Many early Japanese turn-of-the century postcards were colorful illustrations, cartoons, or woodblock prints, some of which were made by famed Japanese artists, but these traditional arts forms would soon lose favor to the photograph. One of the shifts that ushered in the visual dominance of photographic postcards was the introduction of private company postcards 私製はがき, which had been illegal to print until new postal regulations were introduced in 1900. In addition, the adoption of a new photomechanical printing technique, called the collotype, allowed for the wide availability of inexpensive photographic images of Japan.
Many early photographic postcards first circulated as albumen or silver gelatin prints sold by commercial photography studios. Early postcard publishers experimented with the orientation of the old images on the new format. By placing the image on the top half of a vertically oriented card, the bottom half could be reserved for the message [Figure 1]. Strategically designed areas or blank spots were necessary on the front of the card, because the reverse of the card was reserved solely for the name and address of the recipient until 1907. The regulations were determined by the Union postale universelle, the body which oversaw the postal system worldwide. These postcards, known today as “undivided back” cards, were replaced by “divided back” cards in 1907 in Japan, where the message could be included on the reverse of the card.
Inscription: Union Postale Universelle. CARTE POSTALE, 萬國郵便聯合端書
The image depicts a wide angle view of the Daibutsu taken from the third landing. The positioning of the camera shows the rustic, yet landscaped grounds surrounding the Daibutsu statue. Lacking the presence of people, this bucolic setting exhibits a more quiet moment of the famous tourist destination. On the right, the supports and roof of the ablution pavilion stick out from under an evergreen tree. The water basin (chōzubachi 手水鉢) for washing hands is found underneath (dating from 1749).
The photographer of this image is debated. Older studio albumen prints of this image are imprinted with “661 Daibuthu [sic] at Kamakura.” This numbering is consistent with the studio catalogue of Tamamura Kōzaburō 玉村康三郎 (1856-1923?)(See Bennett 2006: 152), but other sources attribute this image to Ogawa Kazumasa 小川 一眞 (1860-1929). (A similar, but not exact, photo has been identified in an Ogawa studio album). This exemplifies the difficulty in determining the correct attribution and age of old Daibutsu photographs, and more research still needs to be done.
Moreover, because the publishers of the postcard did not imprint their name on the back, it is difficult to tell who printed this tourist souvenir. The reverse of this card is bordered by an ornamental filigree-like design in umber brown ink. This card is an example of an “undivided back,” since no line appears separating the sections on the back where the correspondence and address would later come to be written. This functions now as an easy identifier for dating old postcards, with this exemplar dating between 1900 and 1907. (The photograph was probably taken in the mid-to-late 1890s). In addition, a small scalloped square appears in the top right corner, indicating the location to affix the necessary postage.
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in America. All items (except otherwise noted) are part of my personal collection of Buddhist-themed ephemera.
Additional Posts in Visual Literacy of Buddhism Series
Prelude: Within a decade after the Kamakura Daibutsu was “discovered” by non-Japanese foreigners in the 1860s, it emerged as a requisite tourist destination for globetrotters hoping to document their trips to exotic, picturesque locals. Photographic images taken by professional studios and amateur photographers soon started to circulate and by the first few decades of the twentieth century the imagery of the Kamakura Daibutsu began to exert a significant impact on American print media and other commodities.
Many thousands of photographs were taken of the Kamakura colossus between 1860 and 1930, but reliably dating many of these images remains a difficult task. It is my hope to provide a few suggestions on criteria which can be used to determine the relative age of old photographs of the Kamakura Daibutsu. I am primarily interested in determining the when the photographic negative was exposed, not when the photographic document was printed or published, both subsequent events that could happen at considerably later dates. An extraordinarily helpful resource has been the Metadata Database of Japanese Old Photographs In Bakmatsu-Meiji Period, hosted by the Nagasaki University Library. Several of the items below are part of my personal Archive.
Methods: Precisely dating the photographs of many professional Yokohama studios can be difficult. One method for determining the age of a photograph involves dating the album into which it was collated. Many title pages of old tourist albums did not include publication dates, thus other information – such as investigating the named partners of the firm or the address of the studio, among other details – need to be compared with known facts to best ascertain its age. Sometimes the owner of the album inscribed the book with a date, thus helping to determine an album’s possible age.
This method not without its own difficulties. New studios would buy (or pirate) the negative stock of older studios, and thus certain photos were reproduced for decades after they were first taken. Consequently, knowing the publication date of a photograph only provides us with a terminus ante quem, or the date before which the negative was necessarily exposed.
In addition, unless we are privy to the travel schedules of professional photographers in Japan (or Yokohama specifically), we may only know the period of a photo’s creation to within the span of several years. In some cases, the dating of amateur tourist photography, more common by the late 1880’s, can be more precise. For example, published travelogues or information gleaned by accounts written in newspapers can provide information regarding the season or even the month or day an intrepid photographer visited a site. I will utilize all of these methods to establish a framework of absolute dates, which will be interspersed with additional photos based on relative dating and sequencing. I can only hope this may assist in determining the creators of several studio albumen and silver-gelatin prints which now remain anonymous or contested.
Executive Summary: The easiest way to estimate the age for the negative exposure of a Kamakura Daibutsu photograph is to examine the coin donation box (saisen–bako 賽銭箱) directly in front of the offering table. In the oldest photos, the donation box starts as an unadorned, mid-thigh height wooden box. A terminus post quem for the summer of 1877 can be established for the small gabled roof attached to the top of the box. In addition, a terminus post quem of November 1890 can be established for the picketed fence surrounding the box. In the early twentieth century, the arrangement of the lotus flowers on the offering table are the best means for estimating a date. Even more precise methods for estimating age are discussed below. The basic abbreviations are as follows:
TAQ: terminus ante quem [the negative was exposed before this date]
TPQ: terminus post quem [the negative was exposed after this date]
Contact: Please contact me (Peter) should you wish to offer any thoughts or insights, it will be much appreciated! Email: peter.romaskiewicz[at]gmail[dot]com.
Sequential Chronology: 01
Date: c. late 1864/early January 1865 TAQ: January 1865
Information: Found in albums sold by Felice Beato (1832–1909) before his studio fire in 1866, this image is often dated to 1863 when Beato first arrived in Yokohama and toured with the Swiss diplomat Aimé Humbert. Some prints are alternatively dated to January 1865 and a full-page engraving of this photo was published in the Illustrated Times on October 28, 1865, establishing a firm terminus ante quem. Humbert’s account was first published in 1866 and included an engraving of this photograph. It has been suggested that Beato is the man sitting on the left (Bennett 1996: 140). [A similar framing, without people, can be found here and here, with the last inscribed with the date 1864.] As of June 2024, I believe this negative was exposed November/December 1864 or January 1865 at the latest.
Description: Large cast metal lotus petals sit as the base of the first landing which are partly obscured by a railing erected at the front end of the second landing. Fronds of a Japanese sago palm are visible at the left in front of the railing.
Sequential Chronology: 02
Date: c. 1868
Information: After the great Yokohama fire destroyed Beato’s studio in 1866, this photograph was part of the new negative stock made between 1867–1868 and sold to tourists at his new studio. This image is often dated to 1868.
Description: Here we see a clear view of the coin box in front of the offering table and the long, curled finials atop the metal lanterns. Also note the distinctive placement of the metal lotus flowers in the urn atop the offering table, especially the bend in the stem on the right-side flower. It is possible to see the uppermost tip of the large cast metal lotus petal in the lower right.
Sequential Chronology: 03
Date: TAQ: March 1870
Information: The National Library of New Zealand holds the same image. In that collection, the photograph is described as part of an “album of photographs compiled on cruises aboard HMS Endymion with the Flying Squadron,” which made an around-the-world voyage in 1869–1870, landing in Japan in April 1870. The National Library dates this image between 1867–69 and suggests Beato as photographer, but this is incorrect. I have seen this image in Wilhelm Burger’s (1844–1920) A Series of 56 Views of Towns, Villages, etc. in Japan, published in 1871 (for more on Burger, see below). This would date the image to late 1869 or early 1870. Burger left Japan in March 1870. I discuss this further here.
Description: Same as above but two small altar implements have been added between the pair of flower urns and the central incense burner.
Sequential Chronology: 04
Date: c. 1870; TAQ: May 30, 1870
Information: John Reddie Black (1826/7–1880) published the first issue of The Far East: A Monthly Illustrated Journal at the end of May 1870 and included a photograph of the Daibutsu. No photo credit is provided in the publication, but the same image is attributed to Wilhelm Burger (1844–1920), who traveled in Japan from the Fall of 1869 to the Spring of 1870. It is possible that Burger’s negative came to Black through Michael Moser, Burger’s photographic assistant who became the staff photographer at the Far East (see Bennett 1996: 37 & 2006b: 90–91).
