1947 Takashimaya Department Store Postcards

Recently, I added the three following postcards to my collection. The three Japanese-issued postcards feature the Takashimaya Department Stores in 1947. The artwork was done by Shichiro Imatake (1907-2000). Imatake is considered one of the pioneers of graphic design in Japan.  

Takashimaya, which was founded in 1831 by Shinshichi Iida, is the oldest and largest department store chain in Japan with 20 locations. They also have stores in Taipei, Singapore and Paris. Their New York City flagship store closed in June 2010.

Note the spelling of the store name on the front of each card. There is no "h" in Takashimaya. I haven't been able to find any information about the origins of the spelling of the name. 

The fronts and the backs of the card all show the Takashimaya trademark.

A final, interesting note about these cards is their year of issue: 1947 was only two years after World War II ended. During the War a number of the stores were damaged or destroyed. At the War's end, only 21 stores survived, three of which were department stores. They were Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo.