Patriotic Babies, Battleships and Biplanes
In the 1930s, patriotic and military elements started to appear in many Japanese textile designs. Children marching with flags, weapons, helmets and puppies are common in pieces around this time. But a few things make this boy’s kimono special. The upper and lower sections of the piece likely came from two different garments. Let’s start with the upper portion, which is more interesting. (Incidentally, we recently learned that a piece with similar elements was pictured in a 2015 Hyperallergic article by John Yau.) It likely dates from 1937, the year Japan invaded Manchuria. One clue is the presence of the lyrics to a song titled “Aikuni koshinkyoku, or “Patriot March,” which won a nationwide competition that year. The battleship pictured could be the Haruna, which was deployed in both WW1 and WW2. Or perhaps it’s the Ise whose service life was not quite so long but was still around in 1937. As for the airplane, it looks a lot like the Aichi “Susie” D1A2 used in China in 1937. No...
