Most Of Us,

will be familiar with associating a red and white pole outside a shop,

as being a barbers shop, the universal symbol of three gold balls would indicate it is a pawn shop, the same use of signage was also used in Japan, many years ago family run shops thrived throughout Japan, and to advertise their business, merchants would frequently spend significant sums of money on a kanban, signs that would be displayed prominently outside the shop that would convey prestige and reliability to customers, to create what was essentially a form of traditional advertising , merchants would hire skilled craftsman known as kanban-shi who would hand-carve the signs using wood, bamboo, iron, fabric and sometimes even stone, the kanban typically took on an enlarged shape or form of whatever the merchant was dealing in, and the images were often accompanied by elegant calligraphy,

 the front and back of a kanban for a greengrocer (late 19th century), it features large daikon radishes as its primary advertising image,

 Kanban for a blade shop (late 19th century). Exceptionally fashioned out of thick paper set in a wooden frame, this kanban presents approximately forty finely painted types of hand tools and blades,

 Kanban for a geta, or wooden sandal, shop (l19 century). The kanban-shi recreated an oversized geta,

 from left to right: kanban for a pharmacy, a brush shop and dry goods store with “fair pricing” slogan,

this one I really like, a kanban for eyeglass shop (early 20th century), you can see more of these fascinating looks into the past in the form of an exhibition at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, you can see more pictures from the exhibition on Hyperallergic, Kanban was also released in the form of a book – a “176-page hardbound publication by Guest Curator Alan Scott Pate, with 155 illustrations and over 50 kanban represented.” it’s available here for $49.50, and no I am not on commission, I just thought it was a fascinating look into times past in Japan.