Japan Registered Cash Envelope

This is a registered cash envelope from 1912 sent from Yokohama. Registered cash envelopes are large enough to hold a card with cash inside and were used to send money. It is franked with 51sen and sealed with official seals. I have two questions. Where is it being sent? I cannot figure out the kanji for the location of the addressee (a foreigner named Jan Batisuto). And I don't know hoe to figure the postal rate. 10s for registration, leaving 41 sen, possibly related to the amount of money being sent? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Very neat item in several ways!

The first two characters in the address are an odd reading but reads "Oshima", a province (kuni) which doesn't exist anymore. That's on Hokkaido. To confirm that, the middle line reads "Trappist shuudou" whatever that is exactly. shuudouin is a monastery. There was a Maryknoll monastery in Hakodate, in Oshima Province. Here's the cathedral at one point:
https://calisphere.org/item/067635c...7b229f87289/

First vertical line in the recipient's address (from the right):

1. First 3 characters: Oshima province, a short-lived province in Hokkaido, corresponding to the southern part of today's Oshima and Hiyama Subprefectures

2. Next 3 characters: Kamiiso district,

3. Last 3 characters: Ishibetsu village

The middle vertical line in the address: The Trappist Dai Monastery of Our Lady of the Lighthouse (more details on the monastery here --> https://www.trappist.or.jp/home/ind...glish.html#)

Wow! Thank you very much for such great help with the address!
Anyone have information on the 51sen rate?

Nothing to add, but to say what a great cover.
And ....................... to say, the ability to provide detail by this site is wonderful.
Pat

Hi dandow, thanks for sharing this beautiful cover !

This is a value declared mail for sending cash, using the dedicated envelope as you mentioned. The top left box says "40 Yen (in cash)" as the declared value.

To my understanding, the total franking of 51 Sen could be interpreted as a "septuple rate first class mail with declared value of 40 Yen" as follows;

- Value declared mail (for sending cash) : 15 Sen up to (declared value of) 10 Yen, then 5 Sen per additional 10 Yen --> 40 Yen = 10 Yen + 30 Yen so postal fee is 15 Sen + 5 Sen x 3 = 30 Sen

- septuple rate first class mail (e.g. 3 Sen x 7) = 21 Sen

Thus total of 51 Sen.

The value declared mail was introduced in October Meiji 33 (1900). The postage fee is treated as the sum of 1) fee for sending the cash and 2) fee for sending the envelope itself as first class mail. I understand that the former fee is including the registered mail fee in order to ensure the secure delivery of the mail itself and thus the registered mail label is affixed to the envelope.

Hope this helps !

Hironobu (from Osaka, Japan)

Hi Hironobu,
Thank you for this wonderful explanation! I have a followup question regarding the septuple rate. It is my understanding that the domestic rate was 3 sen for the first 20g and 3 sen for each additional 10g, so the total weight of this would be at most 80g. Is this correct?

Hi dandow,

The domestic rate during that era was based on the Japanese traditional weight unit called as "Monme" (or "Momme", pronounced as "Mon-Meh" or so), equivalent to 3.75g.

As for the first class mail, the rate was 3 Sen for the first 4 Monme = 15g and (also) 3 Sen for each additional 4 Monme. So the total weight of this envelope should be at most 105g.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Hironobu