OLD PHOTOS of JAPAN, a photo blog of Japan in the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods

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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
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan

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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1910s • Children Carrying Children

Tags: Unknown • Meiji • Outside • •
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Children Carrying Children

Foreign visitors were uniformly surprised by scenes like this one, children carrying their smaller brothers and sisters on their backs while playing with each other. As a result there are countless photographs and postcards showing Japanese kids doing their nursery duty. It must have been hard work, but probably also created close bonds and prepared them for their future role as parents. These days, most Japanese parents don’t even carry their kids around like this. They push them away from themselves in carts. It can’t be good for the parent-child bonding process.

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Photographer: Unknown
Publisher: Unknown
Medium: Postcard
Image Number: 70221-0001
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<a href="http://oldphotosjapan.com/en/photos/425/children-carrying-children">1910s • Children Carrying Children</a>

Foreign visitors were uniformly surprised by scenes like this one, children carrying their smaller brothers and sisters on their backs while playing with each other. As a result there are countless photographs and postcards showing Japanese kids doing their nursery duty. It must have been hard work, but probably also created close bonds and prepared them for their future role as parents. These days, most Japanese parents don’t even carry their kids around like this. They push them away from themselves in carts. It can’t be good for the parent-child bonding process.

Thumbnail URL: http://oldphotosjapan.com/images/90t.jpg
Posted by Kjeld Duits • 2008-10-03
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