#YokohamaShashin

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May is National Photography Month. Explore over 2000 images from our virtual collection of Early Photography of Japan!

Early Photography of Japan is a virtual collection of more than 40 souvenir photograph albums and illustrated publications with over 2,000 images from Widener Library, the Fine Arts Library, and Harvard-Yenching Library. These images primarily document the early history of commercial photography in Japan and are representative of what is often called Japanese tourist photography or Yokohama shashin. They reflect the Western image of traditional Japanese culture before the dramatic transformation brought about by modernization during the Meiji period (1868-1912).

This image is from the “Views of Tokyo, Japan,” an album of 30 hand-colored albumen prints from the Meiji period.

Boat on Sumida River, near Tokyo Attributed to Kusakabe, Kimbei, 1841-1932, Japanese, creator, photographer Stillman, E. G., 1884-1949, American, collector Uchida, Kuichi, Japanese, 1844-1875 ca. 1873 Harvard Fine Arts Library, Special Collections EGS23.01

Check out the CURIOSity collections on Early Photography of Japan to see other images (link in bio.)

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Cinque Musicisti 👘 #japponesi 📷 #foto #colorate a #mano 🎨 #tecnica #yokohamashashin quartiere degli #stranieri ~ #1860 #start #handcoloring 🎥#elettritv💻📲 #webtv #musicaoriginale #taiko #shamisen #fue #canalemusicale 🔊 #webtvmusicaoriginale #musica 🎶 #sottosuolo #playlist #underground #music #japan 🗾 #tibervalley #italy #giappone #edo #italia 📷 #adolfofarsari attribution pubblicodominio wikipedia 1 cinque musicisti 2 uomo tatuato 3 suonatrice di shamisen di strada 4 soggetto tatuato senza autore ];)::\⚡/>> http://www.elettrisonanti.net/galleria-fotografica https://www.instagram.com/p/CRg1DhDh4VV/?utm_medium=tumblr

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We’re back from a long break! Sorry for the long silence but we’re happy to be back again.

This summer, we launched a new website for Early Photography of Japan. It is a virtual collection of more than 40 souvenir photograph albums and illustrated publications from Japan with over 2,000 images from Widener Library, the Fine Arts Library, and Harvard-Yenching Library. In celebrating this new website, we’re posting several images from the Fine Arts Library’s collection. 

Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese – Part 1

In 1896, Tamamura Kozaburo, a highly successful commercial photographer in Yokohama, received an order from a Boston publisher that would eventually lead to the production of more than one million hand-colored albumen prints. At a time when most publishers were using illustrations produced via cheaper and faster photomechanical processes such as collotype or halftone, J. B. Millet Company used original photographs to illustrate no less than 16 different folio editions of the multi-volume Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese published between 1897 and 1898. The publisher limited the most exclusive editions to 25 sets available by subscription only, along with larger editions numbering 750 to 1000 sets. 

The key figures in this undertaking included a Boston publisher, an expatriate Irishman, and a Japanese photographer. Harvard graduate Josiah Byram Millet (1853-1938) founded his publishing company in 1890, and like many in the Boston area, he became interested in Japan, learning to speak the language and developing close connections to many Japanese statesmen, scholars, and businessmen. He conceived the idea for Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese and used his connections to secure financial backing for the project from the Japanese government.

Stay tuned for our future posts!

From Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese

Image 1: Front cover Image 2: Title cover Image 3: Page XI, showing Mt. Fuji

Description Brinkley, F. Japan :described and illustrated by the Japanese. Boston : J. B. Millet Company, 1897-1898. Imperial edition. Fine Arts Library, Harvard University. Repository Fine Arts Library Institution Harvard University

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We’re very excited to announce our newly updated website for Early Photography of Japan, a virtual collection of more than 40 souvenir photograph albums and illustrated publications from Japan with over 2,000 images from Widener Library, the Fine Arts Library, and Harvard-Yenching Library. 

These images primarily document the early history of commercial photography in Japan and are representative of what is often called Japanese tourist photography or Yokohama shashin. They reflect the Western image of traditional Japanese culture before the dramatic transformation brought about by modernization during the Meiji period (1868-1912).

