YAMANE EVISU-Era KYOTO EVISUCHOU 552 Dark Indigo Denim Jacket with Roaring Tiger, Twin Sleeve Dragons & Japanese Souvenir-Jacket Embroidery

Description

A spectacular early YAMANE / EVISU-era embroidered denim jacket that translates the visual language of the Japanese sukajan into heavyweight indigo denim.

This is a particularly charismatic archive piece: a roaring tiger dominates the back, two long dragons coil dramatically down the sleeves, and the words “KYŌTO EVISUCHOU” frame the central composition in dusty pink embroidery.

The original neck label identifies the piece as:

YAMANE
Lot 552
Asian Genes

while the Japanese care label confirms:

Size 40
100% Cotton
Made in China
distributed by Evisu Japan Co., Ltd.

A surviving example of this exact YAMANE / EVISU KYOTO “EVISUCHOU” Dragon & Tiger embroidered denim design in Size 40 has also surfaced in the vintage market, helping confirm that this is a recognized period model rather than an improvised customized jacket.

This is pure Japanese denim exuberance: part trucker jacket, part Yokosuka souvenir jacket, part tattoo flash, part Y2K streetwear artifact.

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Identification

Brand / Line: YAMANE / EVISU-era
Label: YAMANE “Asian Genes”
Lot: 552
Design: KYOTO EVISUCHOU Tiger & Dragon
Tagged Size: 40
Material: 100% Cotton
Country of Manufacture: China
Japanese Distributor: Evisu Japan Co., Ltd.
Garment Type: Embroidered Denim Jacket / Trucker Jacket
Color: Dark indigo / washed navy
Primary Motifs: Tiger, dragons, KYOTO lettering
Style Influence: Sukajan, Japanese tattoo art, souvenir jacket, Y2K Japanese streetwear

The Size 40 marking is especially important because another documented example of this same dragon-and-tiger model is likewise described as Size 40.

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A Sukajan Reimagined in Denim

Although structurally this is a denim jacket rather than a satin sukajan, the decorative philosophy comes directly from Japanese souvenir-jacket culture.

Instead of reserving embroidery for one back panel, the design expands across three major zones:

• central tiger on the back
• full dragon embroidery running down the left sleeve
• matching dragon embroidery running down the right sleeve

The result has the visual drama of a Yokosuka jacket but the rugged weight, fading potential and everyday versatility of denim.

This crossover is exactly what makes older YAMANE-era pieces so interesting.

They were rarely content to treat denim as merely workwear.

Denim became the canvas.

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Roaring Tiger Back Embroidery

The back centerpiece is an enormous roaring tiger head rendered in warm gold, tan, cream, pink and muted earth tones.

Its mouth is fully open, exposing elongated fangs and a pink tongue.

The expression is theatrical rather than naturalistic, with exaggerated whiskers, fur radiating around the face and almost kabuki-like emphasis around the eyes.

Above:

KYÔTO

Below:

EVISUCHOU

Both are embroidered directly into the denim.

The combination of tiger imagery and Kyoto branding places the jacket firmly in that particularly Japanese universe where traditional motifs, streetwear typography and American workwear collide.

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Twin Dragon Sleeve Embroidery

Perhaps the most impressive construction detail is the use of large dragons extending along both sleeves.

Each dragon follows the vertical shape of the arm, creating a composition that becomes much more dynamic when the jacket is actually worn.

The dragon bodies are embroidered principally in pale gold / cream thread, contrasted with warmer red, peach and darker detailing around their heads.

This immediately evokes:

• traditional Japanese dragon iconography
• tattoo imagery
• sukajan embroidery
• embroidered biker jackets
• vintage souvenir clothing

Having both sleeves substantially embroidered also makes this significantly more elaborate than the many EVISU jackets where decoration is concentrated only on the chest or back.

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Tiger and Dragon Iconography

The pairing of tiger and dragon is one of East Asian art's great visual oppositions.

The dragon represents celestial, fluid and ascending energy.

The tiger represents terrestrial force, physical courage and grounded power.

In Japanese decorative culture, the two are often treated as complementary rivals.

Here, that traditional symbolic pair has been translated into late-20th / early-Y2K Japanese fashion language.

The tiger controls the central back while dragons occupy the sleeves, almost enclosing the wearer within the composition.

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Front Design

The front is comparatively restrained, which gives the jacket balance.

A smaller roaring tiger motif appears over one chest, echoing the dramatic central tiger on the reverse.

