OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN, a photo blog of Japan in the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods

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Old Photos of Japan
shows photos of Japan between the 1860s and 1930s. In 1854, Japan opened its doors to the outside world for the first time in more than 200 years. It set in motion a truly astounding transformation. As fate would have it, photography had just been invented. As the old country vanished and a new one was born, daring photographers took photos. Discover what life was like with their rare and precious photographs of old Japan.
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Recent Comments  
  • Kjeld Duits

    @Herman Loots: Ja, er hangt ook een Nederlandse vlag. Daar waren Japanners al meer dan …

  • Herman Loots

    I also see a dutch flag, is that correct?

  • Kjeld Duits

    I am pretty sure it is the Korean flag. It was designed by in 1882 …

  • rhys

    I can see the flags of foreign countries in this photo- UK, France, USA, Switzerland …

Good Book Tip
Felice Beato: A Photographer on the Eastern Road • Anne Lacoste, Fred Ritchin

Felice Beato (1832–1909) lived and worked in Japan from 1863 through 1884, just as the country opened its doors to the world. He was extremely active in Japan, and portrayed the Japanese with dignity and as equals of Westerners. He was the first photographer in Japan to sell albums of his works. Most likely, it was Beato that introduced the later so diligently followed concept of “views” and “types” to photography of Japan.


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Kobe, 1906 • New Year Celebrations 15

New Year Celebrations

Shopping at a temple market on the first day of the year. This image is part of The New Year in Japan, a book published by Kobe-based photographer Kozaburo Tamamura in 1906. Original text:

The temple grounds are thronged with visitors, bent upon paying their devotions to the Gods and the Souls of long departed heroes. We are hero worshippers, and Admiral Togo will, in the fulness of time, be worshipped in like manner; his sou; supposed to be resting within the sacred precincts of the Temple specially dedicated to his memory. Here you will observe all sorts and condition of natives purchasing “lucky” mementoes of the New Year.1

See all New Year images on Old Photos of Japan.

Notes

1 Tamamura, Kozaburo (1906). The New Year in Japan. Tamamura Shashinkan.

Photographer: Kozaburo Tamamura
Publisher: Kozaburo Tamamura
Medium: Collotype Print
Image Number 80115-0039

Quote this number when you contact us about licensing this image.
You can also licence this image online: 80115-0039 @ MeijiShowa.com.

IMPORTANT
Usage of this image requires a reproduction fee.
Reference for Citations

Duits, K. (2009, January 1). Kobe, 1906 • New Year Celebrations 15, Old Photos of Japan. Retrieved on 2021, Jun 23 from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/668/new-year-celebrations-15

Posted by • 2009-01-01
Add Comment

I can see the flags of foreign countries in this photo- UK, France, USA, Switzerland etc
But one flag looks like the South Korean flag, or is it something else?

#000537 · rhys · 2013-08-15

I am pretty sure it is the Korean flag. It was designed by in 1882 and adopted as the national flag of the Joseon Dynasty on March 6, 1883, so it existed in 1906.

#000538 · Kjeld Duits · 2013-08-15

I also see a dutch flag, is that correct?

#000543 · Herman Loots · 2013-09-01

@Herman Loots: Ja, er hangt ook een Nederlandse vlag. Daar waren Japanners al meer dan twee eeuwen mee bekend.

#000544 · Kjeld Duits · 2013-09-01








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