Japan: Hikifuda advertising poster featuring Fukurokuju, god of happiness, wealth and longevity, and Daikokuten (Daikoku), god of wealth, commerce and trade. Takejiro Furushima, 1906

Hikifuda are advertising handbills that became popular in late 19th to early 20th century Japan. Showing the increasing sophistication of Japanese commerce, the handbills were produced to advertise a company or promote a product, and sometimes they were even used as wrapping paper.

While hikifuda began to be produced as woodblock prints in the late 17th century, they witnessed a boom in the later 19th century when they were cheaply printed using colour lithography.

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Pictures From History