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 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.
Time Period Covered: 1909
Sub-collections
Published: February 01, 2011, University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe Library, Special Collections
Rights: Requests to reproduce this item should be sent to the UVM Libraries' Center for Digital Initiatives at cdi@uvm.edu. For more information, see http://cdi.uvm.edu/about/rights.
Browse Options
Place(s)
- Japan [8]
- Musical instrumentsJapan [8]
- MusicJapan [6]
- Women musiciansJapan [6]
- Clothing and dressJapan [5]
- LifestylesJapan [4]
Genre(s)
- photographs [8]
- photomechanical prints [8]
Topic(s)
- Musical instruments [8]
- Women musicians [6]
- Clothing and dress [5]
- Lifestyles [4]
- Women [4]
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Topic: ("Musical instruments")
Title: A group of female performers
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
The woman on the right is holding a Shamisen, while the other women strike poses.
Title: Female musician with koto and Ōtsuzumi
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
The instrument leaning against the wall behind the woman is a Koto. The drum she is holding and the one laying on the floor next to her are Ōtsuzumi.
Title: Group of men with Shamisen and sake
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
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: Shamisen crafter with a customer
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Two female musicians
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
The woman on the left is playing a Koto, while the woman on the right is playing a Shamisen.
Title: Two female performers
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
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 traveling female performers
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
The woman on the left is carrying a Shamisen, while the woman on the right is holding a Kokyu.
Title: Woman practicing on a kokyu
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
The large instrument, known as a Kokyu, is spread out to its full length in this picture.
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