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
Creator(s)
- Wolcott, Katherine [130]
Place(s)
- Japan [115]
- LifestylesJapan [60]
- Clothing and dressJapan [51]
- PeasantsJapan [24]
- PoorJapan [21]
- ArchitectureJapan [17]
- DwellingsJapan [13]
- RiversJapan [12]
- FlowersJapan [8]
- Musical instrumentsJapan [8]
- Buddhist shrinesJapan [6]
- MusicJapan [6]
- Women musiciansJapan [6]
- Fuji, Mount (Japan) [5]
- GardensJapan [4]
- SwordsJapan [4]
- CastlesJapan [3]
- ParksJapan [3]
- PatriotismJapan [3]
- FestivalsJapan [2]
- GamesJapan [2]
- ArcheryJapan [1]
- ArmorJapan [1]
- FlagsJapan [1]
Format(s)
- image [130]
Genre(s)
- photographs [129]
- photomechanical prints [129]
- photograph albums [1]
Topic(s)
- Lifestyles [54]
- Clothing and dress [46]
- Women [36]
- Peasants [23]
- Poor [22]
- Buddhist shrines [8]
- Flowers [8]
- Musical instruments [8]
- Religion [7]
- Women musicians [6]
- Cities and towns [4]
- Landscape photography [4]
- Patriotism [4]
- Boats and boating [3]
- Buddhist monks [3]
- Castles [3]
- Festivals [3]
- Gardens [3]
- Music [3]
- Pedicab drivers [3]
- Rickshaw men [3]
- Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905 [3]
- Games [2]
- Parades [2]
- Swords [2]
- Archery [1]
- Armor [1]
- Capital punishment [1]
- Charms [1]
- Criminals [1]
- Flags [1]
- Parks [1]
- Portrait photography [1]
- River boats [1]
- Shinto priests [1]
- Shinto vestments [1]
- Souvenirs (Keepsakes) [1]
- Transportation [1]
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Title: Groups of people eating lakeside
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
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: Japanese city in a valley
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Japanese estate grounds
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Large houses in a Japanese city
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Man fishing from a boat
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Men carrying a passenger in a Palanquin to a hotel
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Men practicing Kendo
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
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: Monks in front of a large statue of Buddha
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Possibly a picture of the Amida Buddha statue in Kamakura.
Title: Mount Fuji
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
A view of Mount Fuji through the trees.
Title: Mount Fuji and some of the countryside
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Mt Fuji and the surrounding countryside
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: People lined up to view a parade or procession
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: People viewing a statue of a Samurai
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: People walking through the empty streets of city
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Priest holding a religious accoutrement
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
A man dressed in highly formal attire, holding what appears to be some form of altar in between his hands. The long sleeves and exaggerated hat suggest either a religious or upper class background.
Title: Rickshaw driver and two passengers
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Rickshaw driver picking up two clients
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Rural children near a field
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
These children are playing in/around rice fields.
Title: Rural farmer
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
The man in this picture is wearing a straw raincoat, as well as the other traditional attire of a rural farmer. In his left hand, he holds a plant and what looks like a hoe. The other hand is carrying a container.
Title: Rural house
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Rural town next to a river
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Rural worker carrying his tools
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Rural worker with reed garment
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Sailboat
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
Title: Samurai bowing before their lord
Creator: Wolcott, Katherine
Date: 1909
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: photomechanical prints
The important figure is stepping into a palanquin, about to be carried to his destination by his bodyguards.
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