On eBay Now...Japan Kobe Harbor c1910 Birds Eye View Steamships Mitsumura Collotype Postcard For Sale
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Japan Kobe Harbor c1910 Birds Eye View Steamships Mitsumura Collotype Postcard:
$39.95
Mitsumura Printing Co. Issue / Meiji-Era Steamships / Panoramic Port View
OVERVIEW
Offered is a premier early 20th-century panoramic postcard depicting a bird’s-eye view of Kobe Harbor, Japan’s foremost international treaty port.
Produced during the late Meiji era (c. 1910), this card was printed by the renowned Mitsumura Printing Company, the leader in early Japanese color-collotype technology.
It captures the transition of Kobe from a coastal town into a global maritime powerhouse.
MARITIME & PORT PANORAMA
The elevated perspective provides a detailed study of early 20th-century shipping:
• Numerous western-style steamships and merchant vessels at anchor in the bay.
• The dense urban grid of the Kobe commercial district extending toward the waterfront.
• Early modern port infrastructure including warehouses and docks essential to the Pacific trade routes.
The front is captioned in both English and Japanese (神戶市全景 - Kobe-shi Zenkei), indicating its production for the international export market.
PUBLISHER SIGNIFICANCE
The reverse bears the vertical imprint of the Mitsumura Printing Office.
Mitsumura is highly collected for their technical superior color-tone and "Genshoku-ban" (true color) process. Unlike standard tinted postcards of the era, Mitsumura issues are prized for their photographic clarity and artistic color application, marking this as a "Publisher Tier" specimen.
WHY IT MATTERS
This is a top-tier crossover item for collectors of Japanese Treaty Port history and maritime postal ephemera.
The combination of the "Bird’s-Eye" vantage point, the identifiable Mitsumura publisher mark, and the documentation of Meiji-era steamships makes this a significant historical record of Japan’s industrial revolution.
It represents the "Golden Age" of the Japanese postcard industry.
ITEM SPECIFICS
Year: c. 1910
Country: Japan
Type: Hand-Tinted Collotype (Mitsumura Process)
Theme: Maritime / Treaty Ports / Steamships / Panoramas
Subject: Kobe Harbor / Kobe City View
Era: Divided Back (1907-1915)
Occasion: Historical / Maritime Trade
Region: Hyogo Prefecture / Kobe
Material: Paper
Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
Postage Condition: Unposted
Size: Standard (5.5 x 3.5 in)
Publisher: Mitsumura Printing Co. (Tokyo/Osaka)
Custom SKU: />
CONDITION
Antique unposted postcard in very good archival condition.
It exhibits minor corner softening and very light edge wear consistent with its 115-year age.
The hand-tinted colors remain remarkably fresh and clear, a testament to the Mitsumura printing process.
The reverse is clean with light uniform toning and no writing or stamps.
A superior specimen for the maritime or Japan specialist.
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