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
- Street vendor with small pipes on display
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- The streets of Kyoto
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The streets are filled with people, American and Japanese flags flying from buildings. In the background, you can see an advertisement for Kirin beer, written in both Katakana and English. On the streets, there are men dressed in the more traditional clothing as well as men dressed in western...
Show moreThe streets are filled with people, American and Japanese flags flying from buildings. In the background, you can see an advertisement for Kirin beer, written in both Katakana and English. On the streets, there are men dressed in the more traditional clothing as well as men dressed in western appearing clothing.
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- Title
- The streets of Yokohama
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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The streets are lined with ornamentation to celebrate a Japanese victory over the Russians in the Russo-Japanese war.
- Title
- Sword sharpener practicing his trade
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Tea house with waitresses
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
Judging by the large quantity of women present in the building, this residence is most likely a tea-house or establishment catering to entertaining men.
- Title
- Temple in the Japanese countryside
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Temple walkway lined with stalls and vendors
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Three basket weavers at work
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Three children standing in a garden
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Three men carrying a woman in a palanquin
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Three people bathing
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
Communal bathing was not uncommon during the early 20th century. It was often done together as a family, especially in the countryside.
- Title
- Three street vendors taking a break
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
One of the street vendors is selling pipes.There is a large selection of them behind the man in the middle of the picture.
- Title
- Three travelers walking down a country road
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Three women bathing
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- The town of Hakone
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Two Ainu posing in traditional attire
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Two carpenters
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Two female musicians
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The woman on the left is playing a Koto, while the woman on the right is playing a Shamisen.
- Title
- Two female performers
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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The woman on the right is holding a Shamisen, while the woman on the left is posed in a position as if she were about to begin dancing.
- Title
- Two hand draw masks
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
These two faces look akin to common "Mempo", the masks worn by samurai to guard the face. The coloration, and fierce facial expressions, are remarkably similar.