The Nagoya Imperial villa

Article posted on Tuesday, December, 27th, 2011 at 3:41 pm

I had my doubts as to whether this postcard was truly old or not; its condition was just too good. Certainly the photograph (featuring everybody’s favourite Nagoya Castle) is old, but I imagine anyone with a printer a flair for retro-styling could turn-out something similar before chowing down on their morning Wheat-Bix.

What’s that caption say? Well observed! It says, 「宮離屋古名」, which is kind of gibberish. UNLESS, I read what’s reflected with this mirror I just happen to have! Ahh, It says 「名古屋離宮」, which is read as Nagoya Rikyū – The Nagoya (Imperial) villa.

…interesting. Looking at the wear on the reverse side of the card, it’s apparent that the caption was stamped, or otherwise created by a device that impacted upon the card, denting it slightly. I think we can now safely conclude that this postcard was not made using an ink-jet printer. And, that’s good enough for me.

So, how old might it be? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Ōsaka castle, like you have never seen!

Article posted on Sunday, July, 10th, 2011 at 10:01 am

This is of course, Ōsaka Castle; it says so in the caption. The large, round, purple-ink stamp says 大阪城観覧記念 (Ōsaka Castle Kanran Kinen), which indicates that it is to commemorate the viewing of the castle. I’ll assume to commemorate the opening of the castle to the public. (Just an assumption though.)

When I first saw this postcard, I was beside myself. Not literally beside myself, as that would involve two of me, and I have no idea what could bring about such a scenario. The reason for my invocation of “beside myself”, is that this was the first time I’d ever seen Ōsaka Castle without a main tower!

The tower was actually completed in 1931 using modern construction techniques. Its external appearance was said to have been influenced by both Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s main tower & that of the Tokugawa’s, which I’m sure they’d both be ecstatic about. Regarding the internal appearance, try to imagine a concrete, 1930′s building.

It was only yesterday that I’d responded to a comment in: Ōsaka’s Megaliths, that I’d never entered Ōsaka’s main tower. When I eventually do hand-over the entrance fee and walk past the famed Kinmeisui Well (Important Cultural Property), I will be picturing this very scene.

Chidori Castle

Article posted on Monday, June, 20th, 2011 at 10:25 pm

It’s old postcard time again! This time around though, it’s not Ōsaka or Nagoya castle. Today’s vintage postcard is the totally bad-ass, Matsue Castle. A real favourite of mine.

I had some fun looking into the background of this postcard. This was mostly due to the discovery of the truly fantastic Matsue Postcard Museum website. The site is in Japanese but do have a look. Madly clicking away at stuff will most likely land you in a very interesting spot. So, it’s totally worth checking out.

The website was able to help me out with something I have almost always struggled with, with these old postcards; when it was produced. According to what has been printed on the back of the card, this particular one dates from between the seventh year of Taishō (1918) to the seventh year of Shōwa (1932).

Pictured is the bronze statue of Lord Naomasa Matsudaira who seems to be gazing up at Chidori Castle. Nowadays, Naomasa needs to strain his eyes a little harder as his statue has been moved several hundred metres south from its former location.

Kyōbashi Gomon memories

Article posted on Thursday, May, 26th, 2011 at 10:10 pm

For anyone who knows Ōsaka castle, this old postcard will no-doubt look a little odd. Familiar but definitely different. The scene is the Kyōbashi Guchi, a masugata-style gate located to the Northwest of the castle. Standing in the distance is Ōsaka castle’s freshly-painted, concrete main tower.

The time frame for when this image could possibly have been captured is relatively brief. The tower was unveiled around 1930, and the gleaming gate complex failed to survive the bombing of Ōsaka in 1945. No data was available on the portable toilet at the entrance.

It’s a neat little postcard. The colours are vivid and it offers a great perspective of the castle. I’m a little disappointed with the stamps obscuring the bottom-right corner. Also, the red ink stamp is illegible. All-in-all though, it’s a postcard I was happy to get a hold of.

Related posts: Ōsaka’s Megaliths, A postcard from the edge (of the moat).

Garage sale – Old postcards

Article posted on Sunday, May, 15th, 2011 at 2:09 pm

I have managed to collect some interesting items over the years. It’s something I guess we all do. Some things you’ll want to continue to hang on to, and other things you’re willing to let go. Especially if they end up going to an appreciative home.

With a view to making available these still-interesting items (and yes, making some money back) I set-up a Shop Page. At the present there is a mere handful of categories; Postcards (featured below), Books, Souvenirs & Antiques.

Some vintage postcards

So, there was a bunch of postcard images just sitting there doing nothing, and I thought why not give them some extra exposure. One minor note. I notice the Japanese script on all of the following cards runs from right to left. Anyway, enjoy!

The first is of the main tower of Ōsaka Castle. It is undated, but I’m willing to bet that it is from the 1930′s. This tower was in fact rebuilt in 1931.

This one of Edo Castle (I know, I know. It’s the Imperial Palace.) and it is old (1904). This particular view is an oft replicated one, though it surely must be one of the earliest.

The Hansōbō is a temple (shrine ?) in Kamakura. I really do not know a thing about the place. The postcard however features a red ink that has a fantastic quality about it when viewed with your own eyes.

Here is another of the Imperial Palace of Tōkyō. The writing, though clear, is unreadable by me. Anyone want to give it a shot? Anyway, you’ll see that there are a lot of Yukata (light Kimono) about.

The final postcard is of the former Imperial Palace, the one in Kyōto, before the move to the new capital in Tōkyō. The gate is the Kenrei-mon. This wide-bordered style of postcard is one that I’ve seen from the earlier decades of the 1900's.

