JAPANESE SCHOOLGIRL PHOTO ALBUM 1950s
Item #1074
Excellent unworn condition. 36 off-white leaves/72 pages, 3 leaves blank; 168 b&w photos, plus 12 tucked in; 4 photos appear to be missing (as found)
Beautifully preserved photo album, documenting a Japanese teenager’s school days; photos carefully annotated in up-to-down Japanese script. Perhaps the camera was a new and exciting toy, as many photos appear to be taken within a relatively short period of time. For one who reads Japanese it would be a cinch to follow the action, as the ink is not faded.
We see staff photos; class photos, of dozens of schoolgirls all in uniform; photos of field trips to sites of geological and historic interest; many photos of our heroine in a garden; with her parents; her pet cat, dog and chicken; with close friends; on a beach; on stage with an acoustic guitar. Several photos show the classmates in more formal dress, in processions; this may indicate a communion or other religious rite (one of the captions, beneath pictures of a lakeside, indicates, in English, Y.W.C.A.), but no overt religious symbols are evident. The only other caption in English is of an American or British girl in her mid-teens, named Miss Faith Carroll; a quick internet search revealed no obituary.
The photos possess a precious innocence and old-world quality, and a real sense of humor as well. People smile for the photos but this is quite clearly not their first experience with a camera. In the classroom, we see a trigonometry lesson in progress and a reel-to-reel machine.
Earlier in the album the dates recorded utilize the Japanese calendar system (29 through 31 of the Showa period); towards the end, cryptically, the style shifts to the Gregorian calendar, and several captions list 1957 as the date.
The album is hardbound; the covers are wrapped in an un-dyed woven hemp, with no fraying or tears. A remarkably well-preserved document of its time and situation. The owner will likely wish to consult with a Japanese speaker to fully understand the captions.
Price: $150.00