Yokosuka Dobuita — pattern design, embroidery, production
SUKAJAN
ARTIST
Hiromichi Yokochi
Fierce,
but never too serious.
Brands and projects we have drawn for
- GU
- PUMA
- EXPO 2025
- MONSTER HUNTER
- TOKUGAWA ART MUSEUM
- KAN-JAN®
ABOUTAbout
It began with a jacket I wanted myself.
What a sukajan is,
and why I draw them
Sukajans, short for Yokosuka Jumpers (jumpers meaning jackets), are souvenir jackets popularized by American GIs who would commission local artisans in Yokosuka’s Dobuita Street to make deeply personal customized jackets that reflected themselves and their lives. These jackets quickly became status symbols in postwar Japan, and remain one of the defining elements of Japanese fashion today.
After opening an office on Dobuita Street, Yokochi learned that the creation of new sukajans had effectively become a dead art, with the few remaining sukajan manufacturers largely focused on replicas. Having learned that there were no practitioners creating new designs, Yokochi made it his life’s work to sustain the sukajan form by becoming its first dedicated contemporary artist.
Yokochi’s works evoke the designs of the immediate postwar golden age of sukajans while centering subjects that have often never before been seen on sukajans. He is renowned for the deep research he performs during the creation of each piece, and for his ability to craft designs that make the most of the unique yokoburi embroidery technique commonly seen on sukajans.
Outside of brand collaborations, Yokochi operates the souvenir jacket store ICHI, also on Dobuita Street, and accepts commissions for custom pieces.
He lends pieces from his own collection of postwar souvenir garments to museums — including Pride of Yokosuka: Exhibition of Souvenir Jacket “Sukajan” at the Yokosuka Museum of Art in 2022, the first exhibition on the subject held at a public museum in Japan.
WHAT WE MAKEServices
From one jacket to a full production run.
Three ways to work with us
01 — Full order
A single jacket, made for you
We draw the pattern from scratch and finish it with yokofuri hand embroidery — a craftsman guiding the machine by hand, so no two pieces are ever identical. Bring a motif, a story, or nothing at all.
02 — Brand / OEM
Collaboration and production
Pattern design, embroidery data, sample making and production, handled through one contact. We have taken brand collaborations all the way through to national retail.
03 — Design only
The pattern, as data
If you already have a production line, we deliver the artwork alone — built for embroidery or for print, with thread colours specified.
You do not need to have a design. Telling us what you want on the jacket is enough.
PRICEPrice
Published, so you can budget.
Indicative prices
| Quantity | Using a stock body | Body made from a pattern |
|---|---|---|
| 1–49 | ¥165,000 and up per piece, design included, tax included | ¥220,000 and up per piece, design included, tax included |
| 50–99 | ¥38,500 and up per piece, design fee separate | ¥49,500 and up per piece, design fee separate |
| 100+ | ¥18,700 and up per piece, design fee separate | ¥27,500 and up per piece, design fee separate |
Figures are the lower bound and move with embroidery area, colour count, complexity and fabric. A formal quotation follows once we have confirmed stock and scheduling with our fabric and sewing partners.
LEAD TIMELead time
Booked in order received.
From three months
From reservation to delivery. Each jacket is made one at a time, so orders are taken in the order they are booked. The making itself takes a month or more — the rest is the queue.
Once we start, we give you a full schedule with the delivery date on it. If you have a date, tell us first. Depending on the season we can sometimes deliver in as little as one month, for a rush fee. If we cannot make your date, we will say so straight away.
Everything can be done online
Briefing, rough approval, revisions and weekly progress reports. You do not need to be in Japan, or come to Yokosuka.
We ship internationally
Overseas orders are welcome. All correspondence can be in English.
Documents in order
Contracts covering copyright, the scope of the licence and prohibited uses are prepared under the supervision of our legal counsel.
SHOPShop
Visits are by appointment.
ICHI Dobuita, Yokosuka
Our shop stands on Dobuita Street, where sukajan began. Come and see the real thing: the difference between hand and machine embroidery, the weight of the fabric, the depth of the stitching. None of it reads in a photograph.
| Address | Ai’s Bldg. 1F, 3-11-7 Honcho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 238-0041, Japan |
|---|---|
| Phone | +81 90-9924-4608 |
| Nearest station | Shioiri Station (Keikyu Line), 3 minutes on foot |
| Visiting | By appointment. Please email us before you come. |
| Online store | ichi-dobuita.square.site |
CONTACTContact
Tell us what you want on the jacket
Quantity, where you want the embroidery, roughly how many colours, and the date you need it. That is enough for us to come back with an estimate.