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 1 - 10 of 36 Records

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36 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 Two women bathing and dressing themselves
    Two women bathing and dressing themselves
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      • Date Created: 1909
      • Description: The two women are in different stages preparation. The one on the left appears to be applying various forms of make up to herself, while the one on the right is washing herself.
      • 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 Two women posing for a picture with their calligraphy
        Two women posing for a picture with their calligraphy
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          • Date Created: 1909
          • Description: Two women posing with umbrellas and calligraphy.
          • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
          Miniature of Five women on a bench
          Five women on a bench
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            • Date Created: 1909
            • Description: Five women, dressed in elegant kimono's, sit astride a wooden bench. The picture is hand colored.
            • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
            Miniature of Woman with umbrella posing in front of a mural of Mt Fuji
            Woman with umbrella posing in front of a mural of Mt Fuji
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              • Date Created: 1909
              • Description: A women dressed in a very formal kimono, is depicted holding an umbrella in her left hand. In the background is a mural of Mt Fuji and the Japanese countryside. The woman, a symbol for Japanese urban life, stands as a stark contrast to the background of nature imagery. Her kimono is hand colored in the image, as well as the flora surrounding her.
              • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
              Miniature of Woman preparing her hair and clothing
              Woman preparing her hair and clothing
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                • Date Created: 1909
                • Description: There is a woman using a system of two mirrors to ensure that her hair is done properly. She appears to be in her own room. Clothing, as well as a dresser and other assorted items fill the room.
                • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                Miniature of Two women preparing their attire
                Two women preparing their attire
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                  • Date Created: 1909
                  • Description: Two women posing in elegant kimono. It seems one is about to put a long shawl around the other.
                  • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                  Miniature of Four women preparing a meal
                  Four women preparing a meal
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                    • Date Created: 1909
                    • Description: The four women are engaged in various tasks. The woman on the farthest left is grinding something within her bowl, while the woman to her right is dicing a radish. The two women on the right are tending a fire.
                    • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs
                    Miniature of Two women practicing calligraphy
                    Two women practicing calligraphy
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                      • Date Created: 1909
                      • Description: The two women are practicing Japanese calligraphy, or "Shodou," an art most saw as a signifier of refinery and nobility.
                      • Parent Collections: A Tourist's Album of Japan, Album of Japanese Photographs