Description: The railing on the left has been removed, but the railing on the right remains intact. Otherphotographsattributed to Burger still show the left-side railing standing, however, suggesting its removal occurred during his travels in Japan. One Daibutsu photograph in a Burger album held by the British Museum, entitled A Series of 56 Views of Towns, Villages, etc. in Japan, depicts the left handrail as displaced and balusters tilted. One anonymous photograph depicts the damaged balusters of the left railing.
Sequential Chronology: 05
Date: TAQ: 1873
Information: This carte de visite print is attributed to Shimooka Renjo 下岡蓮杖 (1823–1914) in the Freer-Sackler Gallery archives. The reverse of the card indicates it was printed in 1873, providing a (presumably) reliable terminus ante quem. The photo was reproduced in Thomas Woodbine Hinchliff’s Over the Sea and Far Away in 1876. The image above was analyzed for the Visual Literacy of Buddhism series here.
Description: It is difficult to determine, but it appears the newel post of the railing atop the third landing on the right still remains. The railing on the left is clearly missing. The base of the stone marker at the bottom of the second landing noting the donation of the paving stones is also visible.
Sequential Chronology: 06
Date: TPQ: 1870; TAQ: 1877
Information: From the studio of Baron Raimund von Stillfried-Ratenicz (1839–1911), this image was sold as part of an album entitled Views and Costumes of Japan at the State Library of Victoria, which dates roughly to 1876, after the move of the Anderson & Stillfried studio in late 1875 and before the studio fire of January 1877. Stillfried opened his Yokohama studio in August 1871 and apprenticed in Beato’s Yokohama photography studio starting in 1870 (Bennet 2006a: 309).
Description: The railing on both sides atop the third landing has disappeared, but large cast metal lotus petals remain at the base of the second landing. The coin box is unadorned, the lamps have long finials, and the urns atop the offering table still hold metal lotus flowers.
Sequential Chronology: 07
Date: TPQ: 1870; TAQ: 1877
Information: The photographer is unknown.
Description: This image shows the damaged structure to the right of the Daibutsu (the same damaged structures is seen in another picture in the Archive). The roof here slopes north-south, and the newer building has an east-west sloping roof.
Description: It shows the overgrown temple grounds surrounding the Daibutsu before the major landscaping renovation. The long ladder is also featured in several other photos from this period. The small sign on the steps, placed there by Suzuki, reads: “Daibutsu Kamakura 仏大倉鎌.” The large cast metal petals at the base of the first landing are moved slightly from their original positions.
Sequential Chronology: 09
Date: Summer 1877
Information: William Henry Metcalf (1821–1892), arriving in Yokohama in June 1877 with the pioneering “Japanologist” Edward Sylvester Morse (1838–1925), set out on a four-month tour photographing the Japanese landscape. The image above was analyzed for the Visual Literacy of Buddhism series here.
Description: This image gives a definitive terminus ante quem for the small gabled roof atop the coin box and the removal of the metal lotus flowers from the urn on the offering table. It also shows that two large cast metal lotus petals were moved to rest against the pedestal of the Daibutsu before being removed altogether. The lamps still retain their long, curling finials. The new gabled roof structure can be seen to the right of the Daibutsu.
Sequential Chronology: 10
Date: TPQ: 1877; TAQ: 1879/80
Information: From the studio of Baron Franz von Stillfried-Ratenicz (1837–1916), this image at the Edinburgh Library (also numbered 351) was incorporated into a tourist volume entitled Views and Costumes of China & Japan, which dates from between 1879–1883. Franz (not to be confused with his brother, Raimund) opened his photography firm in 1879 (at 80 Main Street, as noted on the cover page), but he received negatives from his brother, Raimund, who previously owned a studio in Yokohama (Bennett 2006a: 139–140, 154). It remains undetermined who took this photograph.
Description: This image is important because it depicts a groomed temple landscape just previous to the major renovation project. The large cast metal lotus petals have been removed and replaced by small shrubs at the base of the first landing. The grass at the base second landing has been cut and the sago palm is more easily identifiable on the left. This image also shows that the metals lotuses atop the offering table remain missing. Additionally, the spiral finials on the lamps were removed before other signs of renovation work appeared. The stone marker at the base of the second landing noting the donation of the paving stones has also been removed.
NOTE: The sequence of photographs depicting temple renovation through 1896 remains highly conjectural. There are numerous small adjustments made in the landscaping and altar design, thus making it difficult to determine a precise chronology.
Description: Showing clear evidence of the renovation process, the urns holding the metal lotuses have also been removed altogether. It is claimed that construction lasted from 1877–1887, with donor name signboards (on the left above) appearing since1879. A wider view of the renovation project can be seen here.
Sequential Chronology: 12
Date: July 1882
Information: This image depicts the British globetrotter Francis Guillemard and his excursion party at the Kamakura Daibutsu. It may have been taken by Usui Shūzaburō 井秀三郎 (fl. 1867–1884), who was commissioned to take photographs during part of Guillemard’s trip (photo and information from Bennet 2006a: 226).
Description: This image shows plants placed in the urns atop the offering table and roof tiles in the structure at the left knee of the Daibutsu. Presumably, these tiles were used to roof the structure to the immediate right of the statue.
Description: This image is very similar to the Guillemard photograph above, but the plants in the urns on the altar are different.
Sequential Chronology: 14
Date: c. 1887
Information: Often attributed to Adolfo Farsari (1841–1898), this image, taken from an album entitled Photographs Relating to Japan, is commonly dated to after the fire at Farsari’s studio in 1886, and before he reopened his studio in 1887. (see also Bennett 2006b: 133). It was reprinted in William Caine’s A Trip Around the World in 1887–8, in 1888, thus providing a firm terminus ante quem for its printing.
Description: This image defies some expectations and I am unsure of my assessment. In an earlier version of this chronology, I speculated that the photograph may have been previous to 1879/80, but I now think the evidence better aligns with the more traditional c. 1887 dating. The gabled roof on the coin box and the lack of metal lotuses in the urns clearly indicate it was post-c. 1877. The branches placed in the urns are in accord with what is seen during the renovation of the early 1880s (but also see Usui image noted below). Curiously, the fact that the structure on the right of the Daibutsu has a gabled roof (not a hip roof) suggests the new building was not even started before all other signs of renovation were cleared away. In fact, it has been suggested the roofing tiles (for the new structure) can be seen piled up behind the offering table. The small shrubs at the base of the first landing may have been natural growth during the renovations (see previous image). Finally, the rather sturdy looking five-step ladder continues to be present for a while after the renovation. Part of my lack of confidence stems from a comparable photo attributed to Usui Shūzaburō 井秀三郎 (fl. 1867–1884) – but showing the lantern finials still attached. That image is definitively dated to c. 1877. In any regard, Farsari’s reputed image would have to post-date that, and considering my recent thoughts, that would be by about a decade.
Sequential Chronology: 15
Date: TPQ: c. 1887; TAQ: November 1890
Information: This photograph has been attributed to Tamamura Kōzaburō 玉村康三郎 (1856–1923?) and Kusakabe Kimbei 日下部金兵衛 (1841–1934)[for Kusakabe attribution see comments section here]. (Cf. Bennett 2006b: 140)
Description: This image shows a curious structure next to the Daibutsu, presumably a temporary structure before the hipped roof building was erected. Importantly, the metal lotus flowers have been placed back into the urns atop the offering table (note the slightly different arrangement from earlier), in positions they will remain for the next two decades. The foliage creeping in from the right of the frame suggests the row of evergreens are cropped out of this photograph (see next image).
Sequential Chronology: 16
Date: TPQ:c. 1887; TAQ: November 1890
Information: Three photographs regularly attributed to Tamamura Kōzaburō 玉村康三郎 (1856–1923?) are sequentially numbered 534, 535, and 536 (see Bennett 2006b: 152)[although Kimbei attributions exist]. These three photographs were taken on the same day (the small boy with the hat is seen in all three, here seen by the ladder on the pedestal)
Description: Number 535 is taken from the closest distance, and number 534 is taken slightly further away, showing the skinny evergreens at the base of the first landing on the left and a row of evergreens running down the second landing on the right (it is possible these were planted behind the Daibutsu as seen in later photographs). Number 536, shown above, is taken from the furthest distance, on the third landing, and shows more of the landscaping. Importantly, it depicts a small tree in front of the sago palms at the base of the second landing. The metal lotus flowers have been placed back into the urns atop the offering table (note the slightly different arrangement from earlier photographs). One can get a glimpse of the new hipped roof on the structure to the right of the statue between the evergreens.
Description: This image shows a more barren landscaping design, with the evergreens removed from the second landing and the tree removed from in front of the sago palms. Importantly, this landscaping was finished before the coin box was reconstructed and surrounded by a picketed fence. This photo clearly shows the new hip roof on the structure next to the Daibutsu, replacing the older gabled roof.
