Photographs of Japanese
Customs and Manners
50 Hand Tinted Collotype Plates
K. Ogawa, 1898

 
Ogawa, K. (Kazumasa)
Photographs of Japanese Customs and Manners by K. Ogawa, Photographer, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo, K. Ogawa, Sole Agents, Kelly and Walsh, Limited, Yokohama, Hongkong, Shanghai & Singapore, Meiji 31 (1898), large 4to (10 1/2 x 14 in - 26.5 x 35 cm), decorated cloth over cardboard covers, edges beveled, gilt-speckled inside covers and adjacent free pages, two silk ties, spine covered, title page, preface and 50 hand tinted collotype plates on thin paper stock, colophon (not all books), no tissue guards. Each plate contains a single image and has a descriptive caption and paragraph below that describing the image.

It appears the book was issued with a flower pattern decorated wrap-around case with on the top panel.

I have examined two slightly different versions of this book. They are basically the same. However, I note the following differences.

• With and without colophon. One book had a colophon at the rear (shown below). The colophon is dated Meiji 31 (1898). The other book did not have a colophon.
• Same plates but one plate in different position. The two books both had the same exact plates. This includes the duplication of the Tentosai Dancing plate (see below). However, one plate (Let Me See How it Reads) is in different positions.

Wenckstern notes this book in Volume II (1894-1906) in these terms:

Manners, Japanese, and customs, 50 plates with short description in English, no date (yen 12.—). (Wenckstern, Volume II, page 10).

The book recorded on this page has 50 plates but only 49 different images. The 10th and 14th plates (The Tentosai Dancing) are identical. Since this is the only book I have examined, I do not know if this is an isolated error or if all books have the repeating plate. In the few instances I have seen the book reported it is described with 50 plates or 52 leaves, just as this book.

Many of the images (over half) in this book were previously published in the following K. Ogawa publications:

• Japanese Costume Before the Restoration (10 plates)
• Military Costumes in Old Japan (2 plates)
• Costumes and Customs in Japan, Vol. II (6 plates)
• Japanese Life (1 plate)
• Sights and Scenes on the Tokaido (1 plate)
• Illustrations of Japanese Life - #3 (1 plate)
• Illustrations of Japanese Life - #4 (2 plates)
• Japan Described and Illustrated F. Brinkley books with some K. Ogawa photographs (5 plates)

While over half of the images in this book were previously published by Ogawa, except for the three published in Illustrations of Japanese Life, they were in black and white.

For information on Kazumasa Ogawa and his books, click here.

 
Title Page

 
Preface

A Musume



A Quiet Nook



A Maiden
Also found in Costumes and Customs in Japan, Vol. II



How Shall I Send It?



Floral Arrangement



The Geisha



Let Me See How it Reads  (placement varies in books examined)
Also found in Costumes and Customs in Japan, Vol. II



A Fair Visitor



A Hunting Costume of the Kamakura Period
Also found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



The Tentosai Dancing (plate repeated below) 
Also found in Illustrations of Japanese Life - #4



An Ancient Court Costume 
Also found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



A Japanese Girl



An Ancient Female Dancer
Also found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



The Tentosai Dancing (repeat of this plate)



An Afternoon Tea



The Kamioki
Also found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



Guilty Conscience



A Nobleman of the Fujiwara Period 
Also found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



A Comic Dance



A Young Lady in Her Best



The Odori



A Fair Pedestrian on a Snowy Day
Also found in Costumes and Customs in Japan, Vol. II



An Ancient Court Lady 
Also found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



A Feudal Lord
Also Found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



Does My Hair Look Right?
Also found in Japanese Life
 &


A Damsel
Also found in Japan Described and Illustrated (Volume IV)



A Koyokwan Dance
Also found in Costumes and Customs in Japan, Vol. II



A General of the Fujiwara Period 
Also found in Military Costumes in Old Japan



Two Ladies in Full Dress
Also found in Illustrations of Japanese Life - #3



A Girl Picking Flowers



Two Court Ladies of the Tokugawa Period 
Also found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



A Toy Shop



A Fruit Dealer
Also found in Japan Described and Illustrated (Volume IV)



Second Hand Furniture Stores
Also found in Japan Described and Illustrated (Volume VIII, Deluxe Edition)



An Old Dame



A Dinner Party



The Dolls' Festival



A Dancing
Also found in Sights and Scenes on the Tokaido



The Head as a Means of Conveyance



Jinrikisha



A Play
Also found in Japan Described and Illustrated (Volume X)



An Old-Time Samurai
Also ound in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



Japanese Peasants



A Japanese Belle
Also found in Costumes and Customs in Japan, Vol. II



The Actor



Wrestling Matches 
Also found in Japan Described and Illustrated (Volume V)



Meditation



A Group of Fisherwomen
Also found in Costumes and Customs in Japan, Vol. II &
Also found in Illustrations of Japanese Life - #4



A Buddhist Priest
Also found in Japanese Costume Before the Restoration



A Warrior 
Also found in Military Costumes in Old Japan

 
Close-up of Collotype Plate

 
Listing of Plates

1. A Musume
2. A Quiet Nook
3. A Maiden
4. How Shall I Send It?
5. Floral Arrangement
6. The Geisha
7. Let Me See How it Reads *
8. A Fair Visitor
9. A Hunting Costume of the Kamakura Period
10. The Tentosai Dancing
11. An Ancient Court Costume
12. A Japanese Girl
13. An Ancient Female Dancer
14. The Tentosai Dancing (repeat of this plate, same as #10)
15. An Afternoon Tea
16. The Kamioki -- Japanese Costume Before the Restoration
17. Guilty Conscience
18. A Nobleman of the Fujiwara Period
19. A Comic Dance
20. A Young Lady in Her Best
21. The Odori
22. A Fair Pedestrian on a Snowy Day
23. An Ancient Court Lady -- Japanese Costume Before the Restoration
24. A Feudal Lord -- Japanese Costume Before the Restoration
25. Does My Hair Look Right?
26. A Damsel
27. A Koyokwan Dance
28. A General of the Fujiwara Period
29. Two Ladies in Full Dress
30. A Girl Picking Flowers
31. Two Court Ladies of the Tokugawa Period
32. A Toy Shop
33. A Fruit Dealer
34. Second Hand Furniture Stores
35. An Old Dame
36. A Dinner Party
37. The Dolls' Festival
38. A Dancing
39. The Head as a Means of Conveyance
40. Jinrikisha
41. A Play
42. An Old-Time Samurai
43. Japanese Peasants
44. A Japanese Belle
45. The Actor
46. Wrestling Matches
47. Meditation
48. A Group of Fisherwomen
49. A Buddhist Priest
50. A Warrior

* In one book this was positioned as the second plate.