In 1878, just 19 years after Japan opened it first ports to the world, and a mere ten years after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, an adventurous 47-year old woman from the UK set out to explore the interior of Japan. The country was virtually unknown to Westerners, and a woman traveling only with a guide seemed outrageous. Everybody advised her not to, but she went anyway and wrote this unique and vivid journal of what she saw and experienced.
MeijiShowa
License all the photos on this site at our boutique photo agency for vintage photographs, illustrations and maps of Japan between the 1860s and 1930s (Meiji, Taisho, early Showa)
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# 160307-0027 Tokyo 1870s Windmill at Ueno-Hirokoji Meiji Buildings City Views Unknown Albumen Print Unknown |
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# 160301-0026 Tokyo 1880s Shinagawa Station Meiji Railways City Views Kuichi Uchida Albumen Print Kuichi Uchida |
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# 70219-0004 Osaka 1910s Prefectural Office Meiji Buildings City Views Unknown Postcard Unknown |
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# 100908-0008 Tokyo 1890s Nihonbashi Fishmarket Meiji City Views Transport Henry Strohmeyer Stereoview Underwood & Underwood |
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# 70130-0017 Yokohama 1900s Tomitake Theater Meiji Buildings City Views Unknown Postcard Unknown |
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# 80421-0001 Kobe 1870s View from Mount Suwa Meiji City Views Unknown Albumen Print Unknown |
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# 70602-0009 Tokyo 1880s Asakusa Theaters Meiji Buildings City Views Unknown Albumen Print Unknown |
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# 70301-0020 Kobe 1910s Kobe City Hall Taisho Buildings City Views Unknown Postcard Kobe City Hall |
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# 70222-0003 Tokyo 1920s Manseibashi Station Showa City Views Transport Unknown Postcard Unknown |
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# 71204-0002 Tokyo 1890s Koamicho, Nihonbashi Meiji City Views Transport Kazumasa Ogawa Collotype Print Kazumasa Ogawa |
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# 70206-0038 Osaka 1930s Central Wholesale Market Showa Buildings City Views Unknown Postcard Unknown |
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# 70206-0006 Yokohama 1910s Yokohama Pier Taisho City Views Unknown Postcard Unknown |
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# 71204-0006 Tokyo 1890s Streetcar in Ueno Meiji City Views Transport Kazumasa Ogawa Collotype Print Kazumasa Ogawa |
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# 71204-0003 Tokyo 1890s Geisha Houses, Shinbashi Meiji City Views Kazumasa Ogawa Collotype Print Kazumasa Ogawa |
@Kim The white building is the Ishihara Tokeiten (石原時計店). This was a well-known retailer of watches …
What is the tall building?
@Jim Clinefelter Thanks, Jim. I love it when photographers leave their name card like that! Yamamoto’s studio …
The clue to who took this image is the kanji on the man’s haori, 寫山茂堂 …
高橋様 明治5年(1872年)、明治天皇の西国御巡幸の際、宮内省御用掛の写真師第一号として随行し、内田九一は長崎を訪れたので、日付を1872年に変更しました。