This early stage of photography juxtaposed the
country’s new changes with their ancient sacral
heritage. Shimazu’s portrait was enshrined with
him upon his elevation from a mere mortal to the
venerated status of kami. Emperor Meiji was
regarded as a living god, and it was forbidden to
sell or buy copies of his portrait.
Until 1865, many Japanese people believed that
they could get sick or even die if they were photographed, and so most Japanese portraits were of
foreigners who lacked these superstitions and
could more easily afford to pay a photographer.
The Meiji Era saw an end to such outmoded
superstitions.
Meanwhile, photography studios were opening
up, first in the port cities of Yokohama, Nagasaki,
and Hokkaido, and then also in Tokyo and Osaka.
New treaties brought foreigners to these port
cities. This western influx—as well as Emperor
Meiji’s sweeping reforms—caused massive
changes in the country which the famous photographer Hikkoma Ueno documented. He specialized in both landscapes and portraits, and took
the portraits of many notable Japanese politicians
and samurai, as well as the American General
Ulysses S. Grant and the Russian Tsar Nicholas II.
By 1870, there were more than a hundred professional photographers in Japan, showing that
what had before been something for samurai and
foreigners was now something most people could
afford. In 1877, the number of professional photographers just in the city of Tokyo surpassed one
hundred.
The first “Kodak moment” can be argued to
have occurred in 1881, when a New Yorker named
George Eastman opened the Eastman Dry Plate
Company, which would eventually evolve into the
Eastman Kodak Co.
Dry plates were first imported into Japan in
1883—the same year that the first photographic
lens developed in Japan was made. Thus the 1880s
transformed Japanese photography from the
purview of artists into a thriving business industry. Dry plates also empowered amateur photographers, as they replaced the wet plates that had
required professionals to carry photosensitive
chemicals in light-proof containers, making it
much easier to take pictures. By 1889, photography clubs started to emerge and Esaki Reiji challenged expectations by photographing a nighttime
fireworks display.
The 1880s saw a rise in people hand-painting
photographs to add color. Studi