Sequential Chronology: 18
Date: November 1890
Information: Rev. Thomas Hobbs Stacy, armed with his Scovill camera rig, arrived in Yokohama on November 9, 1890 after nineteen days crossing the Pacific Ocean on the Belgic of the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company (often abbreviated as O&O). Stacy does not inform us exactly when he visited Kamakura, but it was certainly in November, since by the middle of the month he was already setting sail to Kobe. He took the trip to the Daibutsu with his American travelling companion, Rev. Frank Weston Sanford, who was photographed sitting in the rickshaw, and Rev. Philip Wilson Pitcher, a missionary returning to Amoy, who was standing in the lap of the statue. Stacy also notes the presence of a small photography studio to the right of the Daibutsu, where local photographers would take photos of visitors. This information is summarized from the accounts Stacy wrote for The Amateur Photographer in May 1892 and his self-authored In the Path of Light Around the Worldin 1895. Shots with rickshaws were common in this period, I believe they were furnished by an on-site photography studio who hoped to give the shot a more exotic, Japanese feel.
Description: This image provides us with a reliable terminus ante quem for the fenced coin box positioned in front of the Daibutsu. (Of course, this fence could have been erected before 1890; notably, I have seen a photograph hand-dated to 1886 that does not show the picket fence.) Presumably, this is before the small shrubs were (re)planted at the base of the first landing since they are not seen in the foreground (see following photograph). Regrettably, not know if the outstretched sago palm has a dual-arm or single-arm support makes identifying the sequence for the next few photographs difficult.
Sequential Chronology: 19
Date: TPQ: November 1890?; TAQ: Spring 1896
Information: Sometimes attributed to Ogawa Kazumasa 小川 一眞 (1860–1929). (Cf. Bennett 2006b: 158)
Description: This image shows a row of small shrubs planted at the base of the first landing. replacing the young evergreens which were planted after the renovation. A dual-arm brace still supports the outstretched sago palm in the foreground. A small sign-board is also attached to the column of the building. It is possible this image was taken before Stacy’s photograph in November 1890 if the shrubs were planted and removed by the time of Stacy’s photograph. I cannot tell definitively if this was taken before or after the next photograph.
Sequential Chronology: 20
Date: TPQ: November 1890?; TAQ: Spring 1896
Information: Sometimes attributed to Kusakabe Kimbei 日下部金兵衛 (1841–1934). (Cf. Bennett 2006b: 159)
Description: This image shows a closer view of the Daibutsu with the shrubs in the foreground at the base of the landing. It is possible this image was taken before Stacy’s photograph in November 1890 if the shrubs were planted and removed by the time of Stacy’s photograph. I cannot tell definitively if this was taken before or after the previous photograph.
Sequential Chronology: 21
Date: TPQ: November 1890; TAQ 1894
Information: This photo is unattributed, but possibly belongs to Enami Nobukuni 江南 信國 (1859–1929) who has other shots from a similar angle. This photograph is published in Jame Clark’s Story of China and Japan, published in 1894, establishing a firm terminus ante quem.
Description: This image shows an unusual vantage point from the southwest corner. Importantly, it depicts the sago palms without their fronds (possibly from a cold-weather spell?). The outstretched palm at the base of the second landing is still upheld by a dual-arm brace. It appears the rows of shrubs at the base of the first landing have been removed?
Sequential Chronology: 22
Date: TPQ: November 1890?; TAQ Spring 1896
Information: Possibly attributable to Enami Nobukuni 江南 信國 (1859–1929) (see Bennet 2006a: 125).
Description: This image shows the removal of the small shrubs at the base of the first landing and the barren sago palm (a see previous image). As with the previous image, this could be older than November 1890. Note there is a later photograph captioned with stock number 41.
Sequential Chronology: 23
Date: TPQ: November 1890?; TAQ Spring 1896
Information: Attributed to Ogawa Kazumasa 小川 一眞 (1860–1929).
Description: This image in the Tom Burnett collection shows a single-arm support bracing the outstretched sago palm (replacing the dual-arm support) with the small shrubs still planted at the base of the first landing. It is difficult to ascertain this photograph’s sequential position, it too could have been taken before Stacy’s image in November 1890 if the shrubs, clearly taller here than in the previous photographs, were removed before Stacy visited the Daibutsu. If this was the case, then the single-arm support was also present by that time.
Sequential Chronology: 24
Date: TPQ: November 1890?; TAQ Spring 1896
Information: Possibly attributable to Enami Nobukuni 江南信國 (1859–1929) (see Bennet 2006a: 125).
Description: This image shows the removal of the small shrubs at the base of the first landing. As with the previous image, this could be older than November 1890. (A small detail in this image is the man holding an umbrella near the building and the step appear wet as well, indicating a rainy day. Stock photo 42 is also attributed to Enami, but it shows a sunny day.) Note there is an earlier photograph captioned with stock number 41.
Sequential Chronology: 25
Date: Spring 1896
Information: Henry A. Strohmeyer (1858–1943) arrived in Japan in the Spring of 1896 to take a series of stereophotographs that would eventually comprise a 72-view set. The image above was analyzed for the Visual Literacy of Buddhism series here.
Description: This is the first time a small placard is clearly visible resting by the right shin of the Daibutsu. Furthermore, a different stereocard from this set, including the same two pairs of Japanese men and women, takes a wider perspective of the landscaping and shows the outstretched sago palm is still upheld by a single-arm support. In both cards, the metal lotuses placed in the urns atop the offering table continue to face in opposite directions. This positioning of the lotuses (and small placard) remains in the first Keystone set (c. 1901) and the Stereoscopic Gems set and Universal set (both taken by Herbert Ponting late 1901 to early 1902). It is also found in the watercolor painting of Henry Roderick Newman (1843–1917), finished in 1898.
Sequential Chronology: 26
Date: 1903
Information: Returning to Japan to take photographs for Underwood & Underwood, Herbert Ponting traveled through Japan and its surroundings from Spring to Fall 1903. The image above was analyzed for the Visual Literacy of Buddhism series here.
Description: This image is important because it clearly shows that both lotus flowers are now facing away from the Daibutsu. The small placard remains by the right shin of the Daibutsu.
Description: It reveals that the single-arm support of the sago palm was replaced by a dual-arm support. There is also minor rain runoff damage by the stairs leading up to the second landing.
Sequential Chronology: 28
Date: TPQ: 1903
Information: The stereoscopic masterpiece by Enami Nobukuni 江南信國 (1859–1929) is analyzed here.
Description: The outward turned lotus flowers prove this image was taken after 1903. This image also shows that the new dual-arm support for the sago palm was replaced by a sturdier dual-arm support. There is also minor rain runoff damage by the stairs leading up to the second landing.
Sequential Chronology: 29
Date: TAQ: 1910
Information: Attributed to Ogawa Kazumasa 小川 一眞 (1860–1929) and published in his Sights and Scenes in Fair Japan from 1910. The second round-the-world cruise of the S.S. Cleveland landed in Japan in late February/early March 1910 and photos of the Daibutsu in the travelogue of William Frizell and George Greenfield depict a similar scene.
Description: The brace of the sago palm has been reinforced by a large single log and there is significant rain runoff damage to the base of the second landing by the stairs.
Sequential Chronology: 30
Date: TAQ: 1917
Information: The printed caption on this card is dated Taishō 6, or 1917. [A photograph in a private collection shows the picket fence still around the coin box in August 1912.]
Description: A low waist-high stone bench or table has been placed in front of the offering table. Additionally, the picket fence and gabled roof coin box appear to have been replaced with a new box. The old hip-roof structure on the right of the statue has also been altered.
Sequential Chronology: 31
Date: 1918
Information: James Maxwell Pringle took this photograph during his trip to Japan in 1918.
Description: The two lotus flowers still remain on the offering table, but the one on the right appears to be facing more towards the west. The small placard remains by the right shin of the Daibutsu. The slab bench/table appears to have been removed. After the removal of the gabled-roof and picket fence around the coin box (after August 1912), and the removal of the slab bench, the altar arrangement is very similar to pre-1877 photographs. The positioning of the flowers can help determine the correct age.
Description: The two lotus flowers still remain on the offering table, but at a different angle. It is difficult to know for certain, but the row of individuals immediately in front of the offering table is possibly on top of a low stone table or bench. In other photographs, the heads of people are typically below the top of the table, suggesting the tourists here are not standing directly on the ground.
Sequential Chronology: 33
Date: September 1923
Information: Postcard held at the Kanagawa Prefectural Library 神奈川県立図書館所蔵.
Description: This image shows the destruction of the Great Kantō earthquake to the pedestal of the Daibutsu and the building immediately to the right. The lamps and offering table have also been overturned. I have seen later photographs showing the bowed-leg offering table placed behind the Daibutsu. This image offers a good view of the new coin box introduced in the 1910s.
Sequential Chronology 34
Date: Between September 1923–December 1924
Information: Postcard envelope for eight card set of Kamakura views. The image above was analyzed for the Visual Literacy of Buddhism series here.
