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 81 - 90 of 115 Records

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115 still image

115 1909
Miniature of The town of Hakone
The town of Hakone
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
    Miniature of Monks in front of a large statue of Buddha
    Monks in front of a large statue of Buddha
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      • Date Created: 1909
      • Description: Possibly a picture of the Amida Buddha statue in Kamakura.
      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
      Miniature of Bridge in rural Japan
      Bridge in rural Japan
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        • Date Created: 1909
        • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
        Miniature of An estate in the Japanese countryside
        An estate 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 A husband and wife dining
          A husband and wife dining
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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 Sword sharpener practicing his trade
              Sword sharpener practicing his trade
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • 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 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