Image search results - "old" - JAPAN PHOTOS by Philbert Ono

Image search results - "old"

Nose Myokenzan Betsuin at a street corner. In Feb., priests at this small temple splash cold water on themselves for 30 min. Near Honjo-Azumabashi Station on the Toei Asakusa Line or JR Kinshicho Station on the Sobu Line.

Shrine hall

Barrels of cold water in front of shrine

Barrels of cold water

The congregation gather on the steps and beat fan-shaped drums.

Priests appear

Chanting prayers

Priests splash cold water over themselves at the Nose Myokenzan Betsuin in Sumida-ku, Tokyo

They march up to the end of the line of worshippers lined up to pray at the shrine. Then they turn around and head back.

Filled with a water hose

Asakusa Butsudan-dori is a road between Tawaramachi Station (Ginza Line) and Ueno Station lined with many shops selling butsudan (household Buddhist altar) and household Shinto altars (kamidana). It is perpendicular to the Kappabashi kitchenware road.

The butsudan road is about 1 km long lined with about 40 butsudan shops. Buddhist altar craftsmen and shops have been here since the Edo Period, serving temples in Asakusa and Ueno.

Most of the butsudan household Buddhist altars you see are compact, modern ones that cost much less than the traditional and ornate butsudan.

Many of the modern butsudan are made in China and Vietnam, squeezing out the traditional Japanese butsudan craftsmen.

Urban areas like Tokyo typically have small homes so the market is for compact, modern butsudan.

Certification seal indicating that it is made in Tokyo.

Rosary, incense, and other Buddhist implements are also sold.

Notice that the butsudan shops are on the south side of the road so they are shaded from the sun that can damage the butsudan.

Memorial tablets for the deceased.

Seated Buddha statues for the altar.

They also sell bigger items used in temples. Such items are typically bought by a temple member who donates it to the temple in memory of someone.

Entrance to Kappabashi kitchenware road. The Butsudan-dori road is perpendicular to Kappabashi.

Shinto altar shop.

Household Shinto altars are called kamidana. One of the few Shinto altar shops on this road dominated by Buddhist altar shops.

Household Shinto altar.

A larger Shinto altar or small shrine.

This shop sells Shinto portable shrines you see at festivals.

Mikoshi portable shrines for sale.

Incense

Buddha images for smaller butsudan altars.

Hikone Byobu folding screen is a National Treasure and exhibited for a few weeks in April-May. Read more here

Hikone Byobu (彦根屏風) is a 17th-century National Treasure (国宝) folding screen. Painted on gold leaf, it shows a fashion-leading pleasure quarters scene in Kyoto (京都の遊里).

A variety of people, fashion, hairstyles, and objects from that era are depicted. See people playing the samisen, playing sugoroku Japanese backgammon, or writing a love letter.

Notice the tobacco pipe and Western dog too. Artist is unknown, but likely belonged to the Kano school of Japanese painting (狩野派).

Other folding screens on display.

This is the old Ishigaki Airport before it closed in March 2013 and was replaced by the new and current airport slightly north of this old airport.

Approaching the old Ishigaki Airport terminal.

Old Ishigaki Airport terminal, Arrivals. No jet bridges. Jets (Boeing 737) started flying here only from 1979.

Old Ishigaki Airport terminal for JTA, Arrivals. No jet bridges.

Old Ishigaki Airport terminal for JTA. Small building. The old airport first opened in 1943 for military use. It became a civilian airport in 1956.This passenger terminal building was built in 1961 and used mainly by JTA (Japan Transocean Air) and RAC (Ryukyu Air Commuter). ANA had its own adjacent terminal.

At the old Ishigaki Airport, inside the JTA passenger waiting area at the boarding gate.

At the old Ishigaki Airport, JTA boarding gate. One of the check-in staff wears a yukata. Also notice the old digital signage.

No jet bridge, but it wasn't a problem when it didn't rain.

I liked walking on the tarmac to the plane at Ishigaki Airport.

Walking on the tarmac to the JTA plane at Ishigaki Airport.

JTA plane's see-sa at Ishigaki Airport.

Inside JTA plane, flight attendants figuring out what to tell us.

Ground crew at the old Ishigaki Airport waving goodbye to us. I waved back.

Runway at the old Ishigaki Airport. The slanty white building visible is the ANA hotel on the beach. That's how close the old airport was to town.

On Runway 04 at the old Ishigaki Airport. At 1,500 meters, it was too short for jets larger than a Boeing 737. So the new airport was built on a different location.

Taking off at the old Ishigaki Airport.

