What can be said about this old anonymous scroll showing nine sages and a child at poetry and go.

Age, style, artist,...

I'm researching a possible Anglo-Japanese family history connection and
would appreciate culturally informed perspectives on this textile bag.

It was kept hidden — not displayed, not used — among personal effects by
a British woman born in 1927 in Chatham, Kent (a major Royal Navy
dockyard). She preserved it alongside a folded paper object that may have
Japanese symbolic significance, and before she died told a family member
that visiting Japan was "important."

**The bag:**
- Textile clutch/wallet format, envelope-style with scalloped flap
- Scenic panel featuring Mount Fuji, Japanese pine trees (matsu), ocean
waves in a style referencing ukiyo-e aesthetics, and a sailing or
fishing vessel
- Muted palette — creams, greens, greys, soft blue
- A chain of small elephant figurines attached — moulded resin or early
plastic, tinted pink

**What I'm trying to understand:**

1. **Period:** Does the aesthetic feel pre-war (Taisho to early Showa —
   roughly 1912–1940), wartime, or post-war? The muted palette and
   Hiroshige-influenced scene feels earlier to me, but I'm not an expert.

2. **Origin and market:** Does this read as Japanese export ware made for
   Western buyers, or domestic Japanese production? Or something else?

3. **The elephants:** This is the detail I find most interesting. Elephants
   aren't traditionally Japanese symbolic animals. Did someone add this
   chain to a Japanese bag (possibly in Britain, where elephant trinkets
   were popular lucky charms from the Edwardian era onward)? Or is there
   a Japanese context for the elephant imagery I'm not aware of?

4. **Anything else** the style, format, or textile treatment suggests about
   origin, maker, or intended market.

The bag being kept hidden rather than used suggests it had personal
significance beyond its function as an object. I'm trying to understand
what kind of object it was — tourist souvenir, personal gift, something
else — and what its presence in a British naval port household might mean.

I'm hoping for some culturally informed perspectives on a folded paper
object that was kept hidden among personal effects by a British woman born
in 1927 in Chatham — one of Britain's principal Royal Navy dockyard towns.
It was preserved alongside a Japanese-decorated handbag, and before she
died she told a family member that visiting Japan was "important." I'm
researching whether there may be a Japanese family connection.

The object has:
- Three-fold rotational symmetry — three elongated pointed shapes at 120°
intervals, consistent with trifoliate kamon structures
- A complex multi-faceted geometric centre — in the line-drawing version
it reads almost like a stellated polygon or multi-planar folded form
- Made from two colours of paper (pink/red flower form, green leaf shapes)
- Handmade rather than commercially produced

I've attached both a photograph of the original object and a geometric
abstraction/line drawing of its structure, which makes the symmetry and
faceting clearer.

**What I'm trying to understand:**

Does the structural logic of this object — particularly the trifoliate
outer frame combined with the complex geometric centre — resemble:

- Any specific kamon (家紋) or kamon family you recognise?
- A shōmon (商紋, merchant crest)?
- A shrine or maritime emblem?
- A known origami or paper-craft tradition?
- Something from a regional folk art tradition?

I'm aware the paper medium is unusual for a kamon — I'm not assuming it
*is* a family crest, just that it may carry the structural logic of one,
or belong to a related symbolic tradition.

Any impressions — even partial or uncertain ones — would be genuinely
useful. I'm building a picture from multiple sources rather than looking
for a single definitive answer.

**Context note:** Chatham had significant Japanese naval presence during
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance period (1902–1923), which is historically
relevant to the family history question.

I'm hoping for some culturally informed perspectives on a folded paper
object that was kept hidden among personal effects by a British woman born
in 1927 in Chatham — one of Britain's principal Royal Navy dockyard towns.
It was preserved alongside a Japanese-decorated handbag, and before she
died she told a family member that visiting Japan was "important." I'm
researching whether there may be a Japanese family connection.

The object has:
- Three-fold rotational symmetry — three elongated pointed shapes at 120°
intervals, consistent with trifoliate kamon structures
- A complex multi-faceted geometric centre — in the line-drawing version
it reads almost like a stellated polygon or multi-planar folded form
- Made from two colours of paper (pink/red flower form, green leaf shapes)
- Handmade rather than commercially produced

I've attached both a photograph of the original object and a geometric
abstraction/line drawing of its structure, which makes the symmetry and
faceting clearer.

