Japanese Postcard Album with Lacquered Cover and Hand-Colored Real Photo Postcards

Japan, 1910. Hardcover. Very Good -. 15 x 20 cm. album containing 52 postcards, 47 of them hand-colored. Black lacquer boards; front board illustrated with scene of a woman and a man painted in gilt and red. None of the postcards have been used and none have dates of publication. Some of the cards were produced by Tonboya in Yokohama; the firm was actively publishing hand-colored postcards from about 1910 to about 1930. The first postcard is a view of Mt. Fuji with a foreground illustration painted in gilt and black. The next two are portraits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken in black with a gilt emblem above each of their heads. The hand-colored views are of streets scenes, temples, and parks in Yohohama, Kamakura, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Kamata; a number include geishas. There are two views of women in Yoshiwara. A complete list is available on request. In Very Good- Condition: front board is detached and is chipped along the lower edge and upper corners; color is bright on front board; postcards are clean and bright, without chipping.