P39 Vintage poster of Awa Province, Higashinakatomi, Keishintan, and Katsutoshimaru, retro, 34 x 76 cm

are pre-war Japanese regional tourism poster promoting Awa Province (阿波国), present-day Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, and specifically referencing the Higashinakatomi (東中富) area. This vertical-format poster dates from the Taishō to early Shōwa period (circa 1920s–1930s), when Japan actively promoted domestic travel and regional pride through illustrated posters.

The composition features an elegant young woman in kimono set against a poetic mountainous landscape, a classic visual language of Japanese travel posters of the interwar period. Such imagery was used to present regions as places of beauty, refinement, and cultural depth, encouraging urban residents to travel and experience Japan’s historic provinces and scenic countryside.

The text also references Keishintan (敬震丹) and Katsutoshimaru (活寿丸), which appear here as well-known local names or specialties associated with the region, reflecting the way regional posters often combined scenery, culture, and famous local products or traditions into a single promotional image.

During the 1920s and 1930s, posters like this were displayed in railway stations, travel agencies, inns, and public spaces to promote domestic tourism. The soft painterly style, refined facial expression, and romanticized landscape place this work firmly in the golden age of pre-war Japanese travel and regional advertising art.

This is a beautiful and scarce example of pre-war Japanese regional tourism poster design, combining bijin-ga aesthetics with landscape promotion and local identity.

Details:

Subject: Awa Province (阿波国), Higashinakatomi regional tourism
Type: Regional travel / tourism poster
References: Keishintan (敬震丹), Katsutoshimaru (活寿丸)
Period: Pre-war Japan, c. 1920s–1930s (Taishō – early Shōwa)
Technique: Lithographic advertising poster
Country: Japan
Size: 34 × 76 cm
Condition: Original vintage poster with visible age-related wear