Hello! I'm A New Postcard Collector And New To This Forum.

Hello everyone!

I'm new to both this forum and to postcard collecting in general. My primary focus at the moment is pre-war Japanese, primarily illustrated (rather than photographic), postcards. So far my collection is small but growing quickly. I'd welcome any tips anyone might have for a new collector and I look forward to participating in the community here.



(I've watermarked the image because I've read that it is recommended to do so. Like many ephemera hobbies, my understanding is that some less than honest sellers will take images of postcards they don't own and then print "reproductions" that are not always advertised as such. If I've been misinformed, or if it's better not to use one, I'll stop using a watermark. :) )

Good luck with the collection. As for watermarks, I recommend that you continue to use them. There are a lot of reproductions offered these days and most of them are clearly identified as such by the seller. However, that is not always the case. 'Caveat emptor'.

Welcome to the community. Good luck with your collection. You might want to take a look at the postcrossing site. It's free except for the cost of mailing postcards. Write a short bio and the people who get your name to send you a card may be able to fulfill your request.

Howdy!

smithereens,

Collecting for the enjoyment of collecting, whatever that might be, is the name of the game. Don't hesitate to ask questions especially if you need basic information and especially more advanced sources of information for any possible topic. You should be able to find folks on this board a little further along on their collecting journey glad to share experiences.

My personal bias is a used stamp loses the story of its journey in the postal service when it is removed from the cover it transported to its destination. Collecting postal history adds a whole new aspect to your journey in our hobby. Sounds like you are a perfect candidate to become a postal history collector?

Wishing you many enjoyable future days in our hobby. Russ

Welcome! Japanese postcards are one of my interests, too, so I look forward to seeing more examples from your collection.

Thanks very much for the warm welcome everyone!

I only have 1 postcard from Japan. Interesting postmarks and dates.
Sorry, unable to translate.
Stamp - Japan 1899 Chrysanthemum 4 Sen

I might actually be able to help with that. On the front:



Blue = Park
Purple = Public
Yellow = Yokohama (I think. The characters are more complicated and are in the reverse order of what I'd expect. But, I've seen that before and it might be something I just don't understand about the Japanese language from 100+ years ago. I've only been studying the language for a short while.)

So, it essentially says what the English next to it says. "Yokohama Public Park".

On the back (and please forgive me if you already know this), the Japanese postmark uses a date based on the Emperor's reign. So, this was sent on the 41st year, 6th month, and 9th day of the Meiji Era. (June 9, 1908)

Under the cancellation are these characters:



This simply translates to "postcard".

I hope this info is helpful. :)

EDIT: Oh! I'm pretty sure (though it's very difficult to be 100% certain) the two characters in the Japanese postmark are the same as those on the front of the card (the ones I've outlined in yellow). Meaning this was sent from Yokohama.

Smithereens,
Thank you for the translation. Very interesting on the Japanese postmark based on the Emperor's reign.
I'll search my collection to see if I have more Japanese pre-war items.