Japan 1900 - 1950

Welcome to my site which is dedicated to early 20th century Japan. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868 Japanese society changed drastically. From a feudal state to a modern industrialized nation in decades. Despite all this rural Japan changed little in the beginning of the 20th century.

People still wore kimono and geta and topped off with the occasional Western bowler hat, etc. The majority still lived in traditional wooden houses on tatami floors.

The first half of the 20th century saw major events happening in Japan.

• the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-1905
• the great 'Kanto' earthquake in 1923
• the colonization of large parts of South East Asia such as Taiwan, Korea and part of China
• the rise of the military to power in the 1930's and the creation of the 'great eastern co-prosperity sphere'
• the war in the Pacific and the ultimate defeat, the atomic bomb

Over the years I collected a number of postcards from Japan ranging from 1900 to 1950 - part of this collection is presented here.

Ok, just skip the gloomy talk and look at the cards to get the
feeling of how it once was...or better yet - just read a book on this !!

click on thumbnails to see fullsize samples

best viewed at 800 x 600
16 K colors / M.I.E.5.5 & up

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Last updated 07/21/2003

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