1927 Japan Emperor Taisho Funeral Sakaki Tree Bearers Court Officials Postcard

Title

1927 Japan Emperor Taisho Funeral Sakaki Tree Bearers Court Officials Night Tama Postcard

Front Description

An atmospheric Japanese commemorative postcard, No. 3 in the numbered series issued for the state funeral of Emperor Taisho (Yoshihito), who died on 25 December 1926. The illustration shows a section of the night-time funeral cortege proceeding to the Tama Imperial Mausoleum (Tama Goryo) at Asakawa, near Hachioji, west of Tokyo.

The left half of the scene is filled with bearers in grey-green robes, black caps and straw-bound leggings carrying tall sacred sakaki evergreen trees, each hung with long cascading white streamers, forming a striking row of green and white shapes against the night sky. At the far left, further bearers carry tall ceremonial pole standards topped with metal finials and hung with small grey-green banners. Across the centre and right, court officials walk in procession dressed in traditional court robes of dark brown and grey with wide trousers and black court caps, several wearing pale white mourning over-robes, their hands folded within their sleeves. At the far right, a military officer in full-dress uniform with plumed helmet and gold braid can be seen among the officials. Torch bearers carry long flaming torches, one in the left foreground holding his torch low so the flames stream towards an iron fire basket (kagaribi) on a straw-bound stand with white paper shide streamers in the lower left corner.

At the centre right, a large brazier on a tall wooden tripod bound with straw rope and shide sends a plume of orange flame across the sky. The background shows the ceremonial enclosure of pink, white and grey striped curtains, tall yellow and green patterned banners, swags of blue and white bunting, and three glowing globe lamps on ornamental standards beneath a dark cloudy sky.

Printed caption along the lower margin in English: “No. 3 Funeral Procession of the Late Emperor Taisho toward the Asakawa Mousoleum.” (with the original spelling “Mousoleum”), followed by Japanese text read right to left: 淺川多摩御陵葱華輦葬列鹵簿全圖 (Asakawa Tama Goryo Sōkaren Sōretsu Roba Zenzu – “Complete view of the funeral procession and imperial cortege of the Sōkaren palanquin to the Tama Imperial Mausoleum, Asakawa”) and in brackets (大正天皇御大喪儀) (Taisho Tenno Go-Taisogi – “The State Funeral of Emperor Taisho”).

Condition: Good colour and detail. A vertical crease runs down from the top edge at upper left into the sky area, with small chips along the top edge, corner wear, and light toning to the caption margin, all consistent with age.

Back Description

Divided-back postcard, unused and unposted, with no handwriting, stamps or postmarks. All printing in orange ink.

Printed text:
“POST CARD” across the top centre.
“MADE IN JAPAN” printed vertically along the central dividing line.
Stamp box at upper right containing a triangular star-shaped publisher’s logo, with “TOKYO” and “JAPAN” printed around it.
Japanese text printed vertically at right: 郵便はかき (Yūbin Hakaki / Yūbin Hagaki – “Postcard”), written in the pre-1933 style without the dakuten voicing mark.

Condition: Overall toning, a few small dark specks and foxing spots, a faint trace of the front crease visible near the upper edge, and edge and corner wear. Clean with no writing.

Estimated Era

This postcard dates to early 1927 (Showa 2). It depicts the funeral procession of Emperor Taisho, held on 7–8 February 1927, as the cortege travelled to the newly built Tama Imperial Mausoleum at Asakawa, and it belongs to the same numbered commemorative set as Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The reverse carries the identical Tokyo publisher’s star-and-triangle logo and the heading 郵便はかき without the dakuten, a style used before the official change to 郵便はがき in 1933. The divided back, “MADE IN JAPAN” imprint, colour printing technique and card stock are all consistent with the late 1920s.

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