What surprised me the most is the picture of the Buddhist Monks. I've always associated them with those orange robes, but the patchwork of bright colours almost makes me think of a kids show host. Is this something that has evolved over time, or is it like a rank thing? Apologies for my ignorance
Photographs of 19th Century Japan
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Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#72What did we do to our world.
These photos are, ah, not representative (most historical artefacts of this type aren’t; part of why people tend to have an impression of Victorian London as basically hell on earth is that, unusually, photos _were_ taken of the nasty bits, but really it was no worse than anywhere else at the time).
You’d certainly prefer to live in Japan in 2025 than in 1860.
Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#73Having visited last year, the scenery around Toshogu Shrine in Nikko isn't all that different, if you manage to visit like we did first thing in the morning as soon as they open and before the tour buses rock up. (The shrine is surrounded by acres of sacred forest where construction is prohibited.) The cities like Kobe and Nagasaki, on the other hand, are completely unrecognizable.
> The cities like Kobe and Nagasaki, on the other hand, are completely unrecognizable. getting utterly destroyed by fire bombing (or atomic bombs in the case of Nagasaki) does that to cities.
Kyoto was never bombed, but outside a very few carefully curated touristy bits, it's still an ugly AF concrete jungle that looks nothing like these pictures.
Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#74What surprised me the most is the picture of the Buddhist Monks. I've always associated them with those orange robes, but the patchwork of bright colours almost makes me think of a kids show host. Is this something that has evolved over time, or is it like a rank thing? Apologies for my ignorance
These photos look colorized. Likely not the original colors of those robes.
Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#75[flagged]
You’re really underplaying how awful the life was for an average person in before-times. Sure, pretty buildings, different cultures, and etc. were more prominent. But also an average person would never be able to enjoy those in their lifetimes.
Whether it's good or bad I feel like what you mention is partially besides the point no?
As in prosperity might look different without the things influencing this cultural mixture but surely the argument would not be that we'd be living in the 1800's
Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#76[flagged]
Cultures evolve, borrow, remix - that's always been true, even long before globalization. People still find ways to hold onto local traditions, stories, food, language - sometimes because the outside world feels so loud.
It happened at a tiny fraction of the speed it happens at now tbh. I'd say now it far surpasses the rate at which they differentiate to varying extent.
Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#77Quite a few of those still exist! * Wysteria Vine. It is not written, but I am pretty sure it's Kameido Shrine. You need to come at the right time to see flowers like that though. * Nikko All pictures that show shrine and pagoda * Osaka Castle * Daibutsu, at Kamakura * Jinrikishia Now it's for tourists, but you can ride in Asakusa. * View Ojigoku on Great Boiling Springs, Hakone. * Wrestlers. Sumo still exists and lo…
Unfortunately those pretty houses come at a cost. Traditional materials and techniques usually come at a price. Lots of wood and joinery work needs to be done, much of it by hand. They are also not well insulated so hard to keep warm in winter. They're so pretty though!. You can still see a few of these houses and their traditional gardens in some of the wealthy, old-money smelling parts of Kyoto.
My next door neighbour lives in one of those thatched roof houses. I once visited in mid May, it was sweltering hot outside so I was in Tshirts and shorts. Inside, it was freezing! They had the kotatsu and a kerosene stove on.
Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#78What surprised me the most is the picture of the Buddhist Monks. I've always associated them with those orange robes, but the patchwork of bright colours almost makes me think of a kids show host. Is this something that has evolved over time, or is it like a rank thing? Apologies for my ignorance
Patchwork robes and non-orange clothes are common in Japanese Buddhism. The styles and colors vary significantly depending on the sect and one’s rank.[1]
[1] https://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/dglib/contents/learn/edc28/shiru/...
Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#79What surprised me the most is the picture of the Buddhist Monks. I've always associated them with those orange robes, but the patchwork of bright colours almost makes me think of a kids show host. Is this something that has evolved over time, or is it like a rank thing? Apologies for my ignorance
These photos look colorized. Likely not the original colors of those robes.
As stated in TFA, the pictures were originally black and white and were colourised at the time. I cant find a record of who colourised them or when, but it sems to me like they were colourised shortly after by the original photographer, and as such the colours would be reasonably accurate. You can see lightness and texture changes that would imply to me that there were changes in the material at the time of the picture being taken, even if it was colourised incorrectly
Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan
#80The color detail of these pictures is so detailed and beautiful. Were they really hand colored? The color absolutely looks like something that would be computer generated. If they were indeed hand colored (when?), that would be an absolutely massive amount of painstaking work.