Arashiyama 1910s
Togetsukyo

Two Japanese women in kimono, protecting themselves from the rain with paper umbrellas, cross the Togetsukyo bridge in Kyoto’s Arashiyama.

Mist partly obscures the mountains at the far end of the bridge and gives this image an almost mysterious feel. The Togetsukyo bridge (渡月橋, literally, bridge to the moon) received its poetic name after Emperor Kameyama (1249-1305) mentioned that the bridge appeared to stretch to the moon.

This wonderfully romantic shot of Togetsukyo was photographed by Teijiro Takagi (高木庭次郎), a photographer based in nearby Kobe. In 1904 Takagi bought photographer Kozaburo Tamamura’s (玉村寫眞郎) Kobe branch after having managed it for about a year. His company continued using Tamamura’s name until 1914 when he changed it to T. Takagi.

Takagi, who continued doing business through at least 1929, is especially well-known for his wonderful glass slides and many hand-tinted collotype books focusing on particular themes of Japanese life, like New Year customs, marriage and the tea ceremony.¹

For an earlier view of Togetsukyo and a short history of this bridge, see Arashiyama 1880s • Togetsukyo Bridge.

see current map

Notes

¹ Bennett, Terry (2006). Old Japanese Photographs: Collectors’ Data Guide. Bernard Quaritch Ltd., 292. ISBN 0-9550852-4-1

Published April 13, 2008
Updated April 15, 2023 4:21 PM

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