The opposing chest carries a flap utility pocket, while additional slanted lower pockets preserve the functional language of vintage denim and work jackets.

This restrained front is important.

The piece can look relatively conventional when approached from the front, then becomes dramatically more elaborate from the side and rear.

It has a genuine reveal effect. 🐉🐅

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YAMANE “Asian Genes” Label

The interior label is particularly fascinating.

It reads:

YAMANE

LOT 552

ASIAN GENES

alongside several motifs, including an illustrated winged creature, a city skyline and a Japanese-style crest.

The label also includes:

No. 13 Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong

This eclectic label design perfectly reflects the internationally minded Japanese fashion vocabulary surrounding YAMANE and EVISU during the era.

It combines Japanese identity, Asian pop-cultural references, Western denim history and an intentionally eccentric sense of branding.

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EVISU / YAMANE Heritage

EVISU was founded by Hidehiko Yamane in Osaka in 1991 and developed its reputation through Japanese denim craftsmanship, bold graphics and its famous painted seagull motif.

The YAMANE name is therefore particularly meaningful to collectors interested in pieces associated with the founder-era design universe rather than only contemporary EVISU production.

Today, EVISU remains heavily invested in decorated denim jackets, including embroidery-led designs, showing how deeply that visual language remains embedded in the brand's identity.

This older jacket is especially compelling because the graphic vocabulary feels less polished and more eccentric than contemporary luxury streetwear.

It has the raw personality collectors often seek in archive EVISU.

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Materials & Construction

The original care label specifies:

100% Cotton

The body appears to be a substantial cotton denim with a deep indigo / blue-black wash.

Construction details include:

• pointed shirt-style collar
• front metal closure
• chest flap pocket
• lower slanted pockets
• buttoned cuffs
• straight waistband
• extensive machine embroidery
• substantial embroidered sleeve decoration
• embroidered back lettering
• embroidered tiger graphics

The dark denim provides an excellent ground for the cream and gold threadwork.

Rather than screaming through bright satin color, the embroidery emerges from a deep indigo field, giving the entire jacket a more mature, earthy appearance.

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Size

Tagged Size: 40

Vintage Japanese sizing should never automatically be translated into a contemporary Western size without checking the actual measurements.

A separately documented Size 40 example of this same model was reported at approximately:

• Chest width: 20 in
• Length: 25 in
• Shoulder: 18.5 in

but those figures belong to another example and should not be treated as guaranteed measurements for this exact garment.

For this listing, the tagged 40 should remain the primary size designation until exact flat measurements of this individual jacket are taken.

A cautious approximate modern interpretation would likely place it somewhere around men’s M to L depending on preferred fit, but actual measurements should take precedence.

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Period

The styling strongly belongs to the late-1990s to early-2000s YAMANE / EVISU archive aesthetic, the same broader period when EVISU became increasingly visible internationally and especially influential in early-2000s streetwear culture.

Without a dated production code visible in the supplied material, an exact year should not be asserted.

A strong collector-facing description is:

Vintage late-1990s / early-Y2K YAMANE EVISU-era embroidered denim jacket.

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Condition

This is a vintage / pre-owned denim garment and should be expected to display natural signs of previous ownership and age.

From the supplied images, the denim shows attractive vintage character rather than appearing artificially pristine.

Potential age-related characteristics may include:

• natural indigo fading
• surface abrasion
• softened denim
• subtle discoloration
• thread movement
• embroidery wear
• hardware patina
• minor marks associated with previous use

The extensive embroidery appears to remain visually commanding and is the principal feature of the jacket.

Please use the supplied photographs as an integral part of the condition description.

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The Beauty of Dark Indigo Against Gold Thread

One of the reasons this design succeeds so well is the restrained palette.

The denim is almost midnight blue.

Against that surface, the gold and cream embroidery appears illuminated.

Pink and red accents prevent the jacket from becoming too monochromatic, but they remain secondary.

That makes this piece surprisingly wearable despite the scale of its embroidery.

It is flamboyant without looking fluorescent.

The aging denim actually helps.

Every fade, crease and softened area gives the mythological imagery more depth.

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Japanese Tattoo & Yokosuka Influence

The tiger and dragon motifs are inseparable from the broader history of Japanese tattoo-inspired clothing.

In sukajan, biker clothing, festival garments and wagara fashion, these creatures function as visual shorthand for strength, courage, movement and supernatural power.

This YAMANE jacket takes that vocabulary and translates it into a trucker-style denim silhouette.

