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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Showing 21 - 30 of 115 Records

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115 1909
Miniature of Sailboat
Sailboat
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
    Miniature of People lined up to view a parade or procession
    People lined up to view a parade or procession
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      • Date Created: 1909
      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
      Miniature of A riverboat with passengers
      A riverboat with passengers
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        • Date Created: 1909
        • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
        Miniature of Woman practicing on a kokyu
        Woman practicing on a kokyu
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Description: The large instrument, known as a Kokyu, is spread out to its full length in this picture.
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
          Miniature of Japanese city in a valley
          Japanese city in a valley
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            • Date Created: 1909
            • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
            Miniature of Two women preparing their attire
            Two women preparing their attire
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              • Date Created: 1909
              • Description: Two women posing in elegant kimono. It seems one is about to put a long shawl around the other.
              • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
              Miniature of Rickshaw driver and two passengers
              Rickshaw driver and two passengers
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                Miniature of Rural worker with reed garment
                Rural worker with reed garment
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                  • Date Created: 1909
                  • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                  Miniature of Two men getting their hair styled
                  Two men getting their hair styled
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                    • Date Created: 1909
                    • Description: A public hair styling experience.
                    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                    Miniature of Street vendor with small pipes on display
                    Street vendor with small pipes on display
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                      • Date Created: 1909
                      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs