Early Asian postcard history is so varied because of the links each country's postcards have - or may not have - with the colonial powers occupying them. The Japanese produced their own postcards, Chinese postcards were made in various countries as well as by Chinese abroad. Postcards from the Philippines were usually produced in the United States. Early Indian postcards were often printed in Germany by local Indian studios.

Early Indonesian postcards were very much tied to the Dutch, who occupied various parts of the country from the early 1600s until 1949, when they were forced to grant Indonesia independence in the wake of World War II and the Indonesian Independence struggle.

Most early Indonesian postcards were published by Dutch studios, printers, booksellers and photographers based in the various far-flung islands of Indonesia. Their titles are usually in Dutch. There seem to have been a number of publishers active before 1898-99, when postcard publishing became much more popular in the rest of the world; there seem to be a number of postcards from the mid-1890s. A number of the Dutch publishers had office in both Holland and Indonesia (H. van Ingen or Uitg. A. Bisschop for example). There appear to be few Indonesian publishers (if not more likely, the occasional Japanese publisher or studio based in in Indonesia). Inasmuch as the Dutch colonial empire was so much smaller than the British or even French, their postcards seem to have traveled on a much more limited route between the Netherlands and Indonesia.

Fortunately, and unlike for most Asian countries with the exception of Japan, there is an excellent book on early Indonesian postcards, Indonesia 500 Early Postcards by Leo Haks and Steven Wachlin. The authors present the cards from all the major areas of Dutch Indonesia, and offer a comprehensive breakdown of types and subjects. The cards are rendered in their original color, sepia or black and white. Once again, early postcards are proving to be a priceless source of history, a window into attitudes and transformations still underway. As with many other countries, like Plate in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) or Ravi Verma and H.A. Mirza in India, there seem to have been exceptional publishers like G. Kolff & Co. whose cards are immediately recognizable.

Given the extraordinary diversity of Indonesia and its people, many of these cards are among the few illustrations we have of forgotten or long assimilated people and traditions.