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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4 1909
Miniature of The streets of Kyoto
The streets of Kyoto
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Description: The streets are filled with people, American and Japanese flags flying from buildings. In the background, you can see an advertisement for Kirin beer, written in both Katakana and English. On the streets, there are men dressed in the more traditional clothing as well as men dressed in western appearing clothing.
    • 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 The streets of Yokohama
      The streets of Yokohama
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        • Date Created: 1909
        • Description: The streets are lined with ornamentation to celebrate a Japanese victory over the Russians in the Russo-Japanese war.
        • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
        Miniature of Yokohama celebrating victory
        Yokohama celebrating victory
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Description: The streets of Yokohama are full of people, as the city celebrates a Japanese victory over the Russians.
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs