Donella's Postcard Collection

or a small sample from it, anyway

I have been collecting postcards since I was a small child, and am trying to expand my collection while we are here in Iwakuni. I found an English language postcard collecting sight on the internet, which is based in Tokyo, Japan, called PostcardGuide Japan. I added this page to my site in response to their interest in seeing a few cards from my collection, especially those showing the base and the local area. I will continue to add more postcards, during our time in Japan... I hope you enjoy my collection :-)

• Downtown Iwakuni shopping strip
• Kintai bridge and cherry blossoms
• Iwakuni Castle
• Armor of Gusoku type at Nishimura Museum, Iwakuni
• Byobu A folding screen, depicting battle of Kawanakajima in 1561; at the Nishimura Museum, Iwakuni

• Main Gate to MCAS Iwakuni and JMSDF
• Headquarters Bldg. 360, MCAS Iwakuni
• Air Traffic Control Tower and Crash Crew
• Air Terminal Logistics Department
• M. C. Perry Elementary School (DODDS)
• Reproduction Japanese Zero, in WWII hanger

• Yakota Air Base This Air Force base is north of here, near Mt. Fuji and Tokyo.

• Main Bldg. at Eta Jima, with The Imperial Naval Academy's Five Reflections The Five Reflections are meditated upon each evening by the cadets:
  1. Hast thou not gone against sincerity?
  2. Hast thou not felt ashamed of thy words and deeds?
  3. Hast thou not lacked vigour?
  4. Hast thou exerted all possible efforts?
  5. Hast thou not become slothful?
• View of the 1rstSS/OCS at Eta Jima, from the air

• Space World Space World is an amusement park with a NASA/space theme, located nearby (sort of), on the southern island of Kyushu.
• Space World mascots These characters, including one named Lucky, are riding the water ride at Space World.
• Akiyoshido Cave The cave entrance, viewed from inside the cave!
• Hyakumai-zara limestone pools One of many beautiful cave formations at Akiyoshido.
• Karst plateau formations These limestone formations (karren) cover the Akiyoshi karst plateau, along with sink holes, called doline. It is the most unusual topography I have seen in Japan!
• Chicken Shack Fantastic nighttime view of the Chicken Shack restaurant, near Iwakuni!
• Outside dining at the Chicken Shack Outside dining under the Cherry Blossoms.
• Miyajima Torii
• Pagoda and Great Torii of Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima (The postcard also shows a ferryboat, and the Kure Portopia on the shoreline above the Torii.)
• Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima
• Collage of Miyajima views
• Ancient Guidemap of Itsukushima Shrine circa 1885! It really hasn't changed all that much since then, although it was badly damaged by a typhoon in 1991.
• Sunset through Hiroshima's A-bombed Dome
• Yabusame in Tsuwano Though the setup was a little different when we saw it, this postcard shows basically what we saw last spring, with the archers riding under the cherry blossoms.
• Maria Seido Chapel in Otometoge Pass, Tsuwano Chapel dedicated in 1951 to the memory of the 36 Christian martyrs who died here in the Meiji era.
• Statues at Maria Seido Chapel in Otometoge Pass, in Tsuwano. It depicts Yatsutaro (one of the martyrs) and "Our Blessed Lady".
• Catholic Church in Tsuwano Built in 1931. There is procession each year on May 3rd, from this church in Tanomachi, Tsuwano to the Maria Seido Chapel, in honor of the martyrs.

• Himeji Castle If you visit only ONE castle in Japan, make sure you see THIS one!!!
• Mt. Fuji and the Bullet Train
• Tokyo Disneyland Castle
• Evening View of Tokyo, with Tokyo Tower on left
• Tokyo's Diet Building, seat of Japanese government
• Hard Rock Cafe, Roppongi District, Tokyo
• Osaka Aquarium "Kaiyukan" aka, the Ring of Fire aquarium
• Whale Shark in Pacific Ocean tank at the Osaka Aquarium

• Hina-matsuri, literally Doll Festival, is celebrated on March 3rd each year. On this day, also called Girls' Day or Girls' Festival, girls set up these 7 tier sets of 15 dolls, dress up in kimonos, and celebrate with special food with their families!
• Koi-nobori; these carp streamers are flown for Children's Day, traditionally Boy's Day. The carp symbolizes strength and success, and is flown in the hopes that the children in the family will also grow up strong and successful!

• Puzzle Postcard from Oita Girl Scouts

• Pochi's Day This card seems very unusual compared to most postcards I've found in Japan. Enjoy this card about a day in the life of Pochi, a Shiba inu (an adorable Japanese dog breed).

• Front of New Year card The Japanese send something like 4 billion cards, nationwide, at the New Year. They are usually decorated with pictures of the animal representing the coming year, according to the Chinese zodiac calendar. 1998 is the year of the Tiger. Bamboo is a traditional New Year decoration, and symbolizes strength.
• Back of an official New Year card The official New Year's cards are lottery postcards; this tradition was started in 1950. They are mailed on or after Dec. 15th; the drawing is held on Jan. 15th and various prizes are given to those who received cards with the winning numbers.
• A cute card in English I've found a few cards sold in English, mostly with childish designs, and even fewer with both English and Japanese on the same card.

• View of Mt. Fuji through High Waves off Kanagawa
• Mt. Fuji scene from Satta
• Mt. Fuji from Misakagoe Pass

• View of Downtown in Early Summer, Kanda District (showing carp streamers displayed for Boys' Festival)
• Suishin-no-mori Grove and Matsusaki-no-yashiro Shrine around the Sumida River

• Yabusame A warrior on horseback shooting an arrow for the mark and Tokugawa Shogun looking at him.

• Here are two we got in Tokyo.

Many people in Japan, including some Americans, collect stamps from the places they visit. Sometimes the brochures will provide a space for the stamp... or the paper will be provided. The lines to get the stamp are often long. If you are serious about collecting these, you should probably always be prepared with you OWN paper or index cards. While I don't collect them, my kids have occasionally gotten "stamped" so I have a few to show you. Here are 3: one from Tokyo Towers, one from the Chugoku Expressway, and one from Hiroshima's Butterfly Museum.

• Japanese Memorial Stamps

What is ephemera, anyway? Dictionary definition: "anything of temporary interest and value". This translates loosely to "one person's junk is another person's treasure"! In my case, I've been known to collect a LOT of junk in my life, but of possible interest on a page about our Japanese experience is my recent penchant for disposable chopsticks (waribashi; regular chopsticks are hashi). I actually picked up the first set at a Japanese steakhouse in Savannah, GA. Since we've been here, I've continued to collect sets when I see them, and when the paper shows where they came from. If you have any desire to see some of what I've collected so far, here's a picture (23K) of my waribashi collection. Go figure :-)

Links to other sites on the Web

Waribashi Another disposable chopstick collector :-) Also has a link to his hashi collection.
PostcardGuide Japan
Reba's Victorian Postcard Collection 12Aug02 Stunningly beautiful Victorian cards, and a touching story of a young girl's short life
More Postcard Collections 12Aug02 Antique postcards; also check out the Stereoviews :-)
The Japan Page- Postcards 12Aug02 Several postcard books, including Ukiyo-e, for sale
Japanese New Years Cards This page explains more about the practice of sending New Years cards, and includes images from 1996, the Year of the Rat!
Kamo-mail 1/12/2000 Though not as popular as the New Year greetings, these are catching on. This page shows the front and back of one of these summer greetings.

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