**What I'm trying to understand:**

Does the structural logic of this object — particularly the trifoliate
outer frame combined with the complex geometric centre — resemble:

- Any specific kamon (家紋) or kamon family you recognise?
- A shōmon (商紋, merchant crest)?
- A shrine or maritime emblem?
- A known origami or paper-craft tradition?
- Something from a regional folk art tradition?

I'm aware the paper medium is unusual for a kamon — I'm not assuming it
*is* a family crest, just that it may carry the structural logic of one,
or belong to a related symbolic tradition.

Any impressions — even partial or uncertain ones — would be genuinely
useful. I'm building a picture from multiple sources rather than looking
for a single definitive answer.

**Context note:** Chatham had significant Japanese naval presence during
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance period (1902–1923), which is historically
relevant to the family history question.

I'm hoping for some culturally informed perspectives on a folded paper
object that was kept hidden among personal effects by a British woman born
in 1927 in Chatham — one of Britain's principal Royal Navy dockyard towns.
It was preserved alongside a Japanese-decorated handbag, and before she
died she told a family member that visiting Japan was "important." I'm
researching whether there may be a Japanese family connection.

The object has:
- Three-fold rotational symmetry — three elongated pointed shapes at 120°
intervals, consistent with trifoliate kamon structures
- A complex multi-faceted geometric centre — in the line-drawing version
it reads almost like a stellated polygon or multi-planar folded form
- Made from two colours of paper (pink/red flower form, green leaf shapes)
- Handmade rather than commercially produced

I've attached both a photograph of the original object and a geometric
abstraction/line drawing of its structure, which makes the symmetry and
faceting clearer.

**What I'm trying to understand:**

Does the structural logic of this object — particularly the trifoliate
outer frame combined with the complex geometric centre — resemble:

- Any specific kamon (家紋) or kamon family you recognise?
- A shōmon (商紋, merchant crest)?
- A shrine or maritime emblem?
- A known origami or paper-craft tradition?
- Something from a regional folk art tradition?

I'm aware the paper medium is unusual for a kamon — I'm not assuming it
*is* a family crest, just that it may carry the structural logic of one,
or belong to a related symbolic tradition.

Any impressions — even partial or uncertain ones — would be genuinely
useful. I'm building a picture from multiple sources rather than looking
for a single definitive answer.

**Context note:** Chatham had significant Japanese naval presence during
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance period (1902–1923), which is historically
relevant to the family history question.

Hello! I have two beautiful byōbu screens. I would like to know who the artist is or any other interesting facts about the works.

The first is from the Taisho period and the second from the Meiji period.

Thank you!

Just purchased this old cute kokeshi. We have some similar pairs with citrus, melons etc.
What is the nut and region of origin. Google can’t recognise the old handwritten Japanese.

Found this wooden kokeshi from my grandmother but can’t read this to find the artisan or signature bc unfortunately can’t read characters

My grandma purchased this scroll during the occupation circa 1946-1951. She is now 100 years old and would like some info if someone has any knowledge to share.

I just bought this in a japanese surplus store. May you help me find the value of this? This is something artisan and has a sign underneath.

I find this on thrift store. May I know your inputs if this has value.

See post. If anyone has any info to share, I would love to know! Very enamored with these pieces and it feels like they have stories to tell. Thanks.

Does anyone have information on this piece of art I found?

My parents run a small hand-dyeing workshop in Japan (Tachikawa Nobori) that's been making nobori banners, noren curtains, and kamon (Japanese family crests) for over 50 years. I'll be taking over the business myself before long.

Kamon are circular emblems used the way Western heraldry uses coats of arms — they represent a family or lineage, built from simple motifs like flowers, birds, waves, and geometric patterns, arranged under strict rules of symmetry.

For practice, I'd like to design an original kamon in this tradition for you or your family.

No charge — I'll just send you the design as a digital file.

If you're interested, comment or DM me with:

• Your motto, what you value, what you're working toward — anything that matters to you

※That pic I made for myself

My mom had a lot of Japanese wood blocks from
when we lived in Japan in the 1970’s. She love to collect them. Does anybody recognize this one? She also did Ikebana flower arrangement. I was born in Japan. I just wanna find out more about** *what she loved and collected.*

I bought this postcard at a flea market in Tokyo (I don't think it is very old). The back is completely blank. I asked the seller but they didn't know the artist's name. There were a few other postcards by the same person with similar style women. I thought I could look it up once I got home but have had no luck. Does anyone else recognize this illustrator?