A New Year's day postcard from the artist addressed to a Mr. Watanabe Tomoji in Tokyo. Many areas is Japan have their own version of a good luck straw horse (wara uma), but Yamagishi titles his "Straw Horse of Shinano" (信濃ワラ馬 Shinano wara uma), Shinano being an old province located in present-day Nagano Prefecture and parts of Gifu Prefecture.
Transcription and translation of the text on the front of the card reads:[1]
信濃ワラ馬 Shinanō wara uma - Straw Horse of Shinanō
賀正 元旦 Gashō Gantan - New Year's Greeting New Year Day
(Sender), 松籟莊画室 Shōrai-sō Gashitsu - Shōrai-sō Atelier
山岸主計 Yamagishi Kazue
神奈川縣藤澤市 鵠沼七三二七 近藤內 Kanagawa-ken, Fujisawa-shi, Kugenuma 7327 Kondō-uchi
[1] With thanks to the Asian Art Forum and I. Nagy.
artist signature
postcard verso
(Addresse),
東京都大田区
田園調布 四ノ一九二
渡邊伴司様
Tōkyō-tō, Ōta-ku,
Denenchōfu 4-192
Watanabe Tomoji -sama
Postmark,
東京中央 Tōkyō Chūō
29 29th Year (of Shōwa) - 1954
1.1 January 1st
前 0-8 Morning 0-8 hrs.
The postage stamp depicts the Tahōtō Pagoda of Ishiyama-dera in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture. Issued in 1952.