The Shōwa Archive 昭和資料室

The Shōwa Archive 昭和資料室 is where we keep the true stories behind the SHŌWA 昭和 line: six everyday objects from post-war Japan, one from each of our five cities, redrawn as T-shirts.

Shōwa 昭和 is the Japanese era that ran from 1926 to 1989. These were the years Japan rebuilt itself: ramen counters, jazz cafés, tram lines and enamel shop signs. On 25 December 2026 it will be 100 years since the era began, and Shōwa retro (昭和レトロ) is having a big revival.

Each design below starts from something real: a date, a place, an object people actually held. The shop names on the prints are ours, so the history stays true and nobody's brand gets borrowed.

資料 No.01 · Sapporo 希 Hope: A ramen shop counter card, 1955

Sapporo gave Japan miso ramen. In the mid-1950s a small shop called Aji no Sanpei started serving noodles in a miso broth, and the city made it its own: rich, warming, later topped with butter and sweetcorn. Its ramen alley, now Ganso Ramen Yokochō, began as a row of eight small stalls in 1951.

Our tee redraws the menu card from the counter of 五都軒, a ramen shop we made up, founded in Shōwa 30 (1955): a red noren across the top, a red bowl with the thunder-pattern band, butter and corn on the broth, and 冬は、味噌。 (winter means miso) down the side.

See the Miso Rāmen 味噌らーめん tee →

資料 No.02 · Tokyo 夢 Dream: A newspaper ad, 1958

Work on Tokyo Tower began in Shiba Park in June 1957. It opened on 23 December 1958 at 333 metres, taller than the Eiffel Tower, and for most of Shōwa 33 Tokyo watched it rise a little more each week.

Our tee is laid out like a newspaper ad from that year: the tower half-built under a halftone sky, a crane on top, an ad balloon trailing a banner, and the headline 夢は、まだ建設中。 (the dream is still under construction).

See the Kensetsu-chū 建設中 tee →

資料 No.03 · Kyoto 和 Harmony: A single-ride tram ticket, 1895 to 1978

Kyoto ran Japan's first electric streetcars in commercial service from 1895, powered by the city's new hydroelectric plant on the Lake Biwa Canal. By the mid-1960s the trams covered about 70 km of the city. Traffic won in the end, and the last city tram ran on 30 September 1978.

Our tee is a single-ride ticket, 一回乗車券, for an invented Wa line (和線): real stops from Kitano to Shichijō with a hole punched at Gion, a brass fare token below and the dates 1895 to 1978.

See the Ikkai Jōshaken 一回乗車券 tee →

資料 No.04 · Osaka 力 Strength: An enamel tonic sign and a paper tiger

Dōshōmachi in central Osaka is the city's old medicine quarter. Its druggists founded Sukunahikona Shrine, Shinnō-san, in 1780. When cholera reached Osaka in 1822 they gave out a pill with a small papier-mâché tiger charm, and the shrine still hands out paper tigers at the Shinnō Festival every 22 and 23 November.

Our tee is a vitreous enamel shop sign, the kind that hung on Shōwa shopfronts, for an invented tonic maker, 五都薬房: the paper tiger in a red sun, a giant 力 and the line 力をつける, build your strength.

See the Hōrō Kanban 琺瑯看板 tee →

資料 No.05 · Osaka 力 Strength: A sumo wrestler's handprint

Every March the grand sumo tournament comes to Osaka. Wrestlers sign tegata for their supporters: a palm pressed in ink on a square shikishi board, with the ring name brushed beside it. Fans collect them, and still hold their own hand up against one to see how they measure up.

Our tee is the tegata of an invented wrestler, 五都山 (Gotoyama, Five Cities Mountain): a red handprint on a gold-edged board with 大阪場所 in the corner and a 力 seal. The hollow of the palm is left bare, the way a real print comes out.

See the Tegata 手形 tee →

資料 No.06 · Yokohama 信 Trust: A jazz café matchbox, 1933

In 1933 Yoshida Mamoru opened Chigusa in Noge, Yokohama, with about a hundred 78s and an old gramophone. It became one of Japan's best-known jazz kissa, cafés where you went to listen rather than talk. The war closed it and air raids destroyed it; he rebuilt the collection after 1945, and fans reopened the café near the original site in 2012.

Our tee is a matchbox label for an invented jazz kissa, 信: a red gramophone horn on mustard yellow, JAZZ & COFFEE, 百枚のレコードと、一台の蓄音機。 (a hundred records and one gramophone) and a 火の用心 (beware of fire) striker strip.

See the Jazu Kissa ジャズ喫茶 tee →

How the SHŌWA tees are made

Every design is drawn with three or four flat inks, the way Shōwa print shops did it, then printed direct-to-garment on heavyweight cotton when you order. The big print goes on the back, about three inches below the collar, with a small mark on the left chest. Each one takes 2–5 business days to make, then 2–6 business days for UK delivery.

Questions

What does Shōwa mean?

Shōwa 昭和 is the name of the Japanese era that ran from 25 December 1926 to 7 January 1989, the reign of Emperor Hirohito. The two characters are usually read as "enlightened peace".

When is Shōwa 100?

25 December 2026 marks 100 years since the Shōwa era began.

What is Shōwa retro?

昭和レトロ (Shōwa retro) is the Japanese love of everyday design from the post-war Shōwa years: kissaten coffee shops, enamel signs, tram tickets, matchbox labels, neon and shop curtains. It has had a big revival in Japan in recent years.

Are the shops and brands on the tees real?

The places, dates and objects are real: Sapporo's miso ramen, Tokyo Tower, the Kyoto trams, Dōshōmachi's paper tigers, Osaka sumo and Yokohama's jazz cafés. The shop names on the prints, like 五都軒, 五都薬房, 五都山 and the 信 jazz café, are our own inventions, so we never borrow anyone's brand.

How are the SHŌWA tees printed?

Each design uses only three or four flat inks, the way Shōwa print shops worked, printed direct-to-garment on heavyweight cotton when you order. The back print sits about three inches below the collar, with a small mark on the left chest.