Japan: 100 years ago

It’s been almost 2 months since I last posted here on my blog – and even then it wasn’t much of a post! As I mentioned then, I don’t really have time to be updating so often… BUT I came across these lovely Japanese postcards at the weekend and bookmarked them to share – they are too good not to.

This set of colour postcards, all issued in the first decades of the 20th century, show a different pre-war Japan. The signs of technological progress are everywhere: overhead power, telegraph or telephone lines, utility poles with multiple arms, trolley cars, steam boats, huge cranes, steel bridges, factories, and modern office buildings are all part of Japan’s cityscapes. And the visual effect of these coloured postcards make me feel like I might understand where the best Japanese anime movies have their roots. – Gizmodo

I’ve now delved into the original source of the images – New York Public Library’s digital collection of Pacific Pursuits: Postcards – and spent some time admiring even more stunning scenes from early 20th century Japan.

Those that Gizmodo picked out are great and certainly do show Japan making their technological advancements but I love those that show a more traditional Japan as well. I’ve picked out some that show places that I’ve been to myself, alongside some places that I haven’t but would love to visit. In contrast to the other images, these places do still look like this – temples, shrines, castles etc. It is, afterall, the traditional side of Japan that I love more than anything else.

Those that I’ve been to…

Maybe next time…

Japan Zoologisk Have

I spotted this postcard in the Copenhagen Zoo shop last Saturday and, well, how could I not buy it? I have no idea why this exists. I mean, I assume it is from an old poster for the zoo (much like London Zoo has) but just why exactly it has a samurai on it I do not know. I’m not sure there was anything particularly Japanese about the zoo and I can’t think of any specific animals they had that are native to Japan. But hey, cool postcard!

Takayama woodcuts

This afternoon I have been going through my box of ‘stuff collected in Japan’ and scanning various maps, leaflets, tickets and postcards.

I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time so that, when I started to design and lay out my physical book version of Five Thousand Miles (my Japan travel journal, web version is here), I would have lots of scanned resources as well as digital photos. However, I’m now well into designing the book – five out of seventeen days, plus introduction pages, are provisionally designed – and have only just scanned everything. Well, not literally everything I collected but everything that I think might be useful or nice to have included in the book.

I came across one of two sets of postcards that I bought for myself in Japan – the other being the Hiroshige postcards, half of which are now framed on my bedroom wall. This set of postcards I bought in Takayama and they feature images of the town printed from woodcuts. They caught my eye in the Japanese gift shop at the time and it was lovely to rediscover them again today.

Kokubunji temple

Takayama festival float

morning market

Gassho (traditional buildings)

the old streets

Now, I’ve no idea who the artist is although I have tried to find out. First, I attempted to translate some of the Japanese text on the back of each postcard but whatever I typed into Google just came up with the Japanese post service! So, that was a fail. Then I tried a ‘search by image’ tactic which worked, sort of. It only came up with this one website and it doesn’t actually name an artist. Although, I think that website is a place that runs workshops in printing in this style, so I imagine they were printed at one of those workshops. Maybe? Or maybe it’s just a shop. I don’t know!

I assume the little red graphic in the corner is the artist’s signature but I have no idea what it means. So it is, unfortunately, a mystery… unless someone who reads Japanese and/or has a very keen interest in Japanese art can help me out?

Happy Year of the Sheep!

In Japan, people don’t really send Christmas cards. They do, however, send cards or postcards for the New Year.

The end of December and the beginning of January are the busiest times for the Japanese post offices. The Japanese have a custom of sending New Year’s Day postcards (年賀状 nengajō) to their friends and relatives, similar to the Western custom of sending Christmas cards. Their original purpose was to give your faraway friends and relatives tidings of yourself and your immediate family. In other words, this custom existed for people to tell others whom they did not often meet that they were alive and well. – via good ol’ Wikipedia

These cards often feature the Zodiac sign for that particular year, despite the Zodiac originating in China rather than Japan. And this year is the year of the sheep.

I came across this blog post this evening, which is a collection of some of this years nengajō – mostly created digitally. I wanted to share my single favourite postcard (although the postcard from Nintendo is pretty cool too).

Year of the Sheep by Eiko Tamura

This Year (2015) is called ‘Sheep Year 未年’.

so I made the shape of the S (use Futura) with a flock of sheep.

Some common nengajō greetings include:

• kotoshi mo yoroshiku o-negai-shimasu
  (今年もよろしくお願いします)
  (I hope for your favour again in the coming year)
• (shinnen) akemashite o-medetō-gozaimasu
  ((新年)あけましておめでとうございます)
  (Happiness to you on the dawn [of a New Year])
• kinga shinnen
  (謹賀新年)
  (Happy New Year)
• shoshun/hatsuharu
  (初春)
  (‘early spring’ – in the traditional lunar calendar a year begins in early spring)
• geishun
  (迎春)
  (to welcome spring)

Alice’s A–Z of Falmouth

Today had been a good day anyway but the discovery of this wonderful postcard from Alice when I got home made the day that extra bit better. She not only sent these cards to all of her favourite Falmouth friends, she also illustrated and came up with the idea in the first place. A personalised A–Z of Falmouth for our group.

Just a sample:

A is for Apple Mac

G is for Graphic Design

J is for Jacob's Ladder

P is for Pasties & Pro Markers

S is for the Sea & Sea Swimming
W is for Woodlane

Because it is a Sunday

Because it is a Sunday, and I am sat snuggly in my sea swimming hoody, this postcard is vaguely appropriate. Although the closest I got to swimming today was having a shower, unless you count the ten minutes I spent standing in the back garden in the rain – refreshing.

Sums up sea swimming pretty well though.

ps. I'm not saying the actual illustration content is anywhere near good, I just like and appreciate the message.

Coming soon…

…to both blog and website, Tall Tales & Short Stories!

Deadline for my whole degree is Friday. After that, or maybe even before but not right now, I will update my website with my major project. For now everything has been photographed and my print and digital portfolios have been updated, so here's a few of those photographs for now.

Postcards

Flyers

Keyrings!

Bag

Book!

Norwegian Folk Art

Something I particularly liked in the National Gallery in Oslo, was the illustrations and sketches for traditional Norwegian folk stories. Many of which were by Theodor Kittelsen.

Two postcards that I purchased in the shop.

I would like to tell you the name of this illustration but there is a lot of Norwegian
text on the back of the postcard and I'm not sure which is the title. Besides, I think this
is from a large series of sketches for a particular folktale.

This one however, is called Skogtroll - which means forest troll!

Some more of his work, found on the interwebs.

I also have a postcard by Harald Sohlberg, as I liked the trees.