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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115 1909
Miniature of A bridge spanning a small river in the Japanese countryside
A bridge spanning a small river in the Japanese countryside
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
    Miniature of Yakuza showing his tattoos
    Yakuza showing his tattoos
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      • Date Created: 1909
      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
      Miniature of Temple in the Japanese countryside
      Temple in the Japanese countryside
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        • Date Created: 1909
        • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
        Miniature of Group of farmers tending to their crops
        Group of farmers tending to their crops
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
          Miniature of Woman working at a loom
          Woman working at a loom
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            • Date Created: 1909
            • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
            Miniature of A large house in the countryside
            A large house in the countryside
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              • Date Created: 1909
              • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
              Miniature of A rural Samurai
              A rural Samurai
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • Description: The Samurai in this picture is wearing a straw raincoat in addition to his swords and clothing.
                • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                Miniature of Men carrying a passenger in a Palanquin to a hotel
                Men carrying a passenger in a Palanquin to a hotel
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                  • Date Created: 1909
                  • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                  Miniature of Two women posing for a picture with their calligraphy
                  Two women posing for a picture with their calligraphy
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                    • Date Created: 1909
                    • Description: Two women posing with umbrellas and calligraphy.
                    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                    Miniature of Two men attired as Samurai playing Shogi
                    Two men attired as Samurai playing Shogi
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                      • Date Created: 1909
                      • Description: Judging by their hairstyles and the manner in which they are dressed, the two men are either of Samurai heritage or imitating men of such. They are playing Shogi, a Japanese board game similar in quality and manner to Chess.
                      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs