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.
MeijiShowa
License all the photos on this site at our boutique photo agency for vintage photographs, illustrations and maps of Japan between the 1860s and 1930s (Meiji, Taisho, early Showa)
Jinrikisha (rickshaws) race down an Isezaki-cho lined with colorful advertising banners. On the right, part of Hamaya Shoten can be seen, one of several shops in Yokohama selling postcards like this one. One store removed from Hamaya is the tabi (Japanese socks) wholesale store of Okadaya. On the left side of the street was the location of the bookstore Yurindo. Founded in 1909 (Meiji 42), the company is now a major book store chain and one of Japan’s larger publishers. It still has its headquarters in Isezaki-cho.
The photographer was standing with his back towards Kanenobashi at the very start of this lively street. For more information about Isezaki-cho, please see Isezaki-cho 2-chome.
1920 (Taisho 9) tourist guide map of the area around Isezaki-cho.
Duits, K. (2008, April 4). Yokohama 1910s Isezaki-cho 1-chome, Old Photos of Japan. Retrieved on 2021, Apr 14 from https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/146/isezaki-cho-1-chome