1912 Rikishi 0 Set (R121)

The Nihon Sumo Kyokai (NSK) has ran a fairly stable professional sumo organization for about the last 90 years.  Before 1926, however, there were actually two professional sumo associations in Osaka and Tokyo competing for wrestlers and a cut of the sumo pie.  Menko sets produced during this era would actually include wresters from both of these organizations which can make identification and cataloguing a challenge; especially when the menko are not marked with any sort of affiliation.  Fortunately, this 1912 set has both the Osaka (大坂) and Tokyo (東京) designations.  I have only seen these three examples from the R121: 1912 Rikishi 0 Set so the date could be plus or minus a few years.  These are gorgeous examples of a woodblock-printed set with vibrant colors.  Each menko is printed with 4 colors and has the name of the wrestler on the front of the mawashi.  The backs have the wrestler's rank, height, name, and association listed in black ink.  This particular set also has varying amounts of parallel red lines across the names on the back.....which I am not sure mean.  They measure about 2" x 2.75" and are on a somewhat thin paper stock.  Hopefully more of these pop up someday to get a more complete checklist, but for now here are the three:

Maegashira Isenohama (Future Ozeki) - Tokyo
Maegashira Omijuji - Tokyo
Maegashira Hidenoumi - Osaka

1912 Daikokuya Postcards

I don't often collect sumo wrestling post cards since they typically are so expensive, but I pick some up every now and then.  This is a recent eBay pickup and I knew I had to get them as I have not seen this style before.  They are prints from hand-drawn originals and the quality is superb.  They are printed with vivid colored ink and have gold-gilt for some of the accents.  I am assuming the original artist's name is on the bottom right corner, but I can't decipher what it is.  The back is pretty typical for postcards of this era....The company name is Daikokuya which was in Tokyo's Ryogoku district.  I really hope I can end up finding more of these, but seeing as this is the first time I have seen this style in several decades it might be a while before I pick any others up.  The two are Ozeki Nishinoumi who went on to become the 25th Yokozuna....the right card is Kunimiyama who retired as an Ozeki after being plagued with a bunch of injuries.

Does anyone else out there like to collect postcards as part of their card collection?