Title
1912 Japan Meiji 45 Osaka Kawaguchi Shipping Agent 1.5 Sen Stationery Postcard
Front Description
Original Japanese government-issued postal stationery card from the final year of the Meiji era. The imprinted 1½ sen stamp is printed in blue-violet and shows the Imperial sixteen-petal chrysanthemum crest within an ornate scrolled frame. It is inscribed 大日本帝國郵便 (Imperial Japanese Post) and 壹錢五厘 (1 sen 5 rin). The heading 郵便はかき (Postcard) is printed in blue-violet along the top. Along the bottom margin are the official imprints 遞信省發行 (Issued by the Ministry of Communications) and 印刷局製造 (Manufactured by the Printing Bureau).
A circular date stamp of an Osaka office ties the stamp. It is partly legible and appears to read 45.1.15 (Meiji 45, 15 January 1912) with a 后 (afternoon) collection time. A second circular arrival postmark at the upper right is dated 1.16 (16 January), showing next-day delivery.
At the lower right is a large violet oval hand-stamp of the sender, a shipping and forwarding agent at Osaka’s historic port district:
大阪川口 (山 house mark) 圓山廻漕店 波止場
Ōsaka Kawaguchi, Maruyama Kaisōten, Hatoba
(Maruyama Shipping Agency, Kawaguchi Wharf, Osaka)
Kawaguchi was the site of Osaka’s former foreign settlement and its river port, where coastal steamers and cargo vessels loaded and unloaded. Kaisōten (廻漕店) were the shipping agents who arranged freight, passenger bookings and cargo forwarding. The 山 (Yama) in a circle is the firm’s trade mark.
The address is written in dark brown ink in fluent, highly cursive sōsho script across five columns, and cannot be reliably transcribed. There is some ink blotting partway down the columns. A pale mirror-image offset of handwriting shows across the lower card, likely transferred from another card while the ink was still wet. The card shows even pinkish-cream age toning, a small pinhole near the heading, light edge wear, a small nick on the right edge, and softly rounded corners.
Back Description
The reverse carries a handwritten letter of about eleven vertical columns in dark brown ink. It is written in flowing, heavily abbreviated cursive script (sōsho) typical of Meiji-era merchant and personal correspondence, read from right to left. The script is too abbreviated to transcribe reliably, and no printed text appears on this side. The letter is a good example of late Meiji commercial handwriting. There is small ink blotting near the lower left of the text and light scattered spotting. The reverse shows even age toning with light soiling consistent with age.
Estimated Era
The card dates to January 1912 (Meiji 45), the final year of the Meiji era. The Osaka postmark appears to read 45.1.15, and the arrival mark dated 1.16 fits a next-day delivery. Meiji 45 lasted only until 30 July 1912, when the Taishō era began, so this card was posted in the last months of Emperor Meiji’s reign. The 1½ sen chrysanthemum stationery card is correct for the domestic postcard rate of 1899 to 1937, and the old kanji forms 圓, 廻 and 遞 support a late Meiji date. The Kawaguchi wharf address reflects the period when Kawaguchi was still an active river port and shipping centre, before Osaka’s harbour moved seaward.
Note: Coins & Banknotes Grading
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subjective and varies from person to person. - Please do not place too much hope on grading companies to grade the notes accurately, as they can be notoriously inconsistent.
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