Figure 1.--This Japanese cabinet card portrait of a boys school class is dated on its back as having been taken in Taisho 12 (1923). There is more writing which we are unable to read. We think it gives the names of the boys. The studio was H. Koike in Kanazawa. Kanazawa is a city sitting on the Sea of Japan, bordered by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. It wasone of the few Japanese cities of any size not to be bombed during World War II. The boys, however, would have mostly been consripted for the war in China and the Pacific War. The image is 6 1/4" (158mm) X 4 7/16" (113mm). The matting is 9 3/4" (247mm) X 7 1/4" (183mm).

Albumen prints appeared in Japan at about the same time they did in the West, probably a fewyears later (1860s). They were mostly done as CDVs and cabinet cards. We are not yet sure just how common CDVs and cabinet cards were in Japan. We have been able to find relatively few 19th century CDVs and cabinet cards. We do not think that photography in general was as common as in Euripe and certainly les common than in America. Here economics must be a central issue. Japan while industrializing and more prosperous than the rest of Asia, was not as prosperous as America and Europe. Thus fewer people could afford photographic portraits. As to formats Our initial assessment is that CDVswere not as common as in Europe, but this is just an initial assessment. We are not yet sure if our search reflects an accurate reflection of actual prevalence, but as HBC expands in research effort, we are increasingly coming to this conclusion. We note more CDVs and cabinet cards than Ambrotype, but not nearly as many as in the West. We suspect that while CDVs and cabinet cards were less exoensive than Ambros, they were still too expenive for most Japanese workers as the country was just beginning to industrialize and much of the population was still peasant farmers who earned very little. The styles of the cabinet card mounts were similar to those we see in America and Europe. Many of these prints we have found are portraits of affluent families and by the 20th century school portraits. CDVs and caninet cards were made over several decades. Asin America and Europe, there was a definite shift in the styles of mounts. This shift seems to have occurred about the turn-of-the 20th century, although the exact time line needs to be confirmed. We note cabinet cards being made at least into the early-1930s, by which time the format had been discontinued in the west. The later Japanese cabinet cards had silver nitrate rather than albumen prints.

Traditional Mounts

Albumen prints appeared in Japan at about the same time they did in the West (1860s0, probably a few years later. They were mostly done as CDVs and cabinet cards. We are not yet sure just how common CDVs and cabinet cards were in Japan. We have been able to find relatively few 19th century CDVs and cabinet cards. We do not think that photography in general was as common as in Euripe and certainly less common than in America. Here economics must be a central issue. Japan while industrializing and more prosperous than the rest of Asia, was not nearly as prosperous as America and Europe. Thus fewer people could afford photographic portraits. As to formats Our initial assessment is that CDVs were not as common as in Europe. We have found more cbinet cards. This is, however, just an initial assessment. We are not yet sure if our archive is an accurate reflection of actual prevalence, but as HBC expands in research effort, we are increasingly coming to this conclusion. We note more alnumen cards than Ambrotype, but not nearly as many as in the West. We suspect that while CDVs and cabinet cards were less expensive than Ambros, they were still too expenive for most Japanese workers in the 19th century because the country was just beginning to industrialize and much of the population was still peasant farmers who earned very little. The styles of the cabinet card mounts were similar to those we see in America and Europe. The time-lne may be slightly differnt. Many of these prints we have found are portraits of affluent families and by the 20th century school portraits. CDVs and cabinet cards were made over several decades. Interstingly, much of the the script on the cards is in English and not just Japanese.

New Style Mounts

As in America and Europe, there was a definite shift in the styles of mounts. This shift seems to have occurred about the turn-of-the 20th century, although the exact time line needs to be confirmed. We seemany of the same varied mount styles and sizes that we note in Europe and America along with the same colors. Japan's steady progress at industrialization meant that more and more people coukd afford to have studio portaits taken. And with the advances in photography we see more and more portraits being takrn ourside of the studios for the first time. The popularity of cabinet cards seems to have continued a little longer in Japan than it did in the West. We note cabinet cards being made at least into the early-1930s, by which time the format had been discontinued in the west. The later Japanese cabinet cards had silver nitrate rather than albumen prints. Along with the new style mount we also see more different photographic formats and not just albumen CDVs and cabinet cards like we see in the late-19th century.

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Created: 4:01 AM 8/25/2008
Last updated: 4:33 AM 3/22/2015