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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22 1909
Miniature of Four women picking plants
Four women picking plants
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    • Date Created: 1909
    • Description: It looks like the women are picking tea leaves. Less labor intensive then traditional rice farming, but still a difficult job.
    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
    Miniature of Group of farmers tending to their crops
    Group of farmers tending to their crops
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      • Date Created: 1909
      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
      Miniature of Woman working at a loom
      Woman working at a loom
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        • Date Created: 1909
        • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
        Miniature of A rural Samurai
        A rural Samurai
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Description: The Samurai in this picture is wearing a straw raincoat in addition to his swords and clothing.
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
          Miniature of Men carrying a passenger in a Palanquin to a hotel
          Men carrying a passenger in a Palanquin to a hotel
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            • Date Created: 1909
            • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
            Miniature of Rural worker with reed garment
            Rural worker with reed garment
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              • Date Created: 1909
              • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
              Miniature of Street vendor with small pipes on display
              Street vendor with small pipes on display
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                Miniature of Farmer traveling on a country road
                Farmer traveling on a country road
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                  • Date Created: 1909
                  • 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 Farmers planting their crop
                    Farmers planting their crop
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                      • Date Created: 1909
                      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs