Orientalism in the sky: Japan Airlines' Kimono-Branding in the 1950s

Abstract

In 1954, Japan Airlines (JAL) launched its first international service from Tokyo to San Francisco via Honolulu. JAL’s first advertisement in the U.S. proclaimed, “Even before you leave Golden Gate, you’re in Japan.” On board, the flight attendants served drinks in kimonos, and distributed paddle fans emblazoned with images of Mt. Fuji. This paper considers JAL’s Orientalism in the 1950s, and illustrates how it was the outcome of an interactive approach, shaped by input from Japanese as well as American PR strategists. In 1953, the newly established national flag carrier was faced with the pressing issue of how to present and represent Japan in overseas advertising and in the air. JAL ultimately followed the suggestions of their American ad agency partners to feature the “romance and mystery of the Orient,” which often included a vision of kimono-clad “geisha girls.” The person behind this Orientalist strategy was marketing psychologist Ernest Dichter, who would later facilitate the successful launch of the Barbie doll. The introduction of the kimono was also a branding exercise aimed at distinguishing JAL from its competitors, Pan American Airlines and Northwest Orient, who both benefited from access to a substantial public relations budget. JAL went on to embrace its own brand of Orientalism, and by 1959, began to run a series of ad campaigns to subtly “de-geishanize” the kimono by emphasizing the flight attendants’ cultural sophistication and education. Using various archival documents and promotional materials, I consider how JAL’s Orientalist representations were negotiated across the Pacific.