Japan: Hikifuda advertising poster depicting a young woman and a girl in their best clothing celebrating Japanese New Year, 1913

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