[Rarebooks] Fwd: FS: Honshu, Japan photograph album, 1895-1925

[Bob Petrilla]

*Japan, Honshu . PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM OF 116 PROFESSIONAL IMAGES, MOSTLY FROM
MIE-KEN, CIRCA 1895-1925, DURING THE MEIJI AND TAISHO PERIODS Oblong,
string-tied album of black cardstock leaves, 11” x 13”, photographs mounted
on 35pp, blanks at the rear. Bound in black, flexible boards with an
embossed sailing ship and gilt lettering (Photo-Album) on the cover. Pasted
in are 116 albumen and silver gelatin prints, ranging from small candids to
8 ½” x 10 ½” group portraits, a few fading, overall sharp and clean. Laid
into the album are a Japanese news article, a small head-shot of an older
gentleman, and a watercolor portrait (10" x 8 ¼”) of a man’s face.  Very
Good condition.Most of the photographs in this album. circa 1895-1925, were
taken in Mie-Ken (or “Mie prefecture”), part of the Kansai region on the
main island of Honshu. The group and individual portraits reflect new
social and economic developments and cultural norms that emerged during
this period. Subjects are shown in either traditional Japanese garments or
in Western dress. Group shots often depict people wearing both styles
within the same picture. There are many group shots of schoolchildren of
both sexes, young people in uniforms posed before buildings with Japanese
signs on them, as well as many formal group shots of families, some
“nuclear”—husband, wife, children— others extended by relatives. Individual
shots of young children show them almost invariably in western dress, one
posed with his tricycle, young boys in uniform, a young girl in kimono
showing a dance move while holding a fan, infants in traditional robes, and
young men in business suits. Several birdseye views feature very large
groups of rural people in traditional dress, posed outdoors. Among the most
striking photographs are: one (8 ½” x 10 ½”) showing 11 doctors/ medical
students posed around two corpses (one smiling happily) being dissected on
two tables; four women and one man posed around a table doing handwork
(weaving, tatting?); men in western dress, “strap-holding” inside a
streetcar; and 5 actors (2 male, 3 female) on stage in costume. ~~ The
Meiji period (1868-1912) saw the restoration of the Emperor (this time with
a centralized bureaucracy behind him) after years of shogun rule. Japan was
under heavy influence from Western political, economic, and educational
models, and the country became more capitalist, industrial, and
progressively democratic, offering free education to youngsters of both
genders. Transportation and communications systems were modernized, the
feudal lords and samurai lost their power, and a powerful national army and
navy were created. By the early 1870s, the government declared all classes
of people to be equal. The Taishu period (1912-26) saw the continued
influence of Western culture, and values such as efficiency and
individualism continued to replace more traditional ones. Japanese
participation on the world stage continued to grow as the nation co-founded
the League of Nations and emerged on the winning side in WWI.  By 1925,
there was universal male suffrage in Japan. Corruption in government
increased, however, and the West began to form negative views of this
newly-powerful, non-white nation, exacerbated by Japan’s poor treatment of
China.   $1,200.00Usual trade terms, postpaid in US             R & A
Petrilla          Antiquarian Booksellers                     PO Box 306
         Roosevelt, NJ 08555                   (732) 823-2721
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