Description: The stone pedestal is braced by wood supports. The lanterns have also been reduced in size, but still remain on the third (top) landing. The bow-legged table has also been reconstructed, bu the incense burner and flower vases are now missing. The reconstruction of the base in late 1924 is visible in the album of Vera Talbot [unfortunately, the International Center of Photography only shows recto pages]. Talbot landed in Yokahama on December 15, 1924 on the S.S. President Taft of the Pacific Mail Company. I presume the above photo shows the intermediate process before full reconstruction since the lanterns will be fully reconstituted and placed on the second landing by early 1925 (see next entry).
Sequential Chronology: 35
Date: April 18, 1925 [dated on reverse – I previously thought it was inscribed “1920”]
Information: Unknown tourist photograph in the Archive.
Description:
This shows the finished reconstruction after the Great Kantō earthquake. Most noticeably in this photograph, the two metal lanterns have been removed from the first landing and placed on the second landing. The large offering table has been removed. Roped-off stakes are also (barely) visible around the pedestal of the statue. Various signs and placards have also been erected, including one on the left in the foreground saying “No Photographing Without Permission, by Prior.” The tall sign on the right says: “下門。金壹萬五千圆。文部省.” The structure to the right of the statue has been reconstructed with a lower profile roof.
Sequential Chronology: 36
Date: 1925
Information: Amateur American photographer Sidney Gamble (1890–1968) visited Asia on four occasions between 1908 and 1932. This photograph is from his 1925 trip to Japan.
Description: Landscape curbing has been added to both sides of the statue foundation, with what appears to be paving stones going around the statue. Roped stakes are also driven into the ground by the curbing, prohibiting closer access to the statue. A low, shin-height slab has been placed in front of the coin box (possibly for kneeling?). A small, low table with a round incense burner is placed between the coin box and foundation. Three small wooden placards are also visible. The large placard in the center possibly describes the damage to the Daibutsu during the Great Kantō earthquake (as seen in another photograph in the Archive). Additionally, in later photographs, a small placard is placed on top of the table giving the height dimension of the Daibutsu: “forty-two feet, five inches” (approximately 12.9 meters)[大佛身像總高ニ四十二尺五寸周圓十六間一尺重量二萬五十].
Sequential Chronology: 37
Date: 1935
Information: Amateur American photographer Mary Jo Read took this photograph on a trip to East Asia in 1935.
Description: The erosion next to the stairs is in the process of being fixed. The altar area now displays a taller table, on top of which the original incense bowl has been placed. A larger round urn has also been placed in front of the altar table, replacing the coin offering box, which now appears positioned on the right side. (Judging by a dated postcard in the Archive, this arrangement was in place by at least January 1931). Based on another photograph in the Archive, the left-hand sign atop the pedestal is bilingual describing the dimensions of the Daibutsu; the placard on the right describes the damage during the 1923 earthquake.
Description: The general altar arrangement has remained the same since the mid-1930s, but the censer on the altar has been traded out for one that is missing the “wings” seen on the original. The large round urn in front of the altar table has also changed. Both signs on the pedestal appear to have remained the same for the past decade.
Collecting postcards became a national craze in Japan in the first decade of the twentieth century – and caused at least one riot. Yokohama, home to many of the oldest and most important Japanese tourist photography studios, became a major center of postcard production and the Ueda Photographic Prints Corporation 上田写真版合資会社, founded by Ueda Yoshizō上田義三 in the famed city port, was one of a handful of premier Japanese picture postcard publishers. Ueda’s early sets of cards included photographs of the Kamakura Daibutsu, but they and their business rivals continued to produce new views of this ancient colossus.
Professional and amateur photographs had long shot the Daibutsu frontally from long and medium distances. A few took photographs from the southwest corner, or even from behind, but images of the Daibutsu from the southeast were uncommon (although not unknown) likely because the temple landscaping did not easily allow for a person to position himself. The grounds of Kōtoku-in 高徳院, the temple where the Daibutsu resides, had continuously undergone renovations since Western tourists discovered it in the 1860’s, slowly opening up the areas around the statue and providing better “picturesque” viewing. One unknown photographer from Ueda was able to take a position in the southeast corner and take a photograph [Figure 1] – one of the very few from this angle.
Figure 1
Title/Caption: Daibutsu, Kamakura. 佛大倉鎌
Year: c. 1912 [postally unused]
Publisher: Ueda Photographic Prints Corp. 上田写真版合資会社
Medium: collotype print on cardstock
Dimensions: 5.5 in X 3.5 in
Reverse Imprint: Carte postale – Postkarte – Post Card [Type 5], Made in Japan, 郵便はかき
This postcard image is also one of the few photographs that does not incorporate any people in its composition, a technique which typically assisted the viewer in gauging and appreciating the sheer size of the statue. Only the most astute observer would note that the photograph is not devoid of all beings – there is a dog resting at the stone base of the statue [Figure 2]. The dog’s distinctive head patterning and white body suggests this may be the same dog photographed in two olderstereoview cards, who is seen mingling with temple visitors and tourists. Serene and relaxed, both the Daibutsu and dog appear to be enjoying the relative quiet of the scene.
Figure 2
The Ueda crest on the reverse along with the distinctive multilingual printing clearly reveals this card to be part of the Ueda Corp. stock published after 1907, possibly around 1912. It is difficult to determine when the photograph was taken, but the presence of the dog suggests it was taken sometime after the first few years of the turn of the century, when the stereoviews were taken. While this is one among a dozen or more Japanese picture postcards produced of the Daibutsu before 1923 (when the Kantō earthquake destabilized the Japanese postcard industry), it remains one of the most unique.
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in America. All items (except otherwise noted) are part of my personal collection of Buddhist-themed ephemera.
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The Japanese postal delivery service was initiated in 1871 and soon joined the Universal Postal Union (soon to be known formally as Union Postale Universelle) in 1877, thus permitting the sending and receiving of international mail. Until the start of the twentieth century, however, all postcards were issued by the Japanese government as private companies were prohibited from publishing their own cards. After legal permission was granted in 1900, private companies soon embarked on mass-scale printings of picture postcards (ehagaki 絵はがき). The postcard soon rivaled the traditional woodblock print as the favored medium to present contemporary Japanese images.[1] Furthermore, while many early postcards were illustrated with drawings, photographic images soon dominated the medium and are considered the earliest commodified forms of the photograph.[2] This was spurred by the development of a new printing process, known as the collotype, which allowed for photomechanical printing on a massive scale. Several themes emerged as popular favorites, including ones that may sound odd to modern purchasers of postcards, such as “natural disasters” and “current events.” Not surprisingly, with the advent of the thriving tourism industry, “scenic views” (fukei 風景) emerged as a favorite visual genre for many domestic Japanese tourists and foreign travelers.
Since a driving force behind the early interest in postcards was the acquisition of inexpensive photographs, it seems only natural that several picture postcards would be reprints of old photographic stock. The premier Japanese photographer of his time, Tamamura Kōzaburō 玉村康三郎 (b. 1856), was commissioned in the 1890’s to produce a then-reported one-million hand-colored albumen prints (though more recent estimates place the number of prints at approximately 350,000) for the multi-volume work Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese. He enlisted the help of his competitor, Kusakabe Kimbei 日下部金兵衛 (1841-1934), to finish the massive order. Scholars have only recently begun to identify Kimbei’s photographs found within the publication. The postcard image of the Great Buddha of Kamakura [Figure 1] is now considered a Kimbei photograph. The original image was scaled down and slightly cropped to fit on a standard size postcard.
Figure 1
Title/Caption: NA
Year: 1900-1907
Photographer: Kusakabe Kimbei 日下部金兵衛 (1841-1934)
Medium: collotype print on cardstock, hand tinted
Dimensions: 5.5 in X 3.5 in
Inscription: Union Postale Universelle. CARTE POSTALE, 萬國郵便聯合端書
There is no caption identifying the statue or location on the postcard, but the Kamakura Daibutsu was certainly well known in the early twentieth century. In the coming years, however, it would become standard practice to include letterpress captions, often both in English and Japanese, to describe the scene. The fine reticulation pattern and matte cardstock identifies this image as a photomechanical reproduction, known as a collotype (korotaipu コロタイプ). As with standard albumen and silver gelatin photography, early postcards were hand-tinted with water-color washes.
The small margin at the bottom of the card was left for correspondence. Before 1907, the Union Postale Universelle required the entire reverse of the postcard be used for the address and name of the recipient, thus early publishers would leave blank space for a brief messages on the front of the card. Because of this limitation, the correspondence was typically very short, with foreign travelers often briefly commenting on their sightseeing excursions.
The reverse of this card is bordered by an ornamental filigree-like design in umber brown ink. This card is an example of an “undivided back,” since no line appears separating the spaces on the back where the correspondence and address would later come to be written. This functions now as an easy identifier for dating old postcards, with this exemplar dating between 1900 and 1907. In addition, a small scalloped square appears in the top right corner, indicating the location to affix the necessary postage.