Baby Baby Sitter. Such scenes were common in those days. Mom and dad were both busy farming, leaving the baby in the hands of older children. Hand-colored.

Young baby sitters. The girls look around 8 or 9 years old. The artist went slightly overboard with the hand coloring. Colorful, but too bold.

Child dancer. Postcard-size photograph. Date is unknown.

Girl on stage. Postcard-size photograph. Date is unknown.

Twins. They look like twins or sisters. Real-photo postcard postmarked 1918.

Autographed as Yoko Aozora. She must have been some kind of teenaged entertainer. Probably a dancer. Looks charming enough.

New Year's photo. The paper ball is for a traditional New Year's game. Postcard-size photograph.

Speak, Hear, and See No Evil. A common pose imitating the monkeys. Postmarked 1914. Hand-colored.

Young girls in kimono.

Bag of beans. I caught this from Dejima. They throw little bags of beans instead of individual beans. Bean bags are much easier to catch and to clean up afterward.

In central Otaru, the Ironai-dori and Sakai-machi-dori streets are lined with numerous historic buildings. Architecture buffs will love this street. This is the Otaru Unga Terminal, formerly Mitsubishi Bank's Otaru Branch.

Inside the Otaru Unga Terminal, formerly Mitsubishi Bank's Otaru Branch. This area is known as the "Wall Street of the North" due to the many banks and finance-related companies that were here.

Otaru Post Office

Wind chimes along a canal.

Former Hyakujusan Bank, Otaru Branch, now a large glassware shop. 旧百十三銀行小樽支店

Inside former Hyakujusan Bank, Otaru Branch

Former Takasaburo Natori Store, now the Taisho Glass Shop. 旧名取高三郎商店、大正硝子館

Inside Taisho Glass Shop 大正硝子館

Another glassware shop.

Former Motosaburo Kaneko Store, built in 1887. 旧金子元三郎商店

Konbu shop

Shop selling konbu or seaweed. The ceiling is covered with konbu.

Former Dai-Hyakujusan National bank, Otaru Branch, now a gift shop. 旧第百十三国立銀行小樽支店

Old fire hydrant

Glassware makers

Kitaichi Venetian Art Museum opened in 1988. Facade is modeled after the Palace of Grassi.

Inside Kitaichi Venetian Art Museum with a real gondola once ridden by Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

Gondola displayed in Kitaichi Venetian Art Museum. The art gallery charges 700 yen admission. Gift shop sells Venetian glass and masks.

Uroko fish market popular with tourists.

Uroko fish market

Hokke, 500 yen each

Crab

Trolley bus

Sakai-machi-dori

Kitaichi 北一

Inside Kitaichi

Marchen Intersection メルヘン交差点

Clock in front of the Otaru Orgel-do (Otaru Music Box Hall)

Plaque of Gastown Vancouver, Canada

Otaru Orgel-do (Otaru Music Box Hall) is one of the more famous buildings. Built in 1912. 小樽オルゴール堂、旧共成（株）

Inside Otaru Orgel-do, full of music boxes of all kinds.　小樽オルゴール堂

Otaru Orgel-do

Early postcard history: Japan's Postal Service was first established in March 1871. Japan's first postcards, pictured above, were issued in December 1873, a few years after the first postcards were issued in Europe. Click to read more.In 1900, a revision of the postal act allowed private-sector (non-governmental) postcards to be made and used. Picture postcards then became very popular and gave rise to a new postcard culture and a new era in postal history.

The postcards featured a great variety of subjects: Scenics, women, geisha, war, disaster scenes (especially earthquakes), Japanese customs, the Emperor, buildings, animals, etc., etc.

Color printing had not been invented yet so hand-painted postcards became very popular up to around the 1910s when offset printing gradually replaced collotype printing.

In June 1902, the postal service issued its first commemorative picture postcard. It marked the 25th anniversary of Japan's membership in the International Postal Union.

The postal service later issued more commemorative postcards and stamps for other important events and imprinted commemorative postmarks on letters and postcards for the occasion. Especially popular were postcards commemorating triumphs in the Russo-Japanese War during 1904-5 and the enthronement of Emperor Taisho.

During the war with Russia, people lined up all night in front of post offices before new war-related commemorative postcards went on sale. Postcard exchange meetings were held and many collectors had tens of thousands of postcards. However, after the war ended, the postcard boom waned in Japan.

Meanwhile, foreign tourists visiting Japan continued to send souvenir photographs and postcards back home. Because of them, many of the postcards that were published were able to escape and survive the natural (earthquakes) and man-made (World War II) disasters Japan was to experience later on.
Those early postcards became highly collectible overseas and have continued to delight their owners and collectors for over a century.

