Pipe Holder Made in Occupied Japan

What is this little wooden bird that stands about seven inches tall? His head comes off, and we see a deep scooped out area and a hole in its hindquarters. This is a tobacco pipe holder, made for export from occupied Japan. Which brings me to a fascinating era of cross fertilization. When American forces occupied the defeated Japanese country and economy, winter 1947 to Spring 1952, we called that period Occupied Japan.

A kitschy kind of whimsical look MADE for the American servicemen characterized objects of that period. Then exported to the American dime stores as the Japanese economy and industry grew. We saw thousands of reproduction Hummel figurines, thousands of toothpick holders in all shapes, many considered politically incorrect today. Figurines that resembled Meissen tea sets, demitasse sets, vases, planters, Toby Jugs in the manner of Royal Doulton. Or cheap ceramic headed dolls, metal lighters, metal toys in thin cardboard boxes, ashtrays. Ceramic figurines often depicted Black Americana…I said politically incorrect, didn’t I? We also saw kitschy lamps and dinner services with European style flower patterns, in essence a mass of what we used to call five and dime merchandise.

“Made in Occupied Japan

Once the world leader in the porcelain industry, Japan’s economy after the war became horrific. American forces helped rebuild the Japanese economy. The American Occupying Force General Headquarters specified that American interests focus on the ceramics industry. Because of this, fifty percent of all items produced exported to the US, with the stamp “Made in Occupied Japan.”

Sometimes  they stamped these wares, always under the glaze, simply “Occupied Japan.” If you own a ceramic or porcelain export from Japan made earlier than 1945, it MIGHT say Nippon. If later than 1952, you see a foil paper label “Japan.”

Tobacco-Related Trinkets and Pipe Holders

One of the most fascinating line of objects to come out of Occupied Japan captured the interest and pocketbooks of American GIs. Those who DO collect Occupied Japan material tend to favor tobacco-related trinkets. A lot of GIs smoked, so we find tin lighters with erotic images, and little wooden birds made to hold pipes, like the one pictured. Ash trays with all kinds of scenes also became popular. For a few bucks a GI collected souvenirs to take home, and boy did they take these things home…in DROVES.

I find this era fascinating because of the cultural overlay between the ancient artistry of porcelain and ceramics in Japan through the ages. The American occupying forces created a market that debased the art form to making toothpick holders and ash trays, often with images and scenes appealing to the American Market. After the first wave of souvenir material made for the GIs, Japanese Ceramic Factories made objects that flooded Woolworth, Kresge’s and such dime stores in the States.

I remember my older cousins collecting little Dutch Girl figurines from the Deerfield Illinois Woolworth’s, marked “Made in Occupied Japan.” These little trinkets cost so little that the term “made in Japan” tended to mean something made cheaply.

Not anymore…a GREAT thing

Today, the top designs, the top brands of porcelain, and the finest of the fine in ceramics comes from that venerable country. Not to mention technology and automotive design. Occupied Japan, with its many forms of objects made for American consumption, tells a story fraught with sad images, forms of a once wonderful art form. As I said that period seems sad, but short lived. Collectors pay $150 for the little pipe holder.

The era for collecting this material, because of the political incorrectness of many of the images, lives in the past. 1980’s was the hey day of this branch of collecting. Today materials marked “Occupied Japan” bring half of what they did in the 1980s. Thankfully!