A Tourist's Album of Japan

Katherine Wolcott and her uncle, Robert Hull Fleming, compiled this photo album on their visit to Japan in 1909. Part of a larger Asian trip, the two stopped in Japan and collected photos, postcards, bookmarks, and other materials. Fleming was a graduate of the University of Vermont, and in 1929 Katherine Wolcott helped to fund the construction of the Robert Hull Fleming Museum in memory of her late uncle. This album, a memento from their trip, was part of Wolcott’s own collection. There are nearly 40 leaves of collected photographs and postcards, numbering two to three per album page. The pictures range in content, some depicting staged photos of daily life while others portray landscapes and countryside. The album itself measures approximately 11 x 14 x 4 inches and is currently housed at the Robert Hull Fleming Museum at the University of Vermont. Wolcott’s album captures a unique view of Japan at the brink of burgeoning Western influence. After defeating the Russians in the Russo Japanese War (1904-05), Japan began to cement itself as a global power, and its efforts to modernize began to attract Westerners. The images in this album depict a Japan with a strong national heritage and cultural appreciation as well as a newfound embrace of modernization and technology. Most of the pictures in the album sold commercially as a form of postcard. In the early 1900s, the Japanese populace began consuming millions of these types of commercially produced picture postcards. Eventually, the medium became so popular that it started to replace the more traditional wood block print. The citizenry sought pictures of their budding nation, wanting to hold a still image of the rapidly modernizing and changing countryside.

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129 1909
Miniature of Two traveling female performers
Two traveling female performers
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Description: The woman on the left is carrying a Shamisen, while the woman on the right is holding a Kokyu.
    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
    Miniature of Two female musicians
    Two female musicians
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      • Date Created: 1909
      • Description: The woman on the left is playing a Koto, while the woman on the right is playing a Shamisen.
      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
      Miniature of Rural farmer
      Rural farmer
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        • Date Created: 1909
        • Description: The man in this picture is wearing a straw raincoat, as well as the other traditional attire of a rural farmer. In his left hand, he holds a plant and what looks like a hoe. The other hand is carrying a container.
        • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
        Miniature of Sandal shop owner with a customer
        Sandal shop owner with a customer
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Description: The Japanese Sandal is known as a "Geta" and was the most common piece of footwear throughout most of Japan's history. Geta can have varying amount of pegs, or none at all. When they don't have pegs, they are sometimes known as "Zori."
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
          Miniature of A man carrying his goods to a shop
          A man carrying his goods to a shop
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            • Date Created: 1909
            • Description: The man has a large variety of goods strapped to his cart. There are hand woven baskets as well as wooden containers and ladles.
            • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
            Miniature of A portrait of a young woman
            A portrait of a young woman
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              • Date Created: 1909
              • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
              Miniature of Two women getting water at a well
              Two women getting water at a well
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                Miniature of Five monks posing
                Five monks posing
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                  • Date Created: 1909
                  • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                  Miniature of Three children standing in a garden
                  Three children standing in a garden
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                    • Date Created: 1909
                    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                    Miniature of Rural children near a field
                    Rural children near a field
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                      • Date Created: 1909
                      • Description: These children are playing in/around rice fields.
                      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs