From the collections: Kusakabe Kimbei – Pictures of Japan in the late 19th century

From 1859 onwards, Yokohama is not only a hub for international trade and travellers from abroad. The city also becomes the centre of Japanese photography. International trade, tourism and photo studios would have been unthinkable in Japan only a few years earlier. Because for more than 200 years, the Japanese Empire had almost completely shielded itself from the outside world.

Delimitation against colonial influence: sakoku

In the 1630s, the Japanese government issued several edicts, which were initially directed primarily against Portuguese and Spanish merchants. In South and Southeast Asia, as well as on the east and west coasts of Africa, the European trade bases pave the way for violent colonisation. The Japanese edicts, on the other hand, prohibit Iberian seafarers from entering Japan. 
Then Catholic missionaries were also to be forbidden entry. Only a few years later, the government generally forbids all foreigners from entering the country and all Japanese from leaving the country. Violation could result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty. The Italian Jesuit Giovanni Battista Sidotti, for example, succeeded in entering Japan in 1708, but spent the rest of his life under strict house arrest.

Although trade with foreign countries is severely restricted, it is never stopped altogether. The Dutch East India Company continues to operate a branch on the island of Dejima in the port of Nagasaki. The Netherlands brings books, medicines and art to Japan, while Japanese arts and crafts, for example, are exported to Europe in return.

This foreign policy, known in Japan as sakoku ("country closure") or kaikin ("maritime closure"), came to an end in 1854. This year, with the Treaty of Kanagawa, the American commodore Matthew Perry forces the opening of Japanese ports for the supply of American ships. Four years later, the Harris Treaty between Japan and the United States established the opening of some Japanese ports, including Yokohama, to American merchant ships. Trade agreements with England, Russia and France ultimately seal Japan's opening to the West.

Early photography in Japan

Since the late 1850s, merchants and travellers from Europe have been pouring into Japan via the open borders. They bring their culture, clothing as well as photography into the country. The young medium is developing into a lucrative branch of trade for foreigners. Through its closure, Japan and its landscapes, people and culture abroad are considered a mystery. What was formerly forbidden and seemed unattainable suddenly became visible in the 1860s and seems to be within reach through the new photographic medium.

Photo studios thrive in the international climate of port cities such as Yokohama. The Italian-English photographer Felice Beato also works in a studio there. He makes hand colouration the hallmark of Japanese photography at the time. Hand-coloured photos depicting Japanese landscapes and culture become an international box office hit. Beato and other European photographers make use of the Japanese ukiyo-e industry and its numerous, well-trained artisans. Ukiyo-e primarily refers to colour woodblock prints, but also to paintings and drawings that capture the way of life in Edo Japan (1603-1868).

The Japanese woodblock prints are not drawn in perspective but do have a precise and dynamic colour scheme. Japanese artists contribute this knowledge to the colouration of photographs. Their skillful use of watercolours lends the photographs an authenticity that Western photographs usually lack. In Europe and the USA, hand-coloured photos are more akin to drawings or watercolours. Garments or faces often appear static or painted. In Japanese photographs, on the other hand, they give the appearance of vibrancy.

The photo studio K. Kimbei

Kusakabe Kimbei also begins his career as a colourist with European photographers. He initially works in the studios of Felice Beato and the Austrian Raimund Raimund Stillfried von Rathenitz.. In 1880 he opened his own photography studio and became one of the most successful Japanese photographers of the late 19th century. He runs the studio under his first name: "K. Kimbei". The reason for this may be that foreign travellers were able to memorize his first name more easily. The photographs are partly taken in Kusakabe Kimbei's studio in Yokohama, where he stages individual scenes against a painted background. However, most of his photographs show city views, landscapes and popular destinations.

In 1889, George Eastman brings the Kodak Nr 1 on the market. The box camera is handy, easy to use and is now considered one of the first point-and-shoot cameras for amateur photographers. With the beginning of the new century, more and more travellers are turning to the camera themselves instead of purchasing elaborately produced and expensive souvenir photographs. The rising postcard industry as well as inexpensively produced picture books represent another competition for Japanese photo studios. Their photographs are now less valuable, but they continue to be complex and thus expensive to produce.

Many photo studios therefore have to close in the first decade of the 20th century. Kusakabe Kimbei restructures his business and offers amateur photographers both photo supplies for sale and his darkroom for rent. In addition to his business in Yokohama, he also opens a branch in Tokyo. He runs the photo studios until his retirement in 1914. Kusakabe Kimbei dies in 1932 at the age of almost 90. His lifetime coincides with numerous upheavals in Japanese society. He witnessed the opening up of Japan to the West, the abolition of the state system, the introduction of a constitution, but also the effects of Japanese imperialism and the strengthening of nationalist forces.