Sukajan reversible de La gran ola de Hokusai, bordado de sakura, monte Fuji y barco, verde azulado × negro y marfil, década de 1990

Hokusai's Great Wave rises across teal satin beneath cascading cherry blossom, with golden boats in the troughs and Fuji small on the horizon. Expanded into a panoramic embroidered seascape and reversing to a quiet black-and-ivory bomber, it carries one of the world's most recognized images in thread.

The Piece

The embroidered face turns the jacket into a moving textile panorama. A monumental curling wave, inspired by Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, begins along the lower front, passes through the zipper line and rises across the back in a tremendous arc, its towering crests in white, silver, black and sea-green thread. Cherry branches descend from the upper field, golden boats cross the lower waves, and snowcapped Mount Fuji sits on the distant horizon, completing a Japanese coastal narrative across front and back.

The wave is enlarged, layered and adapted to the contours of the garment rather than copied flat. Directional stitches build foam, spray, shadow and movement; silver-white crests curl over dark, almost claw-like inner waves, and small embroidered droplets scatter across the teal ground. The zipper divides the front so the image becomes whole when fastened; on the back, the largest crest dominates the left side beneath a flowering tree spreading across the upper right. Fuji, small and calm beneath the overwhelming wave, follows a classic principle of Japanese landscape composition, while the boats in warm ochre and brown add human scale and tension.

Clusters of white and pale pink blossoms emerge from dark brown limbs and scatter as single petals, some touched with warm gold and soft red. Sakura brings delicacy and impermanence, the wave motion and sudden change, Fuji endurance and continuity. The embroidery is built through overlapping stitch densities rather than outlines, curved stitching following the wave's rotation and shorter clustered stitches giving the blossoms a petal-like softness.

The reverse is intentionally minimal: a black body with aged ivory raglan sleeves, dark rib-knit trim and no large embroidered composition, a classic vintage bomber for quieter days. The teal changes under different light, shifting between ocean blue, blue-green and muted jewel tones, and the raised embroidery gives the scene a living, tidal quality as the satin moves.

The sukajan grew from postwar souvenir jackets for servicemen, decorated with dragons, tigers, eagles, maps and place names, and later broadened into ukiyo-e imagery, Buddhist figures, folklore, tattoo motifs, anime, yōkai and reinterpreted masterpieces. This jacket belongs to that later artistic evolution, an Edo-period visual language carried on a twentieth-century bomber silhouette.

Details

• Maker: No visible maker label in the photographs
• Era: Late 20th to early 21st century revival, approximately 1990s through 2000s (assessed)
• Origin: Japanese souvenir-jacket tradition
• Material: Satin-finish woven shell; large-scale multicolor machine embroidery
• Color: Embroidered face: teal-blue body, aged ivory / pale champagne sleeves, blue-grey and ivory striped trim · Reverse: black body, aged ivory sleeves, black, blue-grey and ivory trim
• Embroidery Palette: Wave: silver white, pale blue, charcoal, black, deep green · Blossoms: white, blush pink, pale gold, small red accents · Boats: mustard gold and brown · Mountain: white, black, muted blue
• Size: Not confirmed; tag not visible in the photographs
• Motifs: Hokusai-inspired great wave, sakura, Mount Fuji, traditional boats
• Construction: Reversible two-sided; raglan sleeves; front metal zipper (silver-tone); angled hand pockets; contrasting sleeve and body panels
• Trim: Rib-knit collar, cuffs and waistband
• Gender: Unisex

Condition

• Vintage pre-owned condition with substantial age-related character; the teal embroidered panels keep strong color and the wave, blossoms, boats and Mount Fuji read clearly with rich thread variation.
• Noticeable age-related discoloration, toning, surface marks and uneven coloration on the ivory sleeves, with scattered marks on the light-colored sleeves.
• General surface creasing, storage wrinkles, fading and color variation, and natural satin pressure marks.
• Wear and discoloration around the rib-knit trim.
• Minor embroidery-thread movement or loose fibers, and possible small pulls, abrasions or age-related imperfections.
• Authentically vintage rather than pristine; the photographs form an essential part of this condition record.

Fit Guidance

The tagged size is not visible. Vintage Japanese jackets often fit smaller and shorter than contemporary Western garments, so flat measurements should guide the choice; pit to pit, back length, raglan sleeve length from the collar, hem width and cuff width can be provided on request and compared with a jacket that already fits.

Authenticity & Care

No maker label is visible and the production year cannot be confirmed; the jacket is presented as a vintage Hokusai-inspired sukajan, not as an original wartime or immediate postwar jacket. Every piece is examined and documented in Japan before dispatch and is offered with the Japonista authenticity guarantee.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Returns follow our published policy.

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