Monument of Count Goto at Shiba (Tokyo, Japan)
We don’t understand this penchant for little bits of red in the cards, but red has as much right to exist as green or blue so we won’t complain. This unused card shows a statue of Count Goto, about whom we knew nothing until we learned this from a book by Craig and Gilbert: Count Shimpei Goto was Japan’s Foreign Minister in 1918 but one of his claims to fame was having organised the South Manchurian Railway Company as its first president in 1907. Goto also wanted Siberian exploration, studied medicine, and was special friends with Russia and Germany. It goes on from there, but we’ll stop here. Grade: 2