This awesome old postcard features three Japanese girls in elaborate kimonos doing a version of the three wise monkeys -- also known as "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
Here are some quick facts about this maxim, from Wikipedia:
- The monkeys have names: Mizaru (covering eyes), Kikazaru (covering ears) and Iwazaru (covering mouth)
- The origins of the saying might date as far back as China in 4th century B.C., when there existed a phrase that translates to: "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety."
- The Italian version, "Non vedo, non sento, non parlo," (I see nothing, I hear nothing, I say nothing), expresses the Omertà, a code of silence enforced by criminal organizations such as the Sicilian Mafia.
- Mahatma Gandhi's one notable exception to his lifestyle of non-possession was a small statue of the three wise monkeys.
If anyone can translate this Japanese text on the back of the postcard, I'd be very appreciative. And it might lend a bit more insight to this card.