Japan Post Card, October 1900, Question About Rate

This is a post card sent from Nagasaki via Yokohama to Germany 3 October 1900. It is franked with a 10 sen kiku definitive issue. The international post card rate at that time was only 4 sen. Is this card overfranked or is there a reason it needed 10 sen?

The absence of any response makes me believe that this is just overfranked. The fact that it has "Postkarte" on the front indicates that it should be allowed to be sent at the normal international post card rate (4 sen). Why someone would overfrank a post card remains a puzzle, although maybe they did not know the proper rate, and thought it should be sent as a letter?

Hi dandow,

This item looks like a mere overfranked postcard, but regarding the date of the cancellation (Oct 3rd, 1900) there might be some interesting background regarding the use of private postcard in Japan.

Use of private postcard (e.g. not the official postcard issued as postal stationery) was approved from October 1st, 1900 (Meiji 33) by the Ministrial ordinance of Ministry of Communications, No.42, Sept. 1st, 1990 (Meiji 33). . The format of the private postcard was pretty much restricted, based on the Proclamation of Ministry of Communications, No. 358, Sept. 17, 1900 (Meiji 33); for example, "POSTAL CARD" (in Japanese) has to be printed, no foreign letters / words allowed, etc.

More detailed rule on the format of the private postcard was enacted by Ministrial ordinance of Ministry of Communications, No.61, Dec. 17, 1903 (Meiji 36) - "Regulation on Format of Private Postcard". In this Regulation, the former (strict) rules were relaxed, and use of foreign letters/words for "Postcard" was allowed.

Regarding this rather complicated history on the private postcard during 1900 and 1903, your example might be interpreted as follows;

[Case 1] The postal clerk and/or the sender did not recognize that the use of private postcard was allowed (as it is only two days after the approval of use), and treated this as a regular first class foreign mail and franked 10 Sen.

[Case 2] The postal clerk noticed that the format of this postcard did not follow that required by the Proclamation, and treated as not to be valid as a private postcard, and thus treated this as a regular first class foreign mail and franked 10 Sen.

Of course the above thoughts are merely my private observations (or, quibbling :-) ) based on the transition of private postcard in Japan, but I really enjoyed the puzzle.

Thanks for sharing this interesting item.

Hironobu (from Osaka, Japan)

Hi Hironobu,
Thank you for this wonderful explanation with multiple possibilities. I had no idea about the rules for private post cards going overseas during this early period.

After thinking about your alternative explanations, I tend to favor the second one. As it has only an English language cancelation from Nagasaki, I presume it was sent from the central Nagasaki post office. As Nagasaki has historically had a large population of foreigners (e.g., Dejima), I would assume that the Nagasaki postal clerks were well acquainted with foreign postal rules, especially in the central office.

Thank you again!