Unknown Maker, Javanese

Hokokai batik, which features florid Japanese-style motifs, emerged during Japan's occupation of Java (1942-1945). The Japanese demand for Hokokai textiles, made by Indo-European, Peranakan, and Indo-Arabian craftsman, was a boon to the batik industry, which had been in decline for decades. The Japanese occupation was the culmination of two centuries of foreign control in the region; a unified language (enforced during Dutch control) and a surge of nationalistic fervor in the 1940s helped fuel the creation of the nation of Indonesia.