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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54 1909
Miniature of Two women practicing calligraphy
Two women practicing calligraphy
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Description: The two women are practicing Japanese calligraphy, or "Shodou," an art most saw as a signifier of refinery and nobility.
    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
    Miniature of Shamisen crafter with a customer
    Shamisen crafter with a customer
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      • Date Created: 1909
      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
      Miniature of A man and five women dining
      A man and five women dining
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        • Date Created: 1909
        • Description: The gathered group of people appear to be eating either Udon or Soba noodles. The gender ratio is somewhat perplexing, but can most likely be attributed to the artificial nature of the picture.
        • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
        Miniature of Groups of people eating lakeside
        Groups of people eating lakeside
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Description: A group of women are eating together by a lake. A group of men are in the background, and appear to be eating as well.
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
          Miniature of Three street vendors taking a break
          Three street vendors taking a break
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            • Date Created: 1909
            • Description: One of the street vendors is selling pipes.There is a large selection of them behind the man in the middle of the picture.
            • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
            Miniature of Two women posing with a tea set
            Two women posing with a tea set
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              • Date Created: 1909
              • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
              Miniature of Two women under a blooming Sakura tree
              Two women under a blooming Sakura tree
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                Miniature of A lantern maker and his family plying their trade
                A lantern maker and his family plying their trade
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                  • Date Created: 1909
                  • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                  Miniature of Group of men with Shamisen and sake
                  Group of men with Shamisen and sake
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                    • Date Created: 1909
                    • Description: The second man from the left is playing a Shamisen, while the second man from the right is drinking sake. The two others are posing for the music.
                    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                    Miniature of Two women and a child siting below Sakura Trees
                    Two women and a child siting below Sakura Trees
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                      • Date Created: 1909
                      • Description: A small Gazebo structure appears behind the women.
                      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs