During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), the Japanese government sent postcards of beautiful Japanese women, bijin ehagaki (美人絵葉書), to soldiers to motivate them. Publishers continued to print them well into the 1920s. Here’s some eye candy.
The models of these bijin ehagaki were generally geisha. Even the women modeling swimming suits. Some of the era’s most celebrated geisha posed for bijin ehagaki. Fans would line up when new cards of an especially popular geisha were published.
Although ukiyoe had celebrated actors and the prostitutes of Yoshiwara, this was the birth of the modern manifestation of the gravure idol (グラビアアイドル) phenomenon. Geisha were Japan’s first pinup girls.
Everything came together. Newspapers had been around for a few decades and had learned the interests of the general public, new printing technology made low-cost illustrated magazines and photography (in the form of postcards) possible.
And all of this new information technology could now be widely distributed by a modern postal system launched in 1871 (Meiji 4), and modernized with trains and steamships, while new bridges and roads allowed faster wheeled transportation.
There were frequent features, gossip columns and scandals about these women, and everybody was interested in their love life.















For a brief discussion of the term bijin, please read Woman with Rose.
Published
Updated
Reference for Citations
Duits, Kjeld (). 1910s: Geisha Postcards, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on May 26, 2022 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/883/vintage-geisha-postcards-early-20th-century
I have a small favor to ask
Old Photos of Japan aims to be your personal museum for Japan's visual heritage to increase our understanding of Japanese culture and society.
Finding, acquiring, scanning, restoring, researching and conserving these vintage images, and making the imagery and research freely available online, takes serious time, money and effort.
I do this without charging for access, selling user data, or running ads.
Your support helps to make this possible, and ensures that this important visual heritage of Japan will not be lost and forgotten.
If you can, please consider supporting Old Photos of Japan with a regular amount each month. Or become a volunteer.
Thank you,
Kjeld Duits
There are currently no comments on this article.