FUTABA - Japanese Landmarks Postcard - Nagoya Castle - Night Cherry Blossoms

FUTABA - Japanese Landmarks Postcard - Nagoya Castle - Night Cherry Blossoms

A Japanese postcard from the Nihon Meisho series (famous places of Japan) by ROKKAKU (Futaba): a collection in which each view is drawn with foil stamping alone. This one shows Nagoya Castle with the cherry blossoms lit up at night.

Nagoya Castle appears surrounded by cherry blossoms. The gold foil carries a fine texture that brings out in relief the golden kinshachi, symbol of the castle, the roof tiles and the stone walls. There are two versions with different foil and paper colours; this one, Yozakura ("night cherry blossoms"), shows the castle and the cherry trees under the night illumination held in spring. Foils: matte light pink and glossy gold.

The finish is hakuoshi (箔押し), hot foil stamping: the foil is fixed to the paper with heat and pressure, and the craftsman adjusts temperature, pressure and time so that even the finest lines stay sharp. The design changes its shine with the angle of the light.

It is Japanese postcard size (100 × 148 mm), made of glossy cast-coated card. It can be posted like any postcard or framed as a small print.

About ROKKAKU. ROKKAKU was born on Rokkaku Street in Kyoto: it goes back to Sakurai Shōten, a shop founded in 1911, which gave rise in 1950 to a card company that took up foil stamping in 1955. Since 2021 the brand has belonged to Futaba, a Nagoya company founded in 1972 and well known in Japan for its New Year cards (nengajō).