Vintage Reversible Souvenir Jacket, White Dragon and Golden Tiger, Navy Velvet and Blue Satin, 1950s, Condition C
Vintage Reversible Souvenir Jacket, White Dragon and Golden Tiger, Navy Velvet and Blue Satin, 1950s, Condition C
- Dispatch
- Prepared and sent from Tokyo within 7–14 days, often sooner, or as arranged
- Arrival
- Vereinigte Staaten · usually 4–7 days after dispatch, insured and tracked Check the Shipping Flowchart here
- Import
Duties and customs · View the estimate
A guide for this piece: about $479, based on the 10% US charge on the declared value of goods made in Japan.
The final figure is set by US Customs and depends on where the piece was made and the kind of object it is. Many antiques over a century old carry no ordinary duty; most jewellery and leather goods add a single-digit rate.
With EMS, any charge is collected by your postal service on delivery. For pieces of significant value we can often arrange duties prepaid before dispatch.
How the estimate is reached · Ask for a figure on this piece
- Sizing
- Measured flat by hand, pit to pit and length, in centimetres · Find your size · Ask before you buy
- Character
- QuietResplendent Scoring underway ·
- Replies
- Within one Tokyo business day · Ask the curator team
- Guarantee
- Authenticity guaranteed · How we grade
Every piece is measured by hand, in centimetres as Japan measures. Please allow 1–2 cm (about ½ inch) for the give of the material and the hand that held the tape.
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A reversible souvenir jacket dated to the 1950s: navy velvet embroidered with a white dragon and a golden tiger, turning to blue satin with a white eagle and the word Japan in script. Brass YKK zip, cream ribbed trim.
The Piece
The souvenir jacket, or sukajan, began in the years after the war, when embroiderers around Yokosuka and Yokohama stitched dragons, tigers and eagles onto jackets for visitors to carry home. Pieces from the 1950s are the foundation of the whole tradition, and they are now seldom seen in one piece with both faces intact.
On the velvet side, a white dragon coils above a golden tiger across the back, while a pair of snarling tiger heads face each other at the chest. Turned inside out, the blue satin side carries a white eagle above rolling waves, with the word Japan written in script above it, and a pair of eagles among clouds at the front. The satin is quilted in diagonal lines, and the cuffs, collar and hem are finished in cream rib.
Measured flat: length 58 cm (22.8 in), chest width 55 cm (21.7 in), sleeve length from centre back 88 cm (34.6 in). Every measurement is taken by hand, so please allow a margin of about 1 to 3 cm (0.5 to 1 in).
Details
- Style: Reversible souvenir jacket (sukajan), zip front
- Era: 1950s
- Navy side: Velvet, embroidered with a white dragon and a golden tiger
- Blue side: Quilted satin, embroidered with an eagle and the word Japan
- Trim: Cream ribbed collar, cuffs and hem
- Zip: Brass-tone, stamped YKK
- Length: 58 cm (22.8 in)
- Chest width: 55 cm (21.7 in)
- Sleeve length: 88 cm (34.6 in)
Condition
- Marks and soiling are recorded, as is natural for a jacket of this age, and are visible in the photographs.
- The blue satin shows uneven fading and tonal variation; the velvet tiger shows light surface wear to its embroidery.
Condition grade C (fair) on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.
Authenticity & Care
Both embroidered faces and the stamped zip are photographed. This is an unsigned piece with no maker label, presented for the quality of its embroidery and its age. Entrust it to a specialist in vintage textiles, keep it away from moisture and light, and store it on a wide hanger.
Delivery from Japan
Shipped from Japan, insured and tracked, by EMS or an equivalent express service, arranged by our Tokyo, Japan concierge team. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.
Every figure above is taken by hand with the garment laid flat, in centimetres. Lay a shirt or jacket you already love beside them and allow a centimetre or two of margin, the quiet safeguard on a final sale. Our size guide to tops and jackets turns pit-to-pit figures into US, UK, EU and Japanese sizes, and for anything it leaves open the curator team replies within one Tokyo business day.
Considered offers are welcome through Send an Offer, and each one is reviewed personally.
Continue with the latest arrivals, or the guide to Japanese condition ranks.
Souvenir jackets
Looking for a similar piece, a different size or a particular reference? Our Hunting Salon™ locates it across Japan’s private collector circles, then inspects, documents and delivers it to you. Begin a Hunting Salon™ request.
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