A lovely studio photo of daily kitchen work in late 19th century Japan.
A woman wearing a hokkaburi (頬っ被り, headwear) is grinding something in an earthenware suribachi (すり鉢, mortar). Daikon (大根, radish) and a knife lay on the manaita (まな板, wooden cutting board). Next to the manaita is a meshibitsu (飯櫃, rice tub). On the other side is an oke (桶, wooden bucket) and a kago (かご, reed basket).
The suribachi was, and often still is, an important tool in the Japanese kicthen. It was especially used for grinding sesame seeds or mashing miso.
Japanese hairstyles were extremely elaborate and contained a lot of wax. Housewives and working women used the hokkaburi to protect their hair from dust and dirt while working.
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Old Photos of Japan aims to be your personal museum for Japan's visual heritage and to bring the experiences of everyday life in old Japan to you.
To enhance our understanding of Japanese culture and society I track down, acquire, archive, and research images of everyday life, and give them context.
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Kjeld Duits
Reference for Citations
Duits, Kjeld (). 1890s: Woman Cooking, OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN. Retrieved on September 10, 2026 (GMT) from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/707/woman-cooking
yasith
thank you..
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