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
- Doctor attending to a sick woman
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Farmers collecting their harvest
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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It appears the people in this picture are all part of the same family. In the picture you can see three generations of the family working together on the harvest.
- Title
- Farmers planting their crop
- Date Created
- 1909
- 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 husband and wife dining
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- A lantern maker and his family plying their trade
- 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
- 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.
- Title
- People lined up to view a parade or procession
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Rural worker with reed garment
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Shamisen crafter with a customer
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Staged rickshaw accident
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Sword sharpener practicing his trade
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Three basket weavers at work
- 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.