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 An elderly man getting his hair styled
An elderly man getting his hair styled
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Description: It looks as if the man is getting his hair pulled back into the traditional Samurai hairstyle of the top knot (Chonmage).
    • 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
        Miniature of Samurai bowing before their lord
        Samurai bowing before their lord
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Description: The important figure is stepping into a palanquin, about to be carried to his destination by his bodyguards.
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
          Miniature of Cherry blossom festival in full swing
          Cherry blossom festival in full swing
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            • Date Created: 1909
            • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
            Miniature of Three men carrying a woman in a palanquin
            Three men carrying a woman in a palanquin
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              • Date Created: 1909
              • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
              Miniature of Victory celebration after the Japanese- Russo War
              Victory celebration after the Japanese- Russo War
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • Description: The picture presents an interesting merging of Japanese and Western culture. The clothing, advertising, and signs point to the presence of western influence in the city.
                • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                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 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