Meiji Era postmarks. When you want to know how old your postcard is, the first and obvious thing to do is check the postmark if there is one. A postage stamp or written date in the message are also a great help.Because Japan bases its years on the Emperor's reign (besides using the Western world's Gregorian calendar), the year of the postmark could refer to the Meiji Era (1868-1912), Taisho Era (1912-1926), Showa Era (1926-1989), or the current Heisei Era (1989-present). So if you see "1" as the year, it could be Year 1 of any of these eras (1868, 1912, 1926, or 1989). (See the year conversion table.)

So how do you determine which era the year refers to? In normal Japanese documents, you would see an initial before the year to indicate the era. For example H.1 for Heisei Year 1 (1989). Unfortunately, none of the postmarks provide an initial for the era. But it is not so hard to determine the era.

Look at the postmark images above. The left postmark is in Japanese with the numbers "36-9-12." The first number indicates the year, followed by the month and day. Above the date are the kanji characters for "Yokohama." Below the date is the time the postcard was accepted at the post office (6:20 pm).

Fortunately, right next to this postmark is the English version. The date is September 12, 1903. This matches Year 36 for the Meiji Era in the Japanese postmark. (See the year conversion table.) In case the English postmark were not provided, we could still determine the era. If you look at the year coversion table, you will find that only the Meiji and Showa Eras have a Year 36. Showa 36 is 1961. And if you look at the card and the postage stamp, it is obvious that it is not as recent as 1961, so it must be Meiji 36 (1903).

Now look at the right postmark. This postmark is also in English with the words "Yokohama Japan" in English. The date is "25.2.08." If the postmark has the location name in English, the date's format is day-month-Gregorian year, different from the Japanese postmark. So it is February 25, 1908.

Other tidbits about Japanese postmarks:

- In the early years until 1879, postmarks were used to indicate the date of collection and the date of receipt from out of town. Stamp cancellation marks were also separate from postmarks. They could be a series of dotted lines or text like "Postage Paid" (in Japanese). Some postmarks were square in shape. Each postal district had their own postmark system and style.

- In November 1879, the Communications Office issued official recommendations for postmarks. In September 1888, the name of the local area was included in the postmark. By 1909, postmarks became standardized nationwide.

- Up to September 1912, postcards and letters had two postmarks (except for special mail). One was imprinted when the postcard was mailed (canceling the stamp), and another was imprinted when the postcard was received.

- Until 1911, postmarks were imprinted by hand (at a rate of 100 pieces per minute). Automatic postmarking machines were introduced in this year. At the end of 1919, the latest postmarking machines were imported from America and used in Tokyo.

- Stamp collecting is a major hobby in Japan. All the stamps that have ever been issued are documented in a number of comprehensive Japanese stamp catalogs issued every year. You can identify the issue date of any stamp by referring to the stamp catalog.

Taisho Era postmark. This is a Japanese postmark with the date reading "2.7.24" and the location being Nikko (read from right to left). The time the postcard was accepted by the post office is indicated below the date.As with Meiji Era Japanese postmarks (see the preceding page), the date is in the year-month-day format. This can't be Meiji 2 (1869, before the Japan Post Office was even established), so it must be Taisho 2 (1913) or Showa 2 (1927). My postage stamp catalog tells me that the postage stamp (Chrysanthemum series) was issued in 1899-1907, so it must be Taisho 2. This is confirmed by the English postmark elsewhere on the card.

Showa Era postmarks. The Showa Era was 1926 to 1989 (Showa 1 to 64) during the reign of Emperor Hirohito. On the left, you can see a Showa Era postmark (round). Notice how different it looks compared with the hand-stamped Meiji and Taisho Era postmarks.Showa Era postmarks. The Showa Era was 1926 to 1989 (Showa 1 to 64) during the reign of Emperor Hirohito. On the left, you can see a Showa Era postmark (round). Notice how different it looks compared with the hand-stamped Meiji and Taisho Era postmarks (see preceding images). The lines and markings are much thinner, imprinted by a postmarking machine (introduced in Japan at the end of 1919).

The location reads "Shizuoka" (from right to left), and below that is the year 15, then 8.21 (month and day), then the time period (8-12 pm) when the card was mailed. Showa 15 is 1940.

The postage stamp was canceled by a separate canceling mark. The stamp was issued in 1937, proof positive that the card is from the Showa Era.

