Antique Japanese New Year Hikifuda Advertising Broadside — Hanetsuki Beauty, Taisho Era

This colorful Japanese hikifuda (advertising broadside) was produced for a neighborhood merchant in Iyo Mishima (present-day Ehime Prefecture), promoting general household goods and sweets. Rich in New Year symbolism, the design features a young woman holding a hagoita (羽子板), the paddle used in hanetsuki, a traditional New Year game. Behind her rises the first sun of the year (初日の出), while plum blossoms announce the coming spring. Such broadsides were often distributed to customers at year’s end as both gifts and advertisements, combining elegant seasonal imagery with local commerce.