笹原喜作 of 敷香郡 樺太 to F. M. Trautz *

笹原喜作 of 敷香郡 樺太 to F. M. Trautz

This card was sent by Sasahara Kisaku (笹原喜作) of Kitonkan, Shikika-gun, Karafuto (気屯館 敷香郡 樺太). The postal marking, 樺太敷香 / 8. 1. 1, indicates it was sent from Shikika, Karafuto on January 1, 1933.

The character '館' (kan), as in 気屯館, means 'building.' In the context of a place name like 'Kitonkan' (気屯館), it likely refers to a hotel or an inn. Additionally, from the penciled notation written by Trautz himself that reads 'Hotel in Shikika,' there is no doubt that it was indeed a hotel. Furthermore, Trautz's contemporary written note clarifies the reading of 敷香 as 'Shikika,' which is particularly helpful today, as there have been questions regarding the correct reading of the word, which could also be pronounced as 'Shisuka' and 'Shikuka.'

Shikika circled in red

Sasahara makes an error in addressing one of the recipients. He writes "エフ・エム・トラウツ" and "エフ・エム・ヒルタ."  Sasahara referred to both Trautzs as エフ・エム. Sasahara's error in addressing the recipients could have been due to several reasons:

• Misunderstanding or Misinterpretation: Sasahara may have misunderstood the proper way to address the recipients or misinterpreted their titles or names.
• Confusion: Sasahara might have been confused about the correct titles or names of the recipients, leading to the error.
• Assumption: Sasahara may have assumed that both recipients shared the same title or name format, leading to the incorrect addressing.
• Lack of Information: It's possible that Sasahara did not have complete or accurate information about the recipients, which led to the error in addressing them.