On the right is a Showa Era postmark too light to be legible. But the stamp tells us the approximate date (around 1937). Also, the kanji characters in red says "Gunji Yubin" which means military mail.

Heisei Era postmarks. We are currently in the Heisei Era that started in 1989 when Emperor Hirohito died and his son Akihito became the emperor.On the left is a recent postmark. It follows an ideal format. The location (Nakano Kita) is in both Japanese (read from left to right) and English. The year is in both Heisei and Gregorian. The "14" is for Heisei 14 which is 2002. In the middle, the numbers "02.1.5" is for Jan. 1, 2002. And on the right, "8-12" indicates the time period (8 am to 12 noon) when the postcard was mailed. This is nice.

But the postmark on the right is more abbreviated, showing only the location, Heisei year, month, and day.

Undivided back. The earliest tourist postcards had a picture side and an address side. The message had to be written on the picture side which usually had a large white area to write on (like this postcard).Since the address side was only for the recipient's address, it had no dividing line for the address and message. This was called an undivided back, and this type of postcards were produced between 1900 (Meiji 33) and March 28, 1907 (Meiji 40) in Japan. After this date, the message was allowed to be written on the address side. See the next image.

Off-center divided back. After March 28, 1907 when the message was allowed to be written on the address side, a dividing line was printed on the address side to separate the message and recipient's address. However...However, this line was not at the center of the card. Only one-third of the card could be used for message writing and the other two-thirds portion was reserved for the name and address. Such postcards with an off-center divider were made between March 28, 1907 (Meiji 40) and March 1, 1918 (Taisho 7). From March 1, 1918, the dividing line was moved to the center of the card. (See the next image.)

Center divided back. From March 1, 1918, the dividing line moved to the center of the card to separate the message and recipient's address.In this way, if the postcard has no postmark or stamp, you can still estimate the date of the card by checking the address side and see if there is a divider or not, an off-center divider, or a center divider.

Yubin Hag(k)aki. All postcards were required to bear the words "Yubin Hagaki (or Hakaki)" which means "Post Card." The words appeared on the address side of the card along the right edge of the horizontal card.This string of Japanese kanji characters underwent two changes during Japan's postcard history. (If you don't read Japanese, it might be a little difficult to understand the changes.)

The image above shows a closeup of three postcards. At the top, "Yubin Hakaki" is read from right to left. On February 15, 1933, the word "Hakaki" was changed to read "Hagaki" as shown by the middle card above. Then after World War II ended in 1945, the Japanese reading style from right to left changed to left to right (when written horizontally) similar to English. Japanese captions on the picture side also changed to read from left to right after 1945.

Also note that from July 22, 1905, private postcards were allowed to have a foreign-language designation (i.e. "Carte Postale" or "Post Card") in addition to the Japanese "Yubin hakaki."

On the bottom card, notice the five red boxes. They are for the postal code within Japan. From Feb. 1998, Japan's postal code system was expanded to seven digits. Postcards having seven red boxes were made after Feb 1998. (See next image.)

New Year's postcard. New Year's postcards are by far the most popular type of postcards in Japan, akin to Christmas cards in the West. The bulk of the cards are delivered on New Year's Day.The bulk of the cards are delivered on New Year's Day, and cards which were sent late arrive during the first week of January. The custom of sending New Year's postcards began almost the same year when postcards were first made in Japan in 1873.

The card above was issued by the Japan Post Office in 2001. This is the address side of the card. The address side is considered to be the front side, and it is designed for the address to be written vertically from top to bottom, right to left. However, there's no problem with writing it horizontally which looks less formal, nor affixing an address label which looks less personal.

The seven red boxes at the top are for the postal code within Japan. Prior to Feb. 1998 when the postal code was expanded to seven digits, there were only five boxes for the postal code. The stamp is already printed on the card on the upper left corner. The price of the card includes the stamp which happens to be the same price as the card. On the bottom right corner is a lottery number for prizes.

Writing New Year's cards can be fun, but for many people it is a time-consuming chore if they do it at all. So it is common now to print out messages and addresses with an ink-jet printer at home. The Japan Post Office even offers New Year's cards made of paper suited for inkjet printing. The inkjet cards make the inkjet printout look a lot better than with cards made of regular paper. If you plan to use an inkjet printer, be sure to purchase the inkjet New Year's cards. Buy them early because they tend to sell out quickly.

Early postcard image quality. Both images above are magnified by 650%. The top image sample is a collotype image, hand-colored. The photograph in early postcards printed by collotype had very fine grain.However, collotype was not suitable for high-volume printing and it was soon replaced by offset printing from the 1910s.