Notes:
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in America. All items (except otherwise noted) are part of my personal collection of Buddhist-themed ephemera.
Saitō Takio 斎藤多喜夫. 1985. “Yomigaeru shinsaizen no Yokohama fūkeiよみがえる震災前の横浜風景,” Kaikō no hiroba 開港のひろば, No. 12, pp. 1, 4.
Satō, Kenji. 2002. “Postcards in Japan: A Historical Sociology of a Forgotten Culture,” International Journal of Japanese Sociology, No. 11, pp. 35-55.
Yokohama Open Port Museum 横浜開港資料館, ed. 1999. Nen mae no Yokohama Kanagawa ― ehagaki de miru fūkei 年前の横浜・神奈川―絵葉書でみる風景. Tokyō: Yurindo 有隣堂.
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In early 1904, Japan formally declared war on Russia after nearly a decade of rising tensions. Military attachés and journalists from around the world traveled to the front with photographers to chronicle the gruesome affair. This use of wartime photography propelled a surge in popularity of Japanese picture postcards (ehagaki絵はかき), resulting in a spike of mass-produced, inexpensive postcards depicting Japan’s military might. The swell in Japanese nationalism and interest in seeing images of a modernized state helped create a Japanese postcard boom in the middle of the first decade of the twentieth century.[1] New private postcard publishing houses, such as Ueda Photographic Prints Corporation 上田写真版合資会社, Hoshinoya 星野屋, and Tonboya トンボヤ, grew in number as did their inventory of photographic postcards. Consequently, during this period numerous new images of the Kamakura Daibutsu were taken and sold to a ready market of Japanese and foreign travelers [Figure 1].
Figure 1
Title/Caption: Daibutsu, Kamakura. 佛大倉鎌
Year: c. 1907 [postally used 1910]
Publisher: Ueda Photographic Prints Corp. 上田写真版合資会社
The unknown photographer of this postcard image set the camera on the second landing of the paved walkway and framed the Daibutsu frontally and symmetrically, similar to numerous Yokohama port studios and foreign stereo-photographers of earlier years. The standard size ratio of the postcard allowed for a slightly larger panoramic sweep than that of older albumen prints, thus more of the foliage surrounding the site is visible. The mise-en-scène is natural and casual, unlike the highly choreographed images of piety taken by HerbertPonting around the same period. The viewers eyes are eventually drawn to the group of people on the lower left, perhaps a family, that walks away from the Daibutsu. Except for the adolescent boy on the far left dressed in an oversized coat, no one makes eye contact with the photographer. This leaves the viewer with a sense of casual observation, as if seeing the normal daily activities of the temple grounds. The outfits of the family suggest a bricolage of cultures, as traditional flowing (and brightly colored) Japanese garments are mixed with Western attire, including a narrow brimmed hat worn by the older man and military school outfits (gakuran 学ラン) worn by the young boys (officially adopted in Japan in the 1880’s[2]). Another man sits on the far right, also wearing a brimmed hat, trousers, and vented jacket. To a Japanese viewer, these sartorial elements would be clear indications of a modern, militaristic, and “Westernized” Japan. Reading deeper, the lone kimono-wearing figure in the rear, closest to the Daibutsu, might symbolize the traditional and religious past being left behind by the more progressive present.
This collotype print on card stock was hand tinted with water color, but unlike the more conservative hues of older albumen prints sold at established port photography studios, postcards more frequently have a splash of bright color, especially the warm vibrant hues of orange, scarlet, and pink. The early colorists of Daibutsu postcards often included a patch of pink behind the statue, suggesting spring cherry blossoms, even though this was not the tradition of older Yokohama studios and – as far as I can discern – not botanically accurate [although this image may suggest otherwise].
In addition to this card, a vertical format of a similarly dated Daibutsu picture postcard [Figure 2] shows the same patch of tree foliage to the right of the Daibutsu also painted in cherry blossom pink.[3] Images such as these may function as the origins of the painting tradition for Daibutsu postcards which continued for several decades, effectively ending when color photography was introduced. More curiously, in the horizontal image above, the colorist also included a red-leaved maple tree (just above the man in the short-brimmed hat), inaccurately suggesting that spring cherry blossoms and red autumn foliage appear in the same season! Of course, these decisions were not motivated by a fidelity to reality, but by a consumer market with idealized visions of a bright and polychromatic Japanese landscape.
Figure 2
Title/Caption: Daibutsu, Kamakura. 佛大倉鎌
Year: c. 1907 [postally unused]
Publisher: Ueda Photographic Prints Corp. 上田写真版合資会社
These two postcards were not only sold by the same publisher (the printing on the reverse is identical on both), but clues in these photographs suggest they were taken at the same time. Most tellingly, the shadows are sharp, indicating a clear afternoon, and fall across the face and shoulders of the Daibutsu in precisely the same way, indicating they was taken on the same exact time of day.[4]
For both the horizontally and vertically formatted postcards, the photographic image bleeds to the edges, except on the bottom where an unprinted border leaves space for a caption, here both in English and Japanese. Identifying the location of the site, the cerulean colored letterpress is simple and succinct: “Daibutsu, Kamakura,” (or “Kamakura Daibutsu” 鎌倉大佛 in Japanese).[5] Unlike older postcards, no blank space needed to be reserved on the front of the card because new postal regulations allowed correspondence to be written on the back in addition to the recipient’s name and address. The evidence for this change is the narrow umber (or orange-cinnamon) colored dividing line separating the message from the address space on the reverse.[6] The new regulations for “divided back” postcards were passed in March 1907, but took effect in October of the same year, thus providing a terminus post quem of 1907 for both cards above.
The reverse of these cards also clearly indicates the intended international audience for this expanding postal medium. “Postkarte” (postcard) is written in German along the long edge, followed by French, Italian, and Russian translations, as well as Japanese (yūbin hakaki 郵便はかき [sic]) along the short edge. Unfortunately, as is common for older cards, the reverse sides do not provide information pertaining to the publisher. I feel there is solid evidence, however, to believe these were published by the Ueda Photographic Prints Corporation, founded by Ueda Yoshizō上田義三 in the bustling port of Yokohama. This company was known for its prolific production of early Japanese postcards.[7] If we examine other similar hand colored collotype postcards with cerulean captions and umber printing on the reverse – hereafter I refer to this scheme as the Ueda “cerulean-umber” design – we find a clear relationship between our cards and later cards imprinted with the Udea Corp. trademark. If we examine another horizontal postcard [Figure 3] with the same image (even with the same coloring, down to the red spot on the child’s pink jacket), we can observe the printing on the reverse is different, suggesting it comes from a different print run.
Figure 3
Title/Caption: Daibutsu, Kamakura. 佛大倉鎌
Year: c. 1910 [postally unused]
Publisher: Ueda Photographic Prints Corp. 上田写真版合資会社
Medium: collotype print on cardstock, hand tinted
Dimensions: 5.5 in X 3.5 in
Reverse Imprint: Carte postale – Postkarte – Post Card [Type 3], MADE IN JAPAN, 郵便はかき
Within a short period between 1907 and 1912, the design on the reverse of Ueda postcards changes several times [Figure 4], following a discernable progression, until the dividing line was capped by a heavily stylized Ueda crest in the last phase [Figure 5].[8] Please consult my working notes for an outline of these chronological changes.
Figure 4:
Title/Caption: Daibutsu, Kamakura. 佛大倉鎌
Year: c. 1912 [postally unused]
Publisher: Ueda Photographic Prints Corp. 上田写真版合資会社
Medium: collotype print on cardstock, hand tinted
Dimensions: 5.5 in X 3.5 in
Reverse Imprint: Carte postale – Postkarte – Post Card [Type 5], MADE IN JAPAN, 郵便はかき
Figure 5: The Ueda Photographic Prints Corp. trademark/crest.
These Ueda Corp. postcards were domestically produced (later editions cearly say “Made in Japan”), but had a worldwide circulation. The cards were not only purchased as inexpensive souvenirs or mailed to lucky recipients around the world, the premier commercial importer of Asian goods into America, A.A. Vantine & Co., also sold Ueda postcards at its flagship store in New York City and through it’s widely distributed mail order catalogue. Coincidentally, Vantine’s heavily illustrated 1914 catalogue [Figure 5] highlights the horizontal Daibutsu postcard along with pictures of geisha and pagoda, all well-worn visual motifs of the exotic Orient. Affordably priced, Vantine’s sold a dozen of these Ueda published postcards for 25 cents. The copy of Vantine’s catalogue three years later [Figure 6] informs its prospective buyers about the value of these inexpensive items: “To one interested in ‘things Japanese,” or as a gift to a friend making a collection, nothing is more appropriate than a set of Japanese souvenir postcards.” [10]
Figures 5 (left) & Figure 6 (right) [not part of Archive]
Figure 7
In addition, Vantine’s used Ueda postcards to confirm orders placed by customers [Figure 7], thus diffusing the idealized imagery of Japan, and notably that of the Kamakura colossus, to people who never left the confines of their living rooms. From this vantage point, a postcard of the Daibutsu was no longer a momento of a trip, but one verification among many of the cultural difference and strange Otherness of the Orient.
