I am not a big sumo wrestling post card collector, but I feel like I am missing the boat every time I pick up a few random post card sets. Post Cards provide a snapshot in time of what sumo wrestlers looked like at the time of the photograph. Although not as visually appealing as some of the menko of the day, some post card designs are very nicely done and worthy of a second look anytime I am browsing card auctions. Take this newly discovered PC-series set, PC641: 1964 Blue Background Postcards, for instance. The colors, simplicity, and "crudeness" make this an easy pick up in my book especially since there are some rikishi that very rarely show u[p on cards. Equally interesting is how rare 1960s Japanese cards are; from the mid- to late-1960s they are virtually non-existent, including Japanese baseball cards. There was a cultural and economic tussle in the 1960s that encouraged kids, and the Japanese economy, to strive to be #1 and consequently a lot of the toys and games kids played with went to the wayside while they focused their attention on studying. Similarly, the accessibility of television sets also pulled kids attention away from the games of old to the virtual diversions being broadcast out to the masses. This set captures the top rikishi from the summer of 1964:
Yokozuna Taiho
Yokozuna Kashiwado
Yokozuna Tochinoumi
Ozeki Sadanoyama
Ozeki Kitabayama
Ozeki Yutakayama
