Old Photos of Japan

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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…
Kjeld Duits
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.
Kjeld Duits
A small geta and zori shop. The shopkeeper is working on a geta while a customer is looking on. Shops like these were once everywhere in Japan.
Kjeld Duits
The rickshaw’s story is one of promise, romance, and pain. Did you know that the rickshaw contributed to Japan driving on the left side of the road?
Kjeld Duits
Japan’s bathing culture is considered quintessentially Japanese. No guide book of Japan is complete without instructions on how to take a bath. A short…
Kjeld Duits
I almost sold this print because it seemed insignificant. Thankfully, a book by Dutch historian Herman J. Moeshart helped me realize it is an extremely…
Kjeld Duits
On 30 March 2007, exactly 15 years ago today, I posted the very first article on Old Photos of Japan.
Kjeld Duits
Female students doing calisthenics in 1936 (Showa 11). Calisthenics became astonishingly popular in Japan after the radio program Rajio Taisō (ラジオ体操…
Kjeld Duits
This unassuming building at Tokyo’s Atagoyama is considered the birthplace of Japanese broadcasting, as well as Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK. Regular…
Kjeld Duits
If you have been to Kobe, you have almost certainly walked down the long covered shopping arcade of Motomachi, Kobe’s most popular shopping street. This…
Kjeld Duits
On November 26, 1866, a horrifying fire devastated Yokohama. The fire has been largely forgotten, but it gave birth to the urban plan that still defines…
Kjeld Duits
Laborers are loading bales of rice onto river barges. Photographer Teijiro Takagi published this scene in 1907 (Meiji 40) in a photo book about rice…
Kjeld Duits
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