Osaka 1870s
The Octopus Pine
This very rare image shows the Tako no Matsu (鮹之松, Octopus Pine) at Osaka’s Nakanoshima. The tree was so famous, ukiyoe woodblock prints and guidebooks celebrated it.
Osaka 1870s
Osaka 1920s
Osaka City Hall
Osaka City Hall in Nakanoshima. Built between 1918 (Taisho 7) and 1921 (Taisho 10), Osaka City Hall was designed by representative Meiji Era architects like Yasushi Kataoka, Hikotaro Imabayashi and others, who followed an original design by Yokichi Ogawa.
Osaka 1909
Shijimi River after the Fire
Dojima and Sonesaki on both sides of Osaka’s Shijimi River (蜆川) were devastated by the Great Kita Fire of July 31, 1909 (Meiji 42). The river, which played an important part in Osaka culture was filled in with the rubble and forever vanished from Osaka’s townscape.
Osaka 1909
Great Kita Fire
At 4:20 in the morning on July 31, 1909 (Meiji 42) a fire broke out at a knit-wear factory in Osaka’s Kita-ku, the northern part of the city. Within hours, a huge area south of Osaka station was engulfed in flames.
1930s
Pet Bird Shop
This postcards shows a delightful scene of a shop selling pet birds. Birds used to be extremely popular as pets in Japan.
Yokohama, 1890s
Dezome-shiki
Firefighters in happi coats perform acrobatic stunts on top of bamboo ladders. The ladder stunts were the main event of Japanese New Year celebrations. The demonstrations, called dezome-shiki, were intended to warn people of the dangers of fire, and to demonstrate the agility and courage of the firefighters.