Wisteria tea house, Kameido, Tokyo Hand coloring 21 x 27 cm ca. 1890 Repository: Widener Library EGS04.11 KH 1756 HOLLIS number: olvwork474564

Ukimido (temple), Lake Biwa Description: The "floating temple" of Ukimido, a small temple built on stilts on Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. Hand-colored albumen print mounted in album. 21 x 27 cm. 188-? Repository: Harvard Fine Arts Library, Special Collections EGS22.02 HOLLIS number: olvwork550467

Page 1 of Nippon fubutsu eishu, with 3 hand-colored photographs Author / Creator: Kusakabe, Kimbei, 1841-1932, Japanese [photographer] Description: Includes a view of Mount Fuji showing a man fishing, women in an iris garden, and a waterfront scene showing cherry blossoms and possibly a teahouse. Hand-colored albumen prints mounted on album page and bordered with gold or silver tape. 33 x 49 cm. From album: Nippon fubutsu eishu, p. 1 188-? Repository: Harvard-Yenching Library EGS34.01 HOLLIS number: olvwork665071

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Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese – Part 3 Continued from our previous post.

Overwhelmed by the size of the order, Tamamura reportedly employed more than 350 assistants to help with the printing and coloring. He also called on other Yokohama photographers to supply images in addition to his, including Ogawa Kazumasa, Kusakabe Kimbei, and T. Enami (Enami Nobukuni). Through extensive research, photograph historian Rob Oechsle has identified almost 50 photographs by Enami used in the Japan volumes. To date, this constitutes the largest number of images positively attributed to a contributing photographer.

To be continued…

View the entire set as an album.

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Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese – Part 2.  Continued from our previous post.

Born in Ireland and educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Captain Francis (or Frank) Brinkley (1841-1912) traveled to Japan in 1867 as a commander in the Royal Artillery, never to return home. He became the owner and editor of the Japan Mail, the most influential English language newspaper in the Far East, and his Japanese-English dictionary published in 1896 became the standard reference of its time. Brinkley organized and translated the contributions by Japanese scholars to the Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese volumes. 

Although none of the photographs in Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese are credited with the name of a photographer or studio – except for the collotype still lifes of flowers by Ogawa Kazumasa – it is known from newspaper reports and other sources that Tamamura Kozaburo was commissioned by the J. B. Millet Company to supply all of the hand-colored albumen prints. Regarded as an originator of "Yokohama shashin" or Yokohama-style photography for tourists, Tamamura became one of the most successful and popular commercial photographers in Japan. He sold souvenir photograph albums to foreigners and acquired profitable commissions from various organizations, including the J. B. Millet Company.

To be continued!

Image 1: A group photo of Japanese children (seq. 325) Image 2: A Japanese woman in kimono sewing some fabric (seq. 165)

View the entire set as an album.

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Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese – Part 3

The 10-volume Imperial edition of Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese in the Fine Arts Library at Harvard University is one of the “better” sets. Limited to 100 numbered copies, the FAL copy is number 31. It was “imported and printed” for Alexander S. Porter, a prominent Boston real-estate agent. Each volume of the Imperial edition is bound in decorated silk brocade with silk cords and tassels. Overall, this edition includes 60 large format hand-colored albumen prints mounted in window mats; 200 small format hand-colored albumen prints mounted on the text pages; 1 platinum print photographic reproduction of an 1888 portrait of the Emperor Meiji by Italian painter Eduardo Chiossone; 10 hand-colored collotypes of flowers by Ogawa Kazumasa mounted in window mats; 10 xylograph (woodblock print) reproductions of Japanese paintings mounted in window mats (of which three are missing from FAL’s copy); and 20 examples of original Japanese artworks.

We hope you enjoyed this series of posts from Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese. Today’s post ends with the front and back cover of the album X, the last volume of the edition.

Visit the collection website from our bio.

Image 1: Seq. 947 from album X Image 2: Seq. 828 from album IX Image 3: Seq. 881. Front cover of album X Image 4: Seq. 972. Back cover of album X

View the entire set as an album.