This unusually decorated sarong with images of a pair of Japanese "geisha" drawn in typical Pekalongan style would have appealed to the popular culture of the 1920s and early 30s era Dutch East Indies when 'Japanoisirie' was quite the rage. Period photos show both Dutch and mixed Indo-Dutch women and men wearing kimonos. In addition, Japanese decorative elements crept into the households of wealthier elites. It’s likely though that looming war clouds did away with this fad in the late 1930s.
