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Photographs of 19th Century Japan

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Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan

#61

Post by ekianjo »

canpan wrote: post #27

Quite 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…

Osaka Castle is a reconstruction. It's an empty shell, almost like a movie decor at this stage. If you want to see a real castle, there's the Himeji castle not too far from there.

Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan

#63

Post by ekianjo »

DeathArrow wrote: post #46

>I’m once again struck by the fact that none of the people in these images are still with us. If any of them somehow returned to the land of the living, I’m not sure they’d recognise the Japan of today. On the other hand, if someone sees one of this pictures without any explanation, he will recognize it's made in Japan. I think Japan changed, but not so much.

> I think Japan changed, but not so much.

I have read a book written in the early 20th century by an American at that time who had spent most of his life in Japan and who described what life was life was in Japan at the time. If you remove the technological change, culturally and traditionally, Japan is pretty much the same country as several generations back, and I was struck by that.

Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan

#64

Post by ekianjo »

decimalenough wrote: post #22

Having 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.

Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan

#65

Post by canpan »

ekianjo wrote: post #61
canpan wrote: post #27

Quite 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…

Osaka Castle is a reconstruction. It's an empty shell, almost like a movie decor at this stage. If you want to see a real castle, there's the Himeji castle not too far from there.

You are absolutely right. The inside of Osaka castle is now concrete or something. But the outside and castle grounds still look like the article picture. Himeji castle is a great recommendation.

Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan

#66

Post by merothwell »

Aloisius wrote: post #42
hermitcrab wrote: post #7

What is the story of the 'letter carrier'?

It's a staged photograph by Kimbei Kusakabe (or Baron Raimund von Stillfried, they sold each other's works a lot and Kusakabe worked for Stillfried at one point) of hikyaku (express couriers) created to sate Western desire for souvenirs of "real" Japan. They had long since disappeared by the time the photographs were taken, replaced with uniformed men on bicycles. In the past though, they ran express mail in relays w…

Fascinating

Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan

#67

Post by JPLeRouzic »

qiqitori wrote: post #31
helaoban wrote: post #3

What did we do to our world.

There was nothing to do back then. And if there was, it was crazy and/or reserved for the feudal lords. The primary income of the state was through alcohol taxes. Countries thought it was okay to invade other countries just to make themselves bigger/stronger countries. Nationalism, racism, sexism were the norm. Most people can't read/write. Information is scant and passed on by word of mouth.

Thanks for the insight, but how it is different from today?

- Countries now thought it IS okay to invade other countries just to make themselves bigger/stronger countries: There are currently many examples in the news.

- Nationalism, racism, sexism are the norm: Nationalism is obviously on the rise. Racism never disappeared, even being tattooed is seen as an excuse to deport people.

https://azmirror.com/2025/04/08/ice-director-envisions-amazo...

- Women and men are much more sexualized today than in my youth, despite the talk of feminism and #metoo.

- Most people can't read/write (see Piza results). Only 10% of people can understand a simple statistics.

- Information is scant (see social networks and disinformation)

For context, about my post, I am from France, and what I wrote is not specific to any country but seems to me to apply to all.

Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan

#68

Post by [deleted] »

woolion wrote: post #49
autoexec wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This reminds me that we are all losing our unique and diverse cultures and humanity through the incessant drive of globalist world domination to force everyone to do and be the same We're actually creating new unique and diverse cultures by adopting and remixing parts of the various cultures we encounter. Just looking at photos from other cultures (as you have done today) is a part of that process. This is a good t…

Your comments reminds me one time I discussed with a university professor about how evil the eradication of the biosphere diversity was (wildlife but also unique breeds with century-long histories), and he replied that we'd have a "less bloated, more efficient biosphere".

[deleted]

Re: Photographs of 19th Century Japan

#70

Post by gibagger »

canpan wrote: post #27

Quite 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.

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