Notes:
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in America. All items (except otherwise noted) are part of my personal collection of Buddhist-themed ephemera.**This post is in honor of Josh Harris, thanks for all the postcards!
[3] Uncolored versions of this vertical format postcard also exist [in Archive].
[4] This is in addition to the era clues supplied by the fenced and gable-roofed coin donation box and small placard by the right leg of the statue. These environmental elements can be confidently dated, minimally, to between 1896 and 1905, but may extend a few years beyond this range. While the printed postcard must postdate October 1907 (see below) the photograph may have been taken several years earlier, although I would assign it to a time between 1904 and 1907.
[5] It is difficult to tell if a caption is printed or letterpress, but on some samples there is slight embossing of the letters on the back – a telltale sign of letterpress printing. Visually, some postcards will have slight soiling where the caption pushes through on the reverse.
[8] The Ueda Co. crest/trademark is comprised of the two characters of the Ueda family name: ue 上 repeated rotationally four times around da 田. Is should be remembered that earlier printed cards could remain unsold for several years before being purchased or mailed. It is worth noting that both the horizontal and vertical format card [in the Archive] depicted above were also produced in black and white.
[9] The U.S. Stamp Act of 1894 required the country of origin to be printed on all foreign imports to the US, but this stipulation was not fastidiously practiced. In addition, this act was amended in 1919 so the words, “Made in,” be included on all imports, but clearly this practices was already established before 1919.
Itō Izumi 伊藤泉美. 2001. “Tsuioku no Yokohama e hagaki ni miru 100-nen mae hitobito to fūkei 追憶の横浜繪葉書にみる100年前人びとと風景,” Kaikō no hiroba 開港のひろば, No. 71, p. 1.
Saitō Takio 斎藤多喜夫. 1985. “Yomigaeru shinsaizen no Yokohama fūkei よみがえる震災前の横浜風景,” Kaikō no hiroba 開港のひろば, No. 12, pp. 1, 4.
Yokohama Archives of History 横浜開港資料館, ed. 1999. Nen mae no Yokohama Kanagawa ― ehagaki de miru fūkei 年前の横浜・神奈川―絵葉書でみる風景. Tokyo: Yurindo 有隣堂.
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The most widely published Meiji era (1868-1912) photographer was undoubtedly Enami Nobukuni 江南信國 (1859—1929), who worked under the professional alias T. Enami.[1] His shop in Yokohama was a few doors down from his legendary competitor and colleague, Tamamura Kōzaburō 玉村康三郎 (b. 1856), who hired Enami to help complete his order of one-million hand colored albumen prints for the multi-volume work Japan: Described and Illustrated by the Japanese, edited by Captain Francis Brinkley. Enami was expertly skilled in working with all of the popular photography formats, including larger-format prints, souvenir albums, portraiture, and glass lantern slides, but his most significant contributions were in the field of stereophotography. In addition to his considerable expertise, Enami fortuitously also worked during the “Golden Age” of Japanese themed stereoviews, roughly corresponding to the first decade of the twentieth century.
While Enami sold stereoviews under his own imprint in Japan, it was American and European publishers who bought the rights to sell his views that popularized Enami’s work abroad. As was standard practice at the time, publishers often omitted the names of photographers on stereocards, and thus even though American audiences may not have been acquainted with Enami’s name, his eloquent aesthetic vision was integral in shaping Western perceptions of Japan. The first major consigner of Enami’s stereoviews was Griffith & Griffith, a firm who first started issuing Enami’s views of Japan as odd-lots in 1900. Five years later, in response to the wildly popular box sets offered by competitors, H.C. White, C.H. Graves, and the Underwoods, Griffith & Griffith debuted their inaugural 100-view set of Japan, comprised entirely of Enami stock. The set was revised in 1907, adding variant Enami images. In the intervening years since 1900, Enami’s reputation had grown considerably among the largest publishers of stereocards, and his images were being incorporated into sets issued by C.H Graves, Underwood & Underwood, and T.W. Ingersoll. This continued until the market was consolidated under the massive portfolio acquisition by the Keystone View Company, which then continued to publish Enami’s work several decades into the twentieth century.
Title/Caption: The Large Bronze Buddha, Kamakura, Japan
Year: 1907
Photographer: Enami Nobukuni 江南信國 (1859-1929)
Publisher: Griffith & Griffith
Medium: sliver gelatin print; mounted on curved slate-colored card
Dimensions: 7 in X 3.5 in
Of the views acquired by Griffith & Griffith, Enami’s treatment of the Daibutsu is among the most stunning. While many collectors consider the images of Herbert George Ponting (1870-1935) to be the pinnacle of Japanese stereophotography (Enami is often considered a close second), it is clear that Ponting took his cues in photographing the Daibutsu from Enami’s masterclass in layering and composition. It appears that most of Griffith’s Enami stock was originally photographed between 1895 and 1900, thus making this image, with the possible exception of Strohmeyer’s 1896 work, among oldest of the major publishers’ views of the Daibutsu [EDIT: It appears this image was taken after 1903]. Yet it also remains the most unique and sophisticated.
Setting his camera on the first landing, the furthest from the statue, Enami is able to visually narrate a story unlike his Western contemporaries. The viewer enters the image through the Japanese man at the lower right, who is photographed mid-stride ascending a small flight of steps. Due to the positioning of his head, the viewer presumes his gaze is directed at the woman and two small children down the pathway in front of him. The two children gaze back at him, creating a strong sense that we are observing a family about to reunite. Alone, this visual narrative is strikingly different from the images produced by Western photographers, who tend to highlight the pious religiosity of the Japanese people or the aesthetic qualities of the Daibutsu. Here the Kamakura statue is simply the location where the family gathers, presumably to pray and ask for blessings. There is no overt signaling of awe-struck piousness or odd bodily positioning rendering the scene unnatural. Furthermore, by placing the dwarf palm in the foreground with the man, partly obscuring the view of the Daibutsu, we are afforded a sense of entering a liminal space, within which we find family, safety, and serenity. There is a technical reason for incorporating these foreground elements as well, they would provide a greater illusion of depth when observed through a stereographic viewer.
In addition, there are also signs that Enami was trying to appeal to a Western clientele, most visibly through the elaborate dress. While operating out of his shop in Yokohama, Enami’s premier customer base were Western globetrotting tourists looking to capture a piece of the exotic orient, most typically through the conspicuous ownership of photography. By dressing his subjects in formal and decorative garments, Enami was still able to signal a sense of the Other so prized in souvenir memorabilia, while not fully embracing a hypersexualized or hyper-religious Oriental discourse.[2]
The other valued and incomparable skill of Enami was his ability to beautifully hand-tint his photographs. Japanese assistants had long been assigned hand-coloring tasks in the Western photography studios of Yokohama, and Enami and his workshop produced some of the most meticulous work. A wonderfully colored variant of the Griffith & Griffith view (likely of the “seconds or minutes” variety, meaning both shots were taken in close time proximity of one another) appeared in the pages of National Geographic in July 1921 (pg. 64/pl. IV), showcased along some of the finest journalistic photography of the twentieth century. It is possible the National Geographic variant was originally a stereograph, as Enami regularly used one half of the stereographic negative for his two-dimensional images.
Title/Caption: Götzenbild, Japan [“Idolatry, Japan”]
Year: (modern reprint of 1912 original)
Photographer: Enami Nobukuni 江南信國 (1859-1929)
Publisher: Universal Stereoscop Company
Medium: (modern reprint on photographic paper)
Dimensions: 7 in X 3.5 in
The Central European agency responsible for distributing Griffith & Griffith views was the German firm Nueu Photographische Gesellschaft (NPG), who published a series of 50 Enami views. In 1912, the German publisher Universal Stereoscop Company reissued the NPG stock, adding 50 additional views to make a full 100-view set. Unlike the original production run in the US, Enami’s German images were sold tinted, thus further enhancing the astonishing brilliance of Enami’s work.
Notes
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in America. All items (except otherwise noted) are part of my personal collection of Buddhist-themed ephemera.
[1] For more detailed information on the surprisingly elusive life of Enami, see Bennett 2006, and especially the sleuthing of Oechsle 2006. Rob Oechsle also runs the excellent site dedicated to Enami’s oeuvre, t-enami.org.
[2] The ability of Asian agents to navigate and sometimes subvert Orientalist discourses have been encapsulated by several theories of resistance, of which John Kuo Wei Tchen’s notion of “commercial Orientalism” is appropriate here, see Tchen 1999.
References
Bennett, Terry. 2006. Old Japanese Photographs Collector’s Data Guide. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd.
