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Vintage Japanese Wooden Travel Pass (Tsūkō Tegata) – Mt. Fuji Five Lakes Souvenir Charm

$28.00 Only one available

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Mid-Century (1940s–1960s) Brass / Copper, Wood Very Good
HDRH-VR-0021
A little wish for safe travels, carved in wood. This vintage Japanese keepsake takes its shape from the tsūkō tegata — the travel permits that Edo-period travelers once carried through Japan's checkpoints. Bold black calligraphy reads "Travel Pass," a vermillion seal glows against the natural grain, and a small brass bell waits on a braided red-and-white cord. Turn it over and there's Mount Fuji, snow on the peak, pines and water below — a souvenir of the Fuji Five Lakes brought home by some mid-century traveler. Highlights
  • Pentagon ema-shaped wood plaque, hand-sized, with lovely visible grain
  • Brushed calligraphy front, printed Mount Fuji scene on the reverse
  • Vermillion seal, brass bell, and tasseled red-and-white hanging cord
  • Mid-20th-century tourism souvenir — a decorative good-luck charm, not an official document
Condition: Very Good. Clean, sound wood with light surface scuffs on the reverse and gently frizzed tassels — honest signs of a piece that was kept and enjoyed.
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Vintage Japanese Wooden Travel Pass (Tsūkō Tegata) – Mt. Fuji Five Lakes Souvenir Charm

Mid-20th Century

Japanese Tourism Souvenir (Tsūkō Tegata)

For centuries, a journey across Japan was a serious undertaking. The Edo period laced the country with checkpoints, and to pass through them you needed a tsūkō tegata — a travel permit that vouched for who you were and where you were bound. Long after those checkpoints came down, the idea lingered, and somewhere in the twentieth century it turned into something gentler: a souvenir. This wooden plaque is one of those. Shaped like a travel pass and brushed with the old words, it was never meant to get anyone past a guard. It was meant to wish them well on the road.

We found it in a Youngsville, North Carolina estate that held several Japanese pieces — the kind of small collection that usually starts with one real trip. Turn the plaque over and you'll see where this one began: Mount Fuji with snow on its peak, pines and water below, and the name of the Fuji Five Lakes, the Fuji-goko, the lake country that spreads out beneath the mountain. Someone stood in that landscape, bought this as a keepsake, brought it home, and hung it where a bell could ring and a little luck could gather. That's the quiet pleasure of a piece like this: it carries an old tradition lightly, wishes you a safe journey, and asks for nothing but a hook to hang from.

Materials Natural wood plaque with printed calligraphy and a Mount Fuji illustration, a vermillion seal, a small brass bell, and a braided red-and-white hanging cord.
Care Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth. Keep out of direct sunlight and away from moisture to protect the wood, the printed design, and the cord. Handle the aged tassels with care.
From the Research Archives
vintagerose.us Catalog No. HDRH-VR-0021 • July 2026

Specifications

Dimensions
6 × 6 × 3 in
Weight
1 lbs
SKU
HDRH-VR-0021
Travel in Edo-period Japan meant checkpoints, and checkpoints meant papers. The tsūkō tegata was your permit — the document that let you pass from one province to the next. This little wooden plaque borrows that idea and turns it into something you'd want to keep: a souvenir shaped like a travel pass, made to wish the bearer a safe journey. The front carries bold brushed calligraphy — "Tsūkō Tegata," Travel Pass, with a vertical column reading "Permit for Travel Throughout the Provinces" — and a vermillion seal stamped in that deep decorative red. The wood is natural and unfinished enough to show its grain, cut in the five-sided ema shape you'd recognize from a Shinto shrine. Turn it over and the scene shifts: Mount Fuji printed with snow on the peak, green pines, water at its feet, and text naming the Fuji Five Lakes — the Fuji-goko — with a wish for safe passage. A small brass bell hangs from the braided red-and-white cord, tassels at the ends, ready to catch a little light and a little sound. This is the kind of memento a mid-century traveler carried home from the Fuji Five Lakes to hang in a car or a hallway — part good-luck charm, part proof they'd been. It's a decorative keepsake, not an antique permit, and it's all the more charming for wearing its purpose so plainly. Details
  • Vintage Japanese wooden souvenir plaque in the pentagon ema shape
  • Front: brushed black calligraphy reading "Tsūkō Tegata" (Travel Pass) with a vermillion decorative seal
  • Reverse: printed Mount Fuji scene and text referencing the Fuji Five Lakes (Fuji-goko) region
  • Small brass bell on a traditional braided red-and-white cord with tasseled ends
  • Mid-20th-century tourism souvenir from the Fuji Five Lakes region
  • Unsigned, as these travelers' keepsakes typically are
Condition: Very Good. The wood is clean and structurally sound — no cracks, no chips. There are light surface scuffs on the reverse and the cord tassels are gently frizzed with age, honest signs of a piece that was kept and enjoyed. It displays beautifully.

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