What we euphemistically call “Japan’s opening of the country” earthquake drastic change For a proud country that was once isolated. between The Tokugawa shogunate collapsed in 1853. and Meiji Restoration of 1868The sudden forced influx of foreign capital and influence led to rapid changes in Japanese society, many of them destructive. “Unemployment rose,” wrote historian John W. Dower, “domestic prices soared to skyrocketing heights… By the mid-1860s, much of Japan was in the grip of famine… As if this were not enough of a curse, foreigners also brought cholera with them.” They also brought photography, and both Western and Japanese photographers documented not only the country’s profound changes, but also its traditional costume and culture.
After being isolated for 200 years, Japan became a source of endless fascination for Westerners as its crafts traveled across the ocean. Among them was “Japan’s extensive photographic record.” The New York Public Library points out:and “Interactions between Japanese and Foreigners” (Daguerreotype photographers also participated in Commodore Perry’s expedition to Tokyo Bay).
“In its broadest sense, photography entered Asia from Europe and the Americas as part of the process of colonialism, but it quickly took root in those regions by local photographers.”
The colorized image shown here is from NYPL. Large collection of late 19th century Japanese photographsIt was taken by a photographer who appears to be Italian-British. Felice Beato and Kinbei, a Japanese student, “assisted Beato in hand-coloring photographs until 1863,” after which he “founded his own large and prosperous studio in Yokohama in 1881.” archive It provides “a rich source of information for understanding Asia’s political, social, economic, and artistic history from the 1870s to the early 20th century.” These photos date from 1890 to 1909, by which time much of Japan had already become extensively Westernized in dress, architecture, and style of government.
To many Japanese, it must have seemed like the old ways, maintained through hundreds of years of isolation, were being lost. However, for many Westerners, the encounter with Japan brought about a kind of cultural renewal. as The Metropolitan Museum of Art points outa “tsunami of foreign imports” from Asia, including “woodblock prints by masters.” Ukiyo-e The school…transformed the art of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. ” European collectors, traders, and artists discovered Japan’s mania for all things Japanese, even as some cultural forms were in danger of disappearing. Join NYPL’s digital collection. Click here for photos of Japan.
Note: An earlier version of this post appeared on the site in 2017.
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josh jones I’m a writer and musician based in Durham, North Carolina.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
