Item a copy of Plate XXII in "The Great Earthquake of Japan, 1891" by John Milne and W.K. Burton. The image shows Nagara Railway Bridge, twisted and broken after 1891 earthquake. A man stands in the middle of the track.
Item is a photograph of a moonlight scene. Two people and a tree appear. Reads, "Moon light scene at Maiko Beach." Possibly by photographer Kozaburo Tamamura
Item is a photograph of a large ornate building with high stone foundation. Possibly Castle of Nagoya. Roofs of other buildings appear in foreground. Possibly by photographer Kozaburo Tamamura
Collection consists of five albums of photos from Meiji period Japan including a few photos from Scotland, one album of photos from China, and two lacquer-framed photographs. It consists mostly of albumen hand-coloured Japanese photographs. These Japanese photographs belong to the genre known as souvenir photography or Yokohama photography. The subject of these photographs in this collection echoed those found in the Japanese ukiyo-e prints of the so-called “floating-world” of the late Edo Period, from around 1780 until the 1860s. The delicate hand colouring of the albumen silver prints is one of the characteristics of photographs of Japan from this period.
There were mainly two media to disseminate souvenir photos from Yokohama during Meiji period (1868 –1912): photo prints and lantern slides (see the James Davidson collection), but other materials were also used. These hand tinted photo prints were usually bound in albums with lacquer covers lavishly decorated in makie (蒔絵), a technique of applying adhesive metal such as gold and silver or colour powder in soft lacquer to create designs.
Item is a photograph showing people dressed up as warriors for a parade celebrating the proclamation of the Meiji Constitution in 1889 in front of building in Tokyo. A label on the glass slide reads, "The Japanese Army of 100 Years Ago”, but this is not the accurate description of the scene.