Historical information

The text on reverse translates to Kikaha toilet department.

There is also the printed image of a swallow on the back, which suggests that it was taken by the S. N. Banshiudo Studio in Shiba Park, Tokyo.

Geisha Sakae was an extremely popular postcard model shortly after the Russo-Japanese war 1904-05, people used to line up early in the morning whenever a new postcard was released at the postcard shop in Ginza.
The beauty of her gait was so widely admired that her walk inspired many of the leading Onnagata (male Kabuki actors in female roles) of the day. She went on to marry Ichikawa Sadanji II, one of the most popular Kabuki actors in Japan, who worked hard to promote new plays and revive long-forgotten classical dramas.
[Ref: https://www.flickr.com/photos/blue_ruin_1/8448420741]

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.
[Ref: Duits, Kjeld (February 21, 2022). 1910s: Geisha Postcards, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on March 31, 2024 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/883/vintage-geisha-postcards-early-20th-century]

See also:
Sakae さかえ - Meiji / Taishō Era Geisha
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1988804@N22/pool/

The photochrom process
Photochroms are not photographs but actual prints, produced using 6 to 15 colors and the lithography printing process. The technique was invented by the Swiss Hans Jakob Schmid during the 1880s.

The fascinating aspect of these prints is that they are created from black and white photographs.

It required quite some work and talent to create these images. The photographer would usually make notes about the colors in the image he shot. These enabled a painter to create a painting that served as a color guide for the litho stone maker. This artisan would then create multiple exposures of the original black-and-white negative, changing the exposure time, development settings, and using dodge and burn techniques to create the required set of 6 to 15 stones that would each be used to print one specific color. By combining all these colors you get the prints
[Ref: https://www.prepressure.com/printing/history/photochrome-prints]

Significance

This item, a souvenir from Japan from between the wars (circa 1923) was brought home to Research, Victoria by Bill Teagle who was serving in the Royal Australian Navy (1919-1945).

Bill Teagle's sister Violet Amelda Teagle had married Theodore (Curly) Feldbauer in 1933. Bill's brother-in-law Curly was taken as a Prisoner of War by the Japanese and died at Sandakan in March 1945. The family did not learn of Curly’s death till months later and Bill's sister, Violet, herself could never forgive the Japanese for what happened to Curly.

Curly is remembered on the Eltham Roll of Honour Board and his son, Albert Feldbauer (Bill’s nephew and youngest child of the children of the soldier fathers attending a school in the district), was given the honour of turning the first sod for the Eltham War Memorial Infant Welfare Centre Building.

Despite this, the family maintained this cherished souvenir from a time of previous foreign friendship with Japan.

The item was possibly given by Bill Teagle to his sister Margaret Rose (formerly Ingram) who later married Richard Edward (Eddie) Fielding in early 1948. (Eddie had been engaged to someone else before he went to war, but his fiancée broke it off before his return to Australia.)

It was cared for by the Teagle/Fielding family for approximately one hundred years. It is of particular significance given the family's connection to the Eltham War Memorial and the significance of that memorial to the local community and represents that despite the horrors of war, former friends then foes can become friends again.

Physical description

Postcard, Hand coloured photochrom print