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
- Rural worker carrying his tools
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Rural worker with reed garment
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Samurai bowing before their lord
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The important figure is stepping into a palanquin, about to be carried to his destination by his bodyguards.
- Title
- Sandal shop owner with a customer
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The Japanese Sandal is known as a "Geta" and was the most common piece of footwear throughout most of Japan's history. Geta can have varying amount of pegs, or none at all. When they don't have pegs, they are sometimes known as "Zori."
- Title
- Shamisen crafter with a customer
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Staged rickshaw accident
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Street vendor posing for a photo
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
A street vendor carrying his container over his shoulder. The threadbare nature of his clothing supports this conclusion. Japan's national flag is supported on the back end of his container, and a bell is dangling from his left hand.
- Title
- Street vendor with small pipes on display
- 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
- 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.
- 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 women bathing
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Two female performers
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
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 men attired as Samurai playing Shogi
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
Judging by their hairstyles and the manner in which they are dressed, the two men are either of Samurai heritage or imitating men of such. They are playing Shogi, a Japanese board game similar in quality and manner to Chess.
- Title
- Two men getting their hair styled
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
A public hair styling experience.
- Title
- Two traveling female performers
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The woman on the left is carrying a Shamisen, while the woman on the right is holding a Kokyu.
- Title
- Two women and a child siting below Sakura Trees
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
A small Gazebo structure appears behind the women.
- Title
- Two women bathing and dressing themselves
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
-
The two women are in different stages preparation. The one on the left appears to be applying various forms of make up to herself, while the one on the right is washing herself.