The bottom image is from a real-photo postcard. It was an actual photograph printed on paper as a postcard. These are easy to recognize with their characteristic sheen or gloss. The grain is the finest of all.

Later postcard image quality. Offset printing replaced the collotype and color printing came to fore from the 1930s. You can see how the little dots composed the picture. (Magnified by 650%.)

Oil-painted card of Mt. Fuji. This is my favorite oil-painted postcard in my collection. The artist painted a few other cards like it. The artist's name was not signed, unfortunately. But the painting style is distinct.I can't define what fine art is, but I know it when I see it.

Oil-painted card of Mt. Fuji 2. Another postcard oil painting of Mt. Fuji.

"Japs" on hand-painted Mt. Fuji card. The message on this card reads: "Fujiyama, the mt. (mountain) the Japs worship. Been seeing Yokohama in a jinrichisha (rickshaw). Feb. 14."This person apparently learned a few Japanese words like "jinrikisha" which means "human-powered vehicle" that is the rickshaw. And the term "Japs" has been around well before World War II.

Painting by high school girl? This is my only oil-painted card that has a message and postmark (1910 from Nagasaki). It was addressed to a lady in Alameda, California and says in English that the card was hand painted by a Japanese high school girl.Whether this is true or not, I don't know. But the painting style of this card and the others you see here are the same. (I bought them as a set.)

Oil-painted card of ocean and mountain. Apparently by the same artist as the preceding card.

Oil-painted card of river. Apparently by the same artist as the preceding card.

Oil-painted card of Matsushima. Matsushima is a picturesque group of pine tree islands near Sendai, Miyagi Pref. The island pictured is one of the main islands and a major tourist stop.Along with Amanohashidate in Kyoto and Miyajima in Hiroshima, Matsushima is known as one of the three most famous views of Japan (Nihon Sankei).

Kameido Tenmangu Shrine, Tokyo. Famous since the Edo Period for wisterias, this shrine has been a popular subject for woodblock artists and early photographers. The wisterias bloom around late April. The shrine is near Kameido Station on the Sobu Line.The shrine is near Kameido Station on the Sobu Line in Tokyo. Hand-colored.

Tea house garden in Hikone, Shiga. This cozy Japanese garden has tea houses. It is directly behind Hikone Castle in Shiga Prefecture. Hikone Castle was the home of Naosuke Ii, the high official who met Commodore Perry.Today, this garden still looks pretty much the same. It was even used for a garden scene in the TV mini-series "Shogun." See photos here.

Iris Garden at Horikiri, Tokyo. This card is made of balsa wood. It shows a woman arriving at the garden in a rickshaw. I've seen this photo printed on paper postcards as well. The garden still exists in Tokyo and it's still famous for irises.See photos of the garden today. It's still famous for irises that bloom in June. Hand-colored postcard.

Inside Ariake Colosseum. The front row seats along the court edge are called "Premium Seats" which cost 20,000 yen each. Includes free drinks and food delivered to your seat.

Ryukyu Golden Kings practice.

Tokyo Apache practice.

National anthem

The Koto Ward mayor tosses the ball for a tip-off.

The game started at 6 pm.

Joho Masashi

Darin Maki

Dunk

John "Helicopter" Humphrey

The game was very enjoyable. But Ariake Colliseum had no heating. It was pretty cold, you need to wear a jacket. But I can imagine the cost of heating this huge arena.

John

Cohey Aoki

Iwasa Jun

Nick Davis for free throw.

Cohey Aoki

Make a wave!

Helicopter

Darin Maki is from California.

Anthony McHenry

Helicopter flies up

Ryukyu Golden Kings fan section. They came all the way from Okinawa?

John up again

Darin

Takushi Naoto of Ryukyu Golden Kings

Nice dunk

John flies up again.

Game ends amid loud cheers by Apache fans.

Opposing teams shake hands.

Final score: 100-99, Tokyo Apache win by 1 point.

Old Maibara Station on the west side.

Old Maibara Station's shinkansen turnstile entrance.

Old Maibara Station's waiting room.

Old Maibara Station's comfortable waiting room was accessible by all. Now, only shinkansen passengers have a nice waiting room. The waiting room is near the shinkansen turnstile. It had a TV, noodle shop, vending machines, and air conditioning.

Old Maibara Station corridor.

Maibara Station renovation work.

Old corridor of Maibara Station being dismantled in 2008.

Old corridor of Maibara Station being dismantled.

Waiting room on the platform. It had peeling paint.

This air-conditioned waiting room for regular trains was renovated finally by 2011.

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