Wild Postcards

This postcard (with matching stamp, no less) arrived recently from Emi in Shimane Prefecture, Japan.  Naturally, she is very proud of this local landmark, Matsue Castle, one of the few remaining medieval castles in Japan, and the only one to retain its original wood form.  (The rest of the castles have been preserved by casting their form in concrete, apparently.)

The castle was built between 1607 and 1611 and was a large complex, with multiple buildings. Except for this building, the castle keep, all of the buildings were destroyed in 1875 to make room for modernization.  Fortunately, there were preservationists around at the time who pressured to keep at least this one building standing.  From 1950 to 1955, the keep and the grounds underwent a complete renovation.

Be sure to check out the other blogs celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday today!

This postcard (with matching stamp, no less) arrived recently from Emi in Shimane Prefecture, Japan.  Naturally, she is very proud of this local landmark, Matsue Castle, one of the few remaining medieval castles in Japan, and the only one to retain its original wood form.  (The rest of the castles have been preserved by casting [...]

YingHui sent me a Japanese card of this work by Ai Yamaguchi, a young artist of excellent reputation.  Her work combines classic Japanese art with pop culture themes.  The original works are acrylic on Japanese paper, and each of the original paintings measures 4¾ x 4¾ inches (about 12 x 12 centimeters).

YingHui sent me a Japanese card of this work by Ai Yamaguchi, a young artist of excellent reputation.  Her work combines classic Japanese art with pop culture themes.  The original works are acrylic on Japanese paper, and each of the original paintings measures 4¾ x 4¾ inches (about 12 x 12 centimeters).

Here’s a card from Rie, who writes: “This card shows you (an) illustration by Kaori Wakamatsu, Japanese creator. I like her painting.”  So do I, Rie.  So do I.

Here’s a card from Rie, who writes: “This card shows you (an) illustration by Kaori Wakamatsu, Japanese creator. I like her painting.”  So do I, Rie.  So do I.

This is what’s known as a QSL card, which is how ham radio operators acknowledge receipt of their transmissions. QSL cards are usually about the same size as a standard-size postcard, and in fact most of them are sent through the mails. In this case, it doesn’t appear that the card went through the postal system, and was likely sent via courier to the US with a batch of other cards going the same way by Japan’s amateur radio bureau.

Most of the QSL cards I own were collected by a man named Bill Seaback who lived in Tacoma, Washington. Bill was apparently not an operator himself, but a shortwave listener (SWL). In this case, he reported to the Japanese operator, Kenzi Akimoto, that he had received the signals between Kenzi and another station (K6UIP, probably in California) on a given date and time (in this case, 10 December 1960 at 2315 GMT). Bill reported it expressly for the purpose of getting a QSL card in return. Most of Bill’s QSL cards appear to have been held up by thumbtacks.

Unfortunately, I do not have a card from K6UIP for the other side of the conversation, which may mean that Bill didn’t hear that side of the conversation; that he didn’t report reception to that operator; that the operator didn’t send him a card; or that the card didn’t make it into the lot of cards that I bought.

I like QSL cards because they are usually privately printed by the operator, and are frequently very imaginative. This card certainly is.

This is what’s known as a QSL card, which is how ham radio operators acknowledge receipt of their transmissions. QSL cards are usually about the same size as a standard-size postcard, and in fact most of them are sent through the mails. In this case, it doesn’t appear that the card went through the postal [...]