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 36 Records

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36 1909
Miniature of Three people bathing
Three people bathing
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Description: Communal bathing was not uncommon during the early 20th century. It was often done together as a family, especially in the countryside.
    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
    Miniature of Rickshaw driver picking up two clients
    Rickshaw driver picking up two clients
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      • Date Created: 1909
      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
      Miniature of Woman admiring flowers
      Woman admiring flowers
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        • Date Created: 1909
        • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
        Miniature of Woman carrying her child on her back
        Woman carrying her child on her back
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
          Miniature of Employees outside a tea house
          Employees outside a tea house
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            • Date Created: 1909
            • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
            Miniature of Woman in kimono posing
            Woman in kimono posing
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              • Date Created: 1909
              • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
              Miniature of Fan crafter with a customer
              Fan crafter with a customer
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • Description: There are two main types of fans in this man's shop. The folding fan - known as the "Sensu," and the hand fan - known as the "Uchiwa."
                • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                Miniature of A group of female performers
                A group of female performers
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                  • Date Created: 1909
                  • Description: The woman on the right is holding a Shamisen, while the other women strike poses.
                  • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                  Miniature of Three women bathing
                  Three women bathing
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                    • Date Created: 1909
                    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                    Miniature of Doctor attending to a sick woman
                    Doctor attending to a sick woman
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                      • Date Created: 1909
                      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs