Read this article on the site | Comment on this article “If we didn’t all smoke a pipe, if it were not for tobacco, we would never get along together.” Those were the words of Japanese potter, ceramicist, and former Living National Treasure Sakaida Kakiemon XIV
A Japanese farmer holds a kiseru (煙管). The tiny pipe offered only two to three puffs, yet it reigned for over three centuries.
A woman paints the face of a boy who lost in the card game of karuta. Photographer Teijiro Takagi shot this scene in Kobe in 1906 for a photo book about…
A rare early photograph of Dejima, the fan-shaped artificial island in Nagasaki. Dejima played a critical—but now largely forgotten—role in the opening…
A studio photo of maiko posing in front of the portable street stand of a singing insect vendor. Vendors sold a variety of insects changing with each…
A Japanese bride arrives at the groom’s house. Photographer Teijiro Takagi published this scene in 1905 (Meiji 38) in a photo book about Japanese…
A Japanese family poses stoically to “celebrate” a male family member being sent off to war during the late 1930s, or early 1940s. The banners bear his…
The game that these two young women are playing was once the most popular game in Japan, known by all. Now few people have even heard of its name.
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Old Photos of Japan