New Year resolutions clearly go back a ways. The children of this household start the new year with doing their chores, sewing, practicing music and practicing calligraphy.
This image is part of The New Year in Japan, a book published by Kobe-based photographer Kozaburo Tamamura in 1906. Original text1:
The elder daughter plies her needle, in token of her good resolutions of the New Year, and the younger is likewise employed, but with a musical instrument, the samisen, while the wee brother is occupied in making his copy of characters (our substitute for words) to show his teacher.
See all New Year images on Old Photos of Japan.
Notes
1 Tamamura, Kozaburo (1906). The New Year in Japan. Tamamura Shashinkan.
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Reference for Citations
Duits, Kjeld (). Kobe, 1906: New Year Celebrations 21, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on January 30, 2026 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/662/new-year-celebrations-21
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