Women in kimono is my favorite postcard collecting theme. The woman can be an ordinary person, a geisha, or a maiko. They are all called "Nihon Bijin" which means Japanese female beauty.
For PhotoPostcards, I have created four categories within this genre: Japanese Beauties, Geisha & Maiko, Laughing Geisha, and Women+Flowers. "Japanese Beauties" shows mainly non-geisha women in kimono.

Owner: Philbert Ono

One of the enduring symbols of Japan, the geisha and maiko were very popular subjects for tourist postcards at the turn of the 20th century. Here are some postcards showing geisha (called geiko in Kyoto) and maiko (apprentice geisha). If you don't know what a maiko is or if you cannot tell the difference between a geisha and maiko, this page gives you a quick lesson.

Owner: Philbert Ono

Out of all the geisha that have appeared on postcards, this ever-smiling geisha was unsurpassed in popularity. Her smiling visage appeared in 40 to 50 different poses in photographs and postcards made in Yokohama from the 1890s. Her affable and infectious smile made her stand out during a time when most people posing for a photograph did not smile.
Her name has been a mystery, but I have come across hard evidence that she was a geisha named "Tokimatsu." But I will forever call her the "Laughing Geisha."

Owner: Philbert Ono

A pretty woman with a pretty flower is always a pretty sight. Women and flowers were meant for each other. She can hold it, wear it, stand or sit next to it, look at it, smell it, or arrange it. However she interacts with a flower, it's nice to look at. Like women, flowers are an essential element in Japanese culture and art.

Owner: Philbert Ono

You've heard it before: "The most important bilateral relationship in the world." (According to the late US Ambassador to Japan, Mike Mansfield.) Well, for me it's very important because of my dual Japanese and American heritage.
With these postcards, I've traced some of the history of Japan-U.S. relations starting with Commodore Mathew Perry's landing in 1853.

Owner: Philbert Ono

Japanese children were another facet of Japan that fascinated early foreign tourists in Japan. Children dressed in kimono and those babysitting their younger siblings were the most popular.

Owner: Philbert Ono

I don't collect many landscape and scenic postcards. But here are a few which impressed me enough to buy them. Most are oil-painted cards. (If I could paint, I would rather be a painter than a photographer.)

Owner: Philbert Ono

A quick, illustrated introduction to Japanese postcards. It centers on how to date early postcards by checking postmarks and other characteristics.

Owner: Philbert Ono