, birds, waves, and geometric patterns, arranged under strict rules of symmetry.

For practice, I'd like to design an original kamon in this tradition for you or your family.

No charge — I'll just send you the design as a digital file.

If you're interested, comment or DM me with:

• Your motto, what you value, what you're working toward — anything that matters to you

※That pic I made for myself

Does anyone have information on this piece of art I found?

My mom had a lot of Japanese wood blocks from
when we lived in Japan in the 1970’s. She love to collect them. Does anybody recognize this one? She also did Ikebana flower arrangement. I was born in Japan. I just wanna find out more about** what she loved and collected.**