A Tourist's Album of Japan
Collection Overview
Katherine Wolcott and her uncle, Robert Hull Fleming, compiled this photo album on their visit to Japan in 1909. Part of a larger Asian trip, the two stopped in Japan and collected photos, postcards, bookmarks, and other materials. Fleming was a...
Show moreKatherine Wolcott and her uncle, Robert Hull Fleming, compiled this photo album on their visit to Japan in 1909. Part of a larger Asian trip, the two stopped in Japan and collected photos, postcards, bookmarks, and other materials. Fleming was a graduate of the University of Vermont, and in 1929 Katherine Wolcott helped to fund the construction of the Robert Hull Fleming Museum in memory of her late uncle. This album, a memento from their trip, was part of Wolcott’s own collection.
There are nearly 40 leaves of collected photographs and postcards, numbering two to three per album page. The pictures range in content, some depicting staged photos of daily life while others portray landscapes and countryside. The album itself measures approximately 11 x 14 x 4 inches and is currently housed at the Robert Hull Fleming Museum at the University of Vermont.
Wolcott’s album captures a unique view of Japan at the brink of burgeoning Western influence. After defeating the Russians in the Russo Japanese War (1904-05), Japan began to cement itself as a global power, and its efforts to modernize began to attract Westerners. The images in this album depict a Japan with a strong national heritage and cultural appreciation as well as a newfound embrace of modernization and technology.
Most of the pictures in the album sold commercially as a form of postcard. In the early 1900s, the Japanese populace began consuming millions of these types of commercially produced picture postcards. Eventually, the medium became so popular that it started to replace the more traditional wood block print. The citizenry sought pictures of their budding nation, wanting to hold a still image of the rapidly modernizing and changing countryside.
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Additional Content
Pages
- Title
- Five women on a bench
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
Five women, dressed in elegant kimono's, sit astride a wooden bench. The picture is hand colored.
- Title
- Flowers
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Four women picking plants
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
It looks like the women are picking tea leaves. Less labor intensive then traditional rice farming, but still a difficult job.
- Title
- Four women preparing a meal
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The four women are engaged in various tasks. The woman on the farthest left is grinding something within her bowl, while the woman to her right is dicing a radish. The two women on the right are tending a fire.
- Title
- Group of farmers tending to their crops
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- A group of female performers
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The woman on the right is holding a Shamisen, while the other women strike poses.
- Title
- Group of men with Shamisen and sake
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The second man from the left is playing a Shamisen, while the second man from the right is drinking sake. The two others are posing for the music.
- Title
- A group of monks under a large Buddhist statue
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- A group of travelers on the Japanese coast
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
A group of five people and a horse appear to be traveling along the coast. A small town lies in the background.
- Title
- Groups of people eating lakeside
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
A group of women are eating together by a lake. A group of men are in the background, and appear to be eating as well.
- Title
- A husband and wife dining
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Japanese estate grounds
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- A lantern maker and his family plying their trade
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- A large house in the countryside
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- A man and five women dining
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The gathered group of people appear to be eating either Udon or Soba noodles. The gender ratio is somewhat perplexing, but can most likely be attributed to the artificial nature of the picture.
- Title
- A man carrying his goods to a shop
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The man has a large variety of goods strapped to his cart. There are hand woven baskets as well as wooden containers and ladles.
- Title
- Man fishing from a boat
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- A man paying homage to two Buddhist statues
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Men carrying a passenger in a Palanquin to a hotel
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Men practicing Kendo
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The men here are depicted in full Kendo gear. Their armor and swords are designed to be used in practice against one another without causing harm. However, the mat/stage upon which the main subject of the picture stands could not serve as a ground to hold a Kendo match, as it is much too small.