きかは便動 Movement is Convenientきかは便動 Movement is Convenient 

Trace Japan's maritime history in postcards featuring Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) steam ships. Built for passengers and cargo, many of the ships were requisitioned during wartime, some of them ultimately being sunk and forming the last resting place for both Japanese and captive Allied personnel.

Learn about the history of NYK through the postcards, including the recent discovery of NYK’s wartime casualty, Montevideo Maru.

This collection, part of the museum's Vaughan Evans Library, was on display in 2025 in an exhibition titled Japanese Maritime Postcards - きかは便動 Movement is Convenient. This exhibition has now closed.

To find out more about our library collection and services, see our website.

The period (1868–1912) in Japan is known as the Meiji Restoration. Prior to this time Japan had, for almost 200 years, been relatively isolated from the rest of the world. The aim of the ruling shogunate had been to maintain domestic stability and preserve traditional Japanese cultural expression.

However, the new Meiji government was convinced that Japan would benefit from commercial trade and travel. It began a series of initiatives to fast-track Japan’s integration into international modernisation.

One initiative was to prioritise the development of Japan’s maritime capabilities. Another was the introduction of a national postal service and a novel technology: the postcard.

As Japan opened to tourism after 1868, Americans and Europeans became fascinated by Japanese art and design. In particular, the traditional Ukiyo-e print aesthetic was widely admired.

This appeal of a new artistic expression was reciprocated with Japanese artists’ exposure to Western influences, encouraged by the Meiji government. The postcard, due to its small size and mass-production possibilities, became a vehicle for artistic experimentation and innovation.

New designs by prominent Japanese artists led to an exciting fusion of traditional Japanese motifs with new creative influences, which accelerated and broadened the use of postcards.

Communicating a modern identity for Japan was encouraged under Meiji’s drive for international relevance. Postcards became an advertising medium and a graphic means of displaying national pride, and an inexpensive, convenient souvenir associated with travel, romanticising modern shipping. 

Postcards provide insights into contemporary sentiment. However, the limited space for writing, coupled with a lack of privacy for messages, limits them as a means of communication. The graphics – and consumer choice of designs – convey much of the message.

The design seen here showed the recipient the means of travel, ports of call and cultural or geographic features seen on the voyage.

This particular traveller commented on the weather (of course)! However, they also noted the effectiveness of advertising used by the shipping company, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK).

Within Japan, communication was enhanced by the spread and acceptance of new writing implements, including the fountain pen. Its portability, unlike the fude (or writing brush) was ideal for communicating by postcard.

NYK became integral to Japanese tourism and immigration, including voyages to Australia. Many of the postcard decorative features were inspired by the motifs of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, which added to their popularity as souvenirs and keep-sakes. Later, however, images of ships were replaced by portraits of military or political leaders.

Between 1904 and 1906, the Ministry of Communications reportedly issued five different sets of postcards to highlight Japan’s victories and successes during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05).

Japan’s ultimate victory over Russia boosted national confidence. This pride was celebrated and shared through postcards as an inexpensive and effective mass-communication device. Demand was so great that hundreds of thousands of cards were issued to people who were willing to wait several hours to purchase them. 

A period of increased trade between Japan and Australia followed, but also a period of increased tensions between Japan and Britain. However, in August 1914 Japan aligned with the Allies, declaring war on Germany at the onset of World War I.

As Japan’s premier shipping company, NYK was instrumental in facilitating the movement of troops, supplies and equipment across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its extensive fleet and established international routes made NYK a valuable asset supporting the Allied maritime logistics network.

The post-war period saw the fleet transformed back to luxury passenger and cargo vessels. By World War II, however, Japan was fighting against the Allies. NYK’s fleet, requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army, was heavily integrated into Japan's wartime infrastructure.

Many of its vessels were converted into auxiliary warships, hospital ships or troop transports. By the end of the war only 37 NYK vessels had survived the conflict. 185 of its fleet were lost supporting military operations across the Pacific.

NYK merchant vessels requisitioned for military purposes were known by Allied prisoners of war as ‘hell ships’. Historians have estimated that 134 of these ships carried around 126,000 prisoners of war (POWs) being relocated for internment.

Many vessels were targeted and sunk by Allied forces, unaware they were carrying POWs and civilians. On 1 July 1942, the Montevideo Maru became the first of the hell ships to be sunk by the US Navy.

The significance of this particular ship is its discovery, in 2023, by an international team including scientists, researchers and maritime archaeologists. Amongst them were staff from the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Montevideo Maru rests, undisturbed, as a grave for around 850 Allied POWs and over 200 civilians in a mountainous underwater area. At a depth of over 4000 metres the relatively small vessel lies deeper than the infamous RMS Titanic.

Read more about Montevideo Maru in Signals