So, there you have it people. Some postcards and who-knows-what-else for sale. Spend some cash, you can trust me.

The Furisode and Tako stones

Article posted on Saturday, May, 7th, 2011 at 12:43 pm

You may recall from the Ōsaka’s Megaliths post I did a while back, the story of the giant stones of Ōsaka Castle. Well, the subject of the vintage postcard below is the very same thing. In the Megaliths post I included photos of the two largest stones, the Tako (蛸石) & Higo (肥後石) stones. Below we see the Tako stone again plus the third largest, the Furisode stone.

The Furisode stone (振袖石) sits to the left, the street-lamp covering a fraction of its surface. Furisode actually means Kimono sleeve, and that’s exactly what it looks like. Wow! Tako means octopus, and you can see from the shape of the large stone on the right, an octopus… roughly cut into a pentagonal-looking rectangle.

So, next time you find yourself at Ōsaka Castle, see if you can’t track down these stones for yourself.

Takanawa Gosho Entrance

Article posted on Wednesday, April, 27th, 2011 at 6:38 pm

This well-travelled gate started out life as the formal entrance of a high-ranking Daimyō’s residence, located to the east of what was Edo castle. It now fulfills the role of Tōkyo landmark at Ueno (here). Here’s a partial list of its names, and boy, there are a few:

• Kuro Mon – 黒門
• Ueno no Kuro Mon – 上野の黒門
• Tōgu Gosho no Sho Mon – 東宮御所の正門
• Kyū Inshū Ikeda Yashiki Omote Mon – 旧因州池田屋敷表門
• Kyū Inaba Tottori Han Ikeda Ke No Omote Mon – 旧因幡鳥取藩池田家の表門

Exactly when the gate was built is unknown, but it is believed to have been completed toward the end of the Edo period (1603 – 1868) where it served as the main gate of the Ikeda of Inaba Province. In 1892, it was transferred to the Emperor’s Eastern Palace (Tōgu Gosho) at Takanawadai Machi. The gate was awarded Important Cultural Property status in 1951, and shortly thereafter was moved to the front of the Tōkyō National Museum in 1954.

This type of gate is known as a Nagayamon (長屋門), basically a long building with a thoroughfare. And, it should be said that this is a particularly grand example. Flanking the main and side entrances are two, count ‘em two, guardhouses. Incidentally, a feature that tells us it belonged to a Daimyō of the highest rank and an income of over 100,000 koku; koku being a unit of measurement for rice and wealth.

Nagoya Castle – Colourised

Article posted on Friday, April, 15th, 2011 at 1:20 pm

Here’s another postcard of Nagoya castle. What a fine scene it presents; all of the buildings are positively gleaming as though they’ve just been flossed. Disregarding the fact that the postcard looks obviously old, there are clues that suggest it dates from the early 1900′s.

The first thing to stand out are all those buildings. None of the buildings shown below escaped WWII bombing. And when rebuilding was completed in 1959, it was only the main tower and its attached, supporting tower that rose again. Also, I see the famous Golden Shachi on the roof are caged.

As vivid & pristine the artificially-coloured image is, there is something horribly wrong with it, and I’m not talking about the JCE watermark. I wonder if anyone can spot it?

Some relevant links:

• The first Nagoya postcard: Nagoya Castle: by the moat
• Nagoya castle & WWII bombing: The flames and the aftermath
• A brief article all about Shachi: Shachi is life
• Nagoya castle pictures & information: Nagoya castle profile

A postcard from the edge (of the moat)

Article posted on Thursday, March, 31st, 2011 at 3:48 pm

Well, here we are with another vintage postcard. It’s post-dated (19)27, so there’s little mystery surrounding its age. Had it been undated, I could only have guessed that it was no newer than 1945. I think we all know what happened in 1945. For anyone not so sure, most of the buildings shown below were lost in WWII bombing.

The castle is of course Ōsaka castle. The two-story building on the right edge, overlooking a non long-jumpable moat, is the Inui Turret. The thing of real interest to me is the series of buildings to the left. Yes, the buildings that burnt to the ground in WWII.

At the extreme left is the three-story Fushimi Turret. Then a little to its right is the Kyōbashi-Guchi. The Kyōbashi-Guchi being a complex of gates & hall-like turrets. (Teaser: We’ll be seeing more of the Kyōbashi-Guchi in the near future.)

For more information about Kyōbashi-Guchi and/or Ōsaka castle in general, check out Ōsaka’s Megaliths and Postcard – barracks of Osaka Castle.

Old battlefield – Goryōkaku

Article posted on Saturday, March, 12th, 2011 at 5:17 pm

The ruined fort of Goryōkaku pretty much exists in a category all on its lonesome when stacked up against Japan’s other castles. Even if you aren’t a Japanese-castle nerd, a quick glance will reveal that it really is different. It’s shaped like a star! For a clearer view, I suggest you go to the big map. It really is worth checking out.

There are some extremely practical reasons why it is shaped the way it is. I won’t be going into it now as this post is all about the postcard.

So, Old battlefield – Goryōkaku. The battle they are referring to is quite a significant one. It saw off the last of the Tokugawa loyalists, and thus the final battle of Japan’s feudal period. The word loyalists was italicised because the head of the clan, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, was at this time a faithful subject of the Emperor, and enjoying his retirement in Shizuoka. And just to get right off topic, apparently he was a right randy devil.

Once again, I’d just like to point out that I’m no expert so am not sure how old it is exactly. My guess is early 1900′s (20′s / 30′s?). The characteristics that might give who knows about such things an idea as to its age are the tinting of the image and the simple and elegant border.