What's this? Book review of Bakumatsu and Meiji Era vintage photos of women.

Impressions: This is a marvelous compilation and introduction to 19th-century and early 20th-century photographs of Japanese women. Although nothing is in English, you can still enjoy the many old and precious photographs of women from various segments of society in those days.

First there is a nice pictorial of full-page, color photos of women from yesteryear. Then there are four chapters. Chapter 1 shows the earliest photos taken by foreign photographers (such as Felice Beato and Stillfried) who visited or settled in Japan and by the first crop of Japanese photographers (like UENO Hikoma and SHIMOOKA Renjo) who learned from the foreigners.

Chapter 2, whose title can be translated as "Illustrated Catalog of Meiji Era Beauties," is the bulk of the book. It starts with photos of women in Japan's highest social class (the Imperial family). Then it proceeds to women from former daimyo (feudal lord) families and prominent political and business circles. Toward the end of the chapter are photos of unknown women and geisha. There is also a short section of semi-nude photos. All the photos are captioned.

Chapter 3 shows the popular hairstyles and fashions of the day. And Chapter 4 is only several pages with mostly text explaining the historical background of the photographs.

It's obvious that a lot of time and effort was spent to put this book together. They had to secure the cooperation and permission of museums and collectors to reproduce the photographs. A number of prominent experts on Japanese vintage photography (such as Takio Saito of the Yokohama Archives of History and Keisho Ishiguro) also wrote the text.

Since this book was written for the layman, it is easy to read for most Japanese people. If you are a vintage photograph collector or dealer, it is likely that you will recognize some of the photos in this book. Although it will not help you appraise your vintage Japanese photos, this book will help you find out the background of the photographs you may have. (Reviewed by Philbert Ono)

800-4

What's this? Book review of 's photo book.

Impressions: The first half of this magazine book covers the prominent women of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Alongside the portraits, much is written about the women from prominent samurai clans such as the Tokugawa and Matsudaira, women in the Imperial family, high-society women, and prominent women who made history in the Meiji Era.

The second half of the book has photos of geisha from OGAWA Kazumasa's famous photo book of 100 geisha portraits. There are also photos from Japan's first photo beauty contest. It was sponsored by 19 Japanese newspapers in 1907-8 and beckoned women all over Japan to enter and send in their portraits. The first prize was a diamond ring. Photos of some of the contest winners are in the book.

One good thing about this book is that it identifies many of the women in the photographs. It has also a heavy emphasis on history. (Reviewed by Philbert Ono)

500-3