絵手紙 – Etegami – Japanese Hand-Drawn Postcards
 Etegami – hand-drawn postcards – is a popular Japanese art form. This is a display that was at the Kagoshima City post office.
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Etegami is a popular Japanese art form. You draw a picture on a postcard and send it to a friend. It’s especially popular during the change of seasons. I took the picture you see here in the Kagoshima City post office during our time there two years ago. This is a good explanation of etagami:
Etegami literally means “picture letter”. It is a picture and a message. There are really no rigid rules on how to draw etegami. Everything is freestyle. Just draw and write what you feel. No practice drawings, no rough drafts…lest you lose that moment of inspiration. The typical etegami usually consists of a drawing of something mundane, trivial…something you see in everyday life but normally take for granted. Take a closer look at the things you touch or see everyday. Find that most beautiful angle and draw it! The accompanying message is also up to you. It could be a proverb, an original poem, a straight sentence, or a wisecrack. Say whatever it is that is bursting out of you. Etegami is normally done on postcards. And, they are meant to be posted… the whole idea is you are sending a message straight from the heart.
Here’s an example of etegami by Maria. She drew a bowl of miso soup for her friend Masako:
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I just finished repairing all the pictures in my blog posts from our 2007 “Golden Week” trip in Japan. I also took the opportunity to add a few nice photos I had overlooked before, like this one. I put the Golden Week posts in their own category, so you can see them all on one page. They’re among the best posts I wrote while in Japan, so take a look.