That hybrid identity makes it especially attractive to collectors who move between several fashion worlds:

Japanese denim
Sukajan
Americana
Y2K
Tattoo fashion
Archive streetwear
Biker style
Rock fashion

It does not sit cleanly inside only one category.

That is part of its appeal.

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Why Collectors Seek YAMANE-Era Pieces

Modern EVISU continues to sell elaborate denim jackets and currently lists highly decorated examples at premium retail prices, including embroidered denim models.

Older YAMANE-era pieces, however, have another kind of attraction.

They carry:

• older label designs
• unusual naming conventions
• eccentric Japanese-English branding
• less standardized graphics
• stronger direct association with the founder-era creative universe
• designs that were often produced in far smaller visible numbers than today's internationally distributed collections

The secondary market reflects this collector interest. An Etsy search currently surfaces a comparable rare YAMANE EVISU-era dragon/tiger/gorilla denim jacket with an asking price around US$780, although asking price should never be confused with confirmed sold value.

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A Recognized Dragon & Tiger Model

Especially useful for identification is the existence of another vintage example described as:

“VINTAGE 90'S YAMANE EVISU KYOTO ‘EVISUCHOU’ DRAGON & TIGER EMBROIDERED DENIM JACKET”

in Size 40.

That surviving reference closely corresponds to the jacket photographed here:

• KYOTO embroidery
• EVISUCHOU embroidery
• roaring tiger
• dragon sleeves
• dark denim
• Size 40

This provides unusually strong model-level support for an archive garment whose original catalog documentation may be difficult to locate.

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Styling

Japanese Archive

Wide raw denim
Engineer boots
Plain white tee
Silver accessories

Y2K Streetwear

Baggy jeans
Retro sneakers
Graphic tee
Beanie

Rock / Biker

Black denim
Heavy boots
Leather belt
Vintage band tee

Americana

Faded jeans
White tee
Work boots
Canvas cap

Sukajan-Inspired

Black trousers
Minimal shoes
Simple inner layer

Because the sleeves and back already carry substantial visual information, the jacket works best when allowed to dominate.

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Why This Piece Is Special

✓ Genuine YAMANE / EVISU-era piece

✓ Rare “Asian Genes” label

✓ Lot 552

✓ KYOTO EVISUCHOU design

✓ Tagged Size 40

✓ 100% cotton denim

✓ Massive embroidered roaring tiger

✓ Twin full-sleeve embroidered dragons

✓ Smaller front tiger embroidery

✓ Dark indigo vintage denim

✓ Japanese souvenir-jacket influence

✓ Strong Y2K archive appeal

✓ Documented examples of the same design survive

✓ Highly distinctive collector presentation

This is not simply an old EVISU denim jacket with a small logo.

It is one of those pieces where YAMANE treated an entire jacket as a graphic surface.

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Display / Collector Value

Displayed flat or hung on a wall, the jacket functions almost like a denim tapestry.

The front shows the restrained workwear architecture.

The sleeves introduce the dragons.

The reverse delivers the tiger.

That three-stage visual progression makes it unusually effective both as fashion and collectible textile art.

For an EVISU collector, Japanese denim collector or someone building an archive of late-1990s/Y2K Japanese streetwear, this has substantially more personality than a conventional logo trucker.

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Purchase, Shipping and Vintage Policy

This is a pre-owned vintage collectible garment offered in its present condition.

Please inspect all photographs carefully before purchase. Vintage clothing may naturally display wear, fading, discoloration, embroidery movement, small marks, creasing, hardware patina or other characteristics related to age and previous ownership.

These characteristics form part of the individual history of the garment.

Vintage and Japanese sizing frequently differs from contemporary Western standards. The tagged Size 40 should therefore be considered a reference rather than a guaranteed modern size conversion. Actual garment measurements should always take priority when determining fit.

Unless materially misrepresented, photographed vintage characteristics, normal age-related wear and subjective fit are not grounds for return, exchange or claim.

Worldwide tracked shipping is available, including EMS where appropriate.

Preparation, shipping and handling normally takes 5–10 business days or earlier.

Respectful offers may be considered.

If you are looking for this design or model in another size, please feel free to message us. Although availability cannot be guaranteed, we may be able to locate the same or a closely matching piece in a different size through our sourcing network.

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Material Tags

100% Cotton, Cotton Denim, Indigo Denim, Embroidery Thread, Metal Hardware, Woven Label, Vintage Denim