These were official, often free-of-charge stationery items issued to Imperial Japanese soldiers during WWII to write letters home to family members in Japan or occupied territories.
The Japanese woman featured on this postcard is Kinuyo Tanaka who was a powerhouse actress and a pioneering director whose career spanned over 50 years. She starred in Japan's very first talkie film, The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (Madamu to nyōbō), a 1931 Japanese comedy film, and frequently collaborated with legendary directors like Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu.
During the WWII era, postcards featuring prominent film stars and theatre beauties were highly popular inclusions in wartime military mail packets to boost the morale of deployed soldiers.
Additionally, Kintoto Cosmetics (a pre-war Japanese cosmetics brand that produced items like face powders and hair oils) sponsored postcards like this one.
As for the illustration of the soldier, in the centre of the postcard, there is a caption or a morale-boosting poem designed to comfort soldiers serving in freezing northern regions (such as Manchuria or Northern China).
The poem reads In the freezing cold, even the cloak turns white. Protecting under the Orion constellation, it pierces the body, but holding the rifle, fighting spirit burns.
The facsimile of a green stamp at the top left of the postcard depicts a military helmet (Type 90 helmet) with a star emblem and a rifle/bayonet beneath flying aircraft.
[REVERSE SIDE]
Lyrics to wartime Japanese songs
