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Added : April 02, 2011

Last Updated: April 04, 2011

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TOPIC / Graphic Design

Japanese Safety Match labels

Japanese Safety Match labels

sakura cherry blossoms vintage Japanese matchbox cover
From my collection, I've pulled out some very old, vintage matchbox labels from Japan because of a common characteristic. All of the designs incorporate English text reading either "Safety Match" or "Safety Matches." Based on seeing similar labels featured in an old issue of Graphis magazine, my guess would be to date these matchbox labels somewhere between 1882 through 1912.
vintage typewriter Japan matchbox cover The informative, yet opinionated piece written by Hideyuki Oka implies that the designs from this period were heavily influenced by Western culture and often carried animal motifs to be favorable as an export. Even if these designs aren't indicative of high-end Japanese graphic design, I gravitate to them for their aesthetic appeal.

Pictured in this post are just a few scans out of my collection of vintage Japanese matchbox covers.
vintage swan matchbox cover made in Japan japanese safety matches with lamp made in Japan
safety matches with dragon from Tai Hing & Co

“...The traditional Japanese feeling for design, with which the world has been familiarized through the media of calligraphic art, ikebana and katachi, is however a very different thing from the spirit of these matchbox labels, which reflects instead a marriage of Eastern and Western sensibilities. Yet both of these forms of expression are in their way typically Japanese...” —Hideyuki Oka, author of How to Wrap Five Eggs, excerpt from Graphis (No 144, Volume 25)

japanese safety match label
puppy in basket old matchbox label made by N.K.M.S.K.Kobe
red Japan sun matchbox label
safety match trademark manufactured in Japan
lion safety match with world matchbox label
safety match with anchor Japan matchbox label

 
   

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Maty Alatolo said on April 23, 2011

wow! I love it...