shows photos of Japan between the 1860s and 1930s. In 1854, Japan opened its doors to the outside world for the first time in more than 200 years. It set in motion a truly astounding transformation. As fate would have it, photography had just been invented. As the old country vanished and a new one was born, daring photographers took photos. Discover what life was like with their rare and precious photographs of old Japan.

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Unbeaten Tracks in Japan • Isabella L. Bird

In 1878, just 19 years after Japan opened it first ports to the world, and a mere ten years after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, an adventurous 47-year old woman from the UK set out to explore the interior of Japan. The country was virtually unknown to Westerners, and a woman traveling only with a guide seemed outrageous. Everybody advised her not to, but she went anyway and wrote this unique and vivid journal of what she saw and experienced.

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Tags: Unknown • Meiji • Utsunomiya • City Views
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View on Utsunomiya, (宇都宮市), the capital of Tochigi Prefecture. The photographer most probably looked south-east from Futarayama Shrine (二荒山神社). Utsunomiya prospered as a temple town before it became a castle town and subsequently a town for accommodations along the Oshu Kaido highway, connecting Edo (current Tokyo) with Mutsu Province in the North, and the Nikko Kaido, which connected Edo with Nikko. The town was destroyed during the Boshin War (a civil war fought from 1868 to 1869) and once again during WWII. As the majority of the photographs during the Meiji Period were created for sale to foreign visitors, this image of a town that didn’t attract that many of them is quite special. Early English language travel guides only mention the city as a station on the way to the very popular tourist attraction of Nikko.

An exception is An Official Guide to Eastern Asia, published in 1914, which attributes a full page to the city. The list of principal buildings the guide presents, gives an excellent image of Japan’s rapid modernization: the Prefectural Office, City Office, Post-Office, Experimental Farm, Meteorological Station, Headquarters of the 14th Division, Chamber of Commerce, Tochigi Agricultural and Industrial Bank, Utsunomiya Bank, Shimotsuke Bank, Shimotsuke Electric Motor Co., Shimotsuke Paper-Mill Co., Shimotsuke Shimbun, Shimotsuke Nichi-Nichi Shimbun, Yashu Nippo.¹

Notice the common usage of Shimotsuke, which is the name of the old province that became Tochigi Prefecture. Shimotsuke Province was abolished when the Japanese prefectural system was established in 1871 as part of the early reforms of the Meiji Period (1868-1912).

¹ (1914) An Official Guide to Eastern Asia: Vol. III North-Eastern Japan. The Imperial Government Railways, 317.

Photographer: Unknown
Publisher: Unknown
Medium: Albumen Print
Image Number: 70606-0002
Quote this number when you contact us about licensing this image

Thumbnail URL: http://oldphotosjapan.com/images/141t.jpg

Posted by Kjeld Duits • 2008-11-13

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