P17 Antique Japanese Advertising Calendar Poster – Aoyagi Shindō Pharmacy, Taishō 8 (1919)

Beautiful and rare Japanese advertising calendar poster issued for the year 1919 (Taishō 8) by Aoyagi Shindō (青柳進堂), a traditional Japanese pharmacy and medicine shop.

This elegant poster combines a full annual calendar with a refined bijin-ga style illustration of a mother and child seated together in an interior setting. The composition reflects the warmth, trust, and domestic comfort associated with traditional medicine and family care in early 20th-century Japan.

The upper section presents a complete 1919 calendar grid, while the lower portion features a beautifully rendered scene in a painterly style influenced by traditional woodblock prints and early modern commercial illustration. The woman’s patterned kimono and the child’s clothing are depicted with great attention to detail, creating a harmonious balance between advertising, design, and fine art.

Posters like this were typically distributed by pharmacies and shops as New Year gifts to customers, serving both as a practical calendar and as a decorative wall hanging. This piece is a wonderful example of Taishō-era commercial art, when Japanese advertising reached a high level of aesthetic sophistication.

The shop name Aoyagi Shindō (青柳進堂) is prominently printed, identifying the issuing pharmacy.

Issued by: Aoyagi Shindō Pharmacy (青柳進堂)
Type: Advertising calendar poster
Year: 1919 (Taishō 8)
Period: Taishō era
Country: Japan
Size: 25.5 × 73 cm