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- Title
- A Tourist's Album of Japan
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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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...
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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- 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
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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 public park
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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What appears to be the entrance to a public park. If you look closely, you can detect the mixing of cultures. Some men wear the traditional robe, but also don a western hat.
- Title
- An elderly man getting his hair styled
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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It looks as if the man is getting his hair pulled back into the traditional Samurai hairstyle of the top knot (Chonmage).
- Title
- An umbrella street vendor
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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The woman is either repairing or crafting a series of umbrellas.
- Title
- Cherry blossom festival in full swing
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Doctor attending to a sick woman
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Employees outside a tea house
- Date Created
- 1909
- Title
- Fan crafter with a customer
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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There are two main types of fans in this man's shop. The folding fan - known as the "Sensu," and the hand fan - known as the "Uchiwa."
- Title
- Four women preparing a meal
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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The four women are engaged in various tasks. The woman on the farthest left is grinding something within her bowl, while the woman to her right is dicing a radish. The two women on the right are tending a fire.
- Title
- Group of men with Shamisen and sake
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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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
- Groups of people eating lakeside
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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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
- Men practicing Kendo
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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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
- Samurai bowing before their lord
- Date Created
- 1909
- Description
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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
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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