Oechsle, Rob. 2006. “Searching for T. Enami,” in Old Japanese Photographs Collector’s Data Guide, by Terry Bennett. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd, pp. 70-8.
Tchen, John Kuo Wei. 1999. New York Before Chinatown: Orientalism and the Shaping of American Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
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The Keystone View Company dominated the stereoview market after acquiring the negative stocks of H.C. White in 1915 and Underwood & Underwood in 1921, effectively making them the last major publisher of this once immensely popular form of home entertainment and education.[1] Even though the development of “nickelodeons” and larger cinematic theaters would become the preferred form of “virtual travel” for most Americans through the early twentieth century, Keystone remained in operation through the 1970’s, long after the business’s highest commercial success.[2] Keystone had long emphasized the educational virtues of their products, regularly imprinting detailed descriptions on the reverse of their mounts or offering booklets with narrative accounts as accompaniments to their larger sets. In the 1920’s Keystone started offering massive 400 and 600 “World Tour” sets, both of which contained older images of late Meiji-era Japan, photographed between approximately 1896 and 1906. In 1935/6, Keystone unveiled its most audacious product to date, a monumental 1200-view “Tour of the World” set, weighing around 70 pounds with all of its cards and accoutrements. This Keystone set was the first to incorporate newly photographed images of Japan in two decades, all taken by an unknown photographer.
Title/Caption: The Colossal Daibutsu in Cherry-Blossom Time – the Great Buddha of Kamakura, Japan
Year: 1935-6
Photographer: unknown
Publisher: Keystone View Company (#925 out of 1200 card “Tour of the World” set)
Medium: sliver gelatin print; mounted on curved card
Dimensions: 7 in X 3.5 in
This final Keystone view of the Daibutsu would emerge as its most famous. Leering in from the right side of the photograph is a white hand-painted sign plainly stating, “No Photographing Allowed Here.”[3] By photographing this sign, our unknown photographer lays bare the long-standing tensions between tourists and the temple. For many travelers, the only reason to visit the Kamakura colossus was precisely to have their image taken, sometimes perched in his lap, as a sign of their conquest of the Orient. The infrequent, intrepid Yokohama globetrotter of the 1860’s had ballooned into the large-scale tourist excursion parties of the early 1900’s, promoted by a thriving tourism industry. By the 1930’s, the temple had decades-old regulations limiting amateur photography, and several Western travelogues describe the difficulty in procuring a good image of the Daibutsu, sometimes needing to distract the temple priest in order to surreptitiously take a quick photograph.
With the rules not permitting closer access with camera equipment, this late-issue Keystone image frames the Great Buddha at a greater distance than most stereoviews. Visual attention is directed to the foreground where three Western tourists stand with their backs towards the Daibutsu. With two women posed formally and a man holding his hat looking to the side, a crowd of Westerners is also seen touring the grounds behind them. A single Buddhist priest can be found strolling among the onlookers. The Daibutsu functions as a backdrop to the visual narrative centering on the three tourists. The statue efficiently signals the Otherness that envelopes the tourists throughout their foreign adventures. While many facets of their trip are the same as home, some things are wildly out of step with their norm and those are precisely the things that need to be seen. This photographic souvenir proves their success in capturing the exotic Other. Unlike the numerous stereoviews published previously, little visual focus is placed on the activities of the native Japanese; the sole priest walks casually, unaffected by the religious icon. The caption, too, supports a focus on tourist activities, noting this visit took place during “Cherry-Blossom Time,” a period optimal for camaraderie, sightseeing, and picture taking.
The description on the mount’s reverse cribs from the older Underwood & Underwood card, updating the preferred mode of transportation from rail to “motor car” and mentioning the Greant Kantō earthquake of 1923. Harkening back to the magnificent past of Kamakura and noting the immense dimensions of the Daibutsu, the reader is afforded the necessary contextualizing elements that make the “virtual tour” even more realistic. The last sentence dramatically underscores the appeal of the location, almost as if a pitch delivered in a travel magazine or tourist brochure: “This great Buddha is one of the most dramatic sights in Japan and is said to be the largest bronze statue in the world.” This fact would be all the more apparent for the numerous tourists who made the trip, both virtually and in real life.
Notes
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in America. All items (except otherwise noted) are part of my personal collection of Buddhist-themed ephemera.
[1] For more detailed information on the Keystone Company, see Bennett 2006.
[2] Although many images were looted in the intervening years, the remaining Keystone stock was donated to the California Museum of Photography, at the University of California, Riverside, and catalogued as the Keystone-Mast Collection. The contact print of the above stereoview is identified as 1996.0009.33903.SS.
[3] Based on the original negative from the Keystone-Mast Collection, the entirety of the sign reads, “No Photographing Allowed Here. Amateurs may Photograph from positions reserved for them. The Prior.”
References
Bennett, Terry. 2006. Old Japanese Photographs Collector’s Data Guide. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd.
Additional Posts in Visual Literacy of Buddhism Series
Throughout the 1890’s the Keystone View Company, founded in Pennsylvania by Benneville Lloyd Singley (1864-1938), produced a steady stream of stereoviews, but nothing in comparison to its prodigious output in the coming decades.[1] Around 1901, Keystone issued its first images of Japan, a run of 23 odd-lot stereoviews taken by an unknown photographer. Even though Singley’s name is imprinted on the mounts as copyright holder, he is not believed to be the photographer of the small series of Japan views. The publishing and distributing arm of Keyston in London, operating under the name of Fine Art Photographer’s Publishing Company, also issued the same Japan series on a buff-tan colored mounts through 1905. In response to the popularity of the boxed sets dedicated to Japan offered by competitors C.H. Graves, H.C. White, and the Underwoods, Keystone debuted its own “Tour of Japan” sets in 1906, comprised of the original 23 views supplemented by new images taken during the Russo-Japan War of 1904-5. Even though Keystone was relatively late to the Japan-view market, by 1921 it had acquired the negative stocks of all its main competitors, and it emerged as the sole prolific publisher of Japan-view box sets, mostly drawing upon its massive portfolio of images taken more than a decade earlier, between 1896 and 1906.
Title/Caption: “Daibutsu” – The Colossal Bronze Statue of Buddha, Kamakura, Japan.
Year: c. 1906
Photographer: unknown
Publisher: Keystone View Company, Benneville Lloyd Singley (1864-1938)(#61 out of 72/100?)
Medium: sliver gelatin print; mounted on curved slate-colored card
Dimensions: 7 in X 3.5 in
In the first Keystone release of the bronze colossus, the Daibutsu dominates the image. The top of its head is clipped by the frame, giving the impression that the statue it too large to behold.[2] Similar to the Strohmeyer image, our anonymous photographer places two well-groomed Japanese women in the foreground, cropped at the feet and waist, providing a sense of scale for the towering statue. Wearing lushly patterned garments and coiffured hair, the women appear more cosmopolitan than their rustic setting might suggest and their conspicuous presence hints at the hypersexual motifs flowing through Orientalist discourse. The formality of the composition is offset by two elements; the presence of a dog looking back at the viewer, and the positioning of a child on the far left, gazing towards the dog. These mundane elements clash with the distinctive, orchestrated dress of the women and overall diminish the sense that viewer is looking at a scene of pious activity. By virtue of its sheer size occupying most of the frame, the Daibutsu is given the most visual weight, and consequently the onlookers are relegated to secondary importance. Noting its “colossal” size, the caption gives literary form to the numerous visual cues asking the viewer to appreciate the aesthetics of the statue over its religious meaning to the worshipers.
Moreover, the description on the reverse immediately situates the Daibutsu among the greatest works of world art, claiming it is “the masterpiece of Japanese statuary,” and “one of the great art creations of all time.” This is immediately followed by a poetic verse taken from an Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, In Memoriam: “A statue solid-set, and moulded in colossal calm.” Strikingly in line with many contemporary descriptions of the Daibutsu (the original context for the lines, however, is overcoming loss and regret), this quote provides a lyrical force to the aesthetics of the statue. This then dovetails into a gloss description of Buddhism, where another quoted passage describes the beauty and majesty of the Daibutsu as a symbol for the profundity and power of the Buddhist religion as a whole (as was typical, the Daibutsu was mistaken for the historical founder of the tradition). Interestingly, the Tennyson quote and the astute characterization was not pulled from a scholarly reference, but Murray’s “red book” travel guide, authored by no less eminent authority than Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935).[3]
Keystone also issued a tinted glass magic lantern slide of one-half of the stereostopic image. The framing and black masking covers the woman, thus allowing the viewer to focus on the statue, sitting in a light blue tinted sky. At the same time, the sheer “colossal” size of the Daibutsu is also obscured by lack of a reference point. Along with stereoviews, magic lantern slides were a popular form of visual media at the turn of the century and both were packaged as valuable educational materials. First marketed to schools by Underwood & Underwood, Ketsone started their educational department in 1905 and is often considered part of the early visual instruction movement in America. Moreso than the stereograph, the lantern slide was made meaningful through performance, namely the lecture that would often accompany the visual images.[4]
Title/Caption: “Daibutsu” – The Colossal Bronze Statue of Budda [sic], Kamakura Japan.
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in American mass media. All items are part of my personal collection of American Buddhist ephemera.
[1] For more detailed information on the Keystone Company, see Bennett 2006.
[2] Ponting also regularlyclipped the head of the Daibutsu in framing his shot, though for the different effect of including Japanese worshippers in the foreground.
[3] Chamberlain had significantly enlarged the original edition by Ernest Satow, but only added the Tennyson quote in the 5th edition, published in 1898, see A Handbook for Travellers in Japan, 5th ed., pp. 96-7.
[4] For more on this interesting point see Dellmann, Sarah. “Getting to Know th eDutch: Magic Lantern Slides as Traces of Intermedial Performance Practices,” in Performing New Media: 1895-1915, eds. Kaveh Askari, Scott Curtis, Frank Gray, Louis Pelletier, Tami Williams, and Joshua Yumibe, New Barnet: John Libby Publishing, pp. 236-244.
References
Bennett, Terry. 2006. Old Japanese Photographs Collector’s Data Guide. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd.
By 1902, the 72-view “Strohmeyer Set” issued by Underwood & Underwood dominated the market of Japanese themed stereoview cards. Hawley C. White (b. 1847?), motivated to transform the stereograph from novelty item to educational tool, worked for three years developing his “White Travel Tours” and issued the first challenge to the Underwood monopoly. White’s “Perfec” Stereograph company would publish its first set of 72-views of Japan in 1902, replacing them with a brand-new series of 100-views in 1905. To procure images for this new 100-view series, White called upon the now-experienced stereo-photographer Herbert George Ponting (1870-1935), who was commissioned by the studios run by H.C. Graves and the Underwoods in the preceding years to produce their catalogues of Japanese stereoviews.[1] This would mark the third trip to Japan for Ponting, who would arrive around the fall of 1904 and photograph through to the summer of 1905. Ponting would return to Japan two more times working for White and would eventually collect the reminiscences of his travels in his 1910 work, In Lotus-Land Japan, profusely illustrated by his own photography.
Title/Caption: The Sacred Daibutsu, Colossal Bronze Image of Buddha, Kamakura, Japan
Year: 1905
Photography: Herbert George Ponting (1870-1935)
Publisher: The “Perfec” Stereograph; Hawley C. White (B. 1847?) (#23 out of 100)
Medium: sliver gelatin print; mounted on olive-colored card
Dimensions: 7 in X 3.5 in
This commissioned image on olive-colored mount shows the maturation of Ponting’s work over the years. He positions his camera in almost the exact same spot as for his Underwood & Underwood image a year prior, off-center to the left, almost at three-quarters view. The late-day sun hangs low in the sky, illuminating the near side of the Daibutsu’s face. These compositional conventions are also present in the work of Enami Nobukuni 江南信國 (1859-1929), a famed Yokohama photographer and stereographer with whose work Ponting was familiar.[2] Moreover, Ponting seems to have been influenced by Enami’s positioning of people, thinning out the crowd of people present in his Underwood funded excursion to Kamakura. Now, three Japanese men are placed at different depths, each appearing to be in mid-stride as they walk towards the Daibutsu. This creates an effect of motion as the viewer’s eyes are drawn into the mighty bronze statue. By placing these onlookers at different depths, the stereographic effect would also have greater impact, creating a better sense of three-dimensionality and dynamism. While the gaze of the visitors is towards the Daibutsu, the object of reverence, their attitude is more casual. This is in contrast to Ponting’s earliest attempts at creating the mise-en-scène where onlookers were directed to kneel, a transparent attempt to signal piety to the viewer. Even though the men here are not Western tourists, one cannot help think that they may be partaking in an afternoon stroll to see the local attractions. The caption presents a similar ambiguity. Although it qualifies the Daibutus as “sacred,” it does not refer to the nature of the visitors; are they worshippers or local sight-seers? Furthermore, by describing the Daibitsu as a “colossal bronze image,” it underscores its aesthetic dimensions and fine craftsmanship admired by Western sightseers.
The reverse of the card is imprinted with the caption in six different languages (omitting the word “sacred” in all of them, however) and a brief description of the locale. It is written in the style of a guidebook or travelogue, providing distances, historical dates, and some descriptive vocabulary. There is only the briefest passing mention on Buddhist belief, really just noting the “brooding calm” of the Buddha “musing upon Nirvana,” before continuing to describe the dimensions and material composition of the statue. It closes by advising the reader to consult with two books for more information about Japan, namely Edith Singleton’s Japan as Seen and Described by Famous Writers, published in 1905, and Anne C. Hartshorne’s Japan and Her People, published in 1902. Both are dominated by travel writing, and as such only add to the sense that viewing stereocards was presented as a form of virtual travel.
Notes
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in America. All items (except otherwise noted) are part of my personal collection of Buddhist-themed ephemera.
[1] For more detailed information on Ponting and White, see Bennett 2006.
[2] Ponting’s stereoviews were supplemented by Enami’s own work in both the sets commissioned by C.H. Graves and Underwood & Underwood.
References
Bennett, Terry. 2006. Old Japanese Photographs Collector’s Data Guide. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd.
Additional Posts in Visual Literacy of Buddhism Series
Carlton Harlow Graves (d. 1943?) started the Universal Photo Art Company in the early 1880’s and eventually offered pirated stereoscopic views of Japan in the late 1890s. Looking to enter into the market dominated by Underwood & Underwood’s “Strohmeyer Set,” Graves hired an inexperienced stereo-photographer, Herbert George Ponting (1870-1935), to expand and establish his company’s Japan portfolio.[1] Having only turned a professional photographer a year before, Ponting arrived in Japan around the fall of 1901 and photographed the scenery of Japan into early 1902. This was the first of at least five extended stays over the next five years for Ponting who would go on to work for three different seteroview publishers in his short career. Graves decided to use Ponting’s images as the base for a massive 200-view series on Japan, unprecedented in size given that only 72-view sets of Japan were issued at the time. It would be several years before other publishers would offer anything of a similar scope. This was the first and only time Ponting worked for Graves, but the portfolio of Japanese images Ponting would build over the next few years would increase his reputation significantly, ultimately allowing him to be invited as the official photographer for the ill-fated British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-13. On the eve of leaving for the expedition in 1910, Ponting published his reminiscences of his stays in Japan as In Lotus-Land Japan, profusely illustrated by his own photography.
Title/Caption: Worshipping at the Shrine of the Great Daibutsu, the Largest Idol in the East. Kamakura, Japan
Year: 1902
Photography: Herbert George Ponting (1870-1935)
Publisher: Universal Photo Art Company, Carlton Harlow Graves (d. 1943?)(#70 out of 200)
Medium: sliver gelatin print; mounted on curved slate-colored card
Dimensions: 7 in X 3.5 in
Ponting’s image of the Daibutsu is uncommon in several regards. It gives significant visual weight to the row of four Japanese men kneeling, eyes downcast, in apparent reverence to the Buddhist image. This kneeling posture is almost unique among the dozens of stereo-photographs of this temple scene. Indeed, the only other image with kneeling supplicants I have encountered I suspect to also be under Ponting’s artistic direction. The orchestration of such a scene should not be too surprising. The visual cue of kneeling would immediately signal to a Western audience a pious act of religiosity. The caption on the card also makes it apparent that the act of worshipping is to be highlighted, as are the non-aesthetic religious dimensions of the statue, which is clearly labeled an “idol.”
The lowered heads of the men mirror that of the Daibutsu, who in turn softly gazes down at them, creating an atmosphere of solemnity, possibly even penitence. The garments worn by the men create a strong contrast and the bold design keeps bringing the viewer’s eye back to their reverent posturing. The foreign-looking crests on their backs remind the viewer that they are not Western tourists. The clothing is traditional festival wear (happi 法被), and it remains unclear if Ponting was entirely fortunate to be photographing on the day of a festival, or if he hired the men to don the festive, bold attire; though I suspect the latter. In other regards, the images is fairly standard, taken from almost the same frontal position as Strohmeyer’s version, but cropped more tightly around the Daibutsu, who in turn becomes more centered. By having the men kneeling, an illusion is created whereby the perfectly centered Daibutsu appears larger, almost as if determining the fate of the men.
Notes
*This is part of a series of posts devoted to exploring the development of a visual literacy for Buddhist imagery in America. All items (except otherwise noted) are part of my personal collection of Buddhist-themed ephemera.
[1] For more detailed information on Ponting and Graves, see Bennett 2006.
References
Bennett, Terry. 2006. Old Japanese Photographs Collector’s Data Guide. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd.
Additional Posts in Visual Literacy of Buddhism Series
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