
The First Photo Ever Created by a Japanese Photographer (2016) - prismatic
https://kanakukui.com/2016/04/15/first-japanese-photo/
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poutrathor
the dates are a mess and make no sense :

> After Shimazu’s death in 1958, the Terukuni Shrine (also referred to as
> Shōkoku Shrine) was built in Kagoshima as a memorial to the late daimyo. He
> was enshrined there in 1863, and the photograph was placed there as an
> object of worship. However, it later went missing in the 1800s.

~~~
glandium
Likewise:

> The following year, the camera was obtained by Shimazu Nariakira, a Japanese
> feudal lord (daimyo) who ruled the Satsuma Domain from 1851 until his demise
> in 1958.

No, he didn't rule for 107 years :) More like 7. He died in 1858.

~~~
Tor3
Yes. The Wikipedia article cover it too, but with correct dates (and more
general information):
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimazu_Nariakira](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimazu_Nariakira)

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glup
One of my favorite books I read last year was "Photography for Everyone: The
Cultural Lives of Cameras and Consumers in Early Twentieth-Century Japan,"
which traced the development of the Japanese middle class in relation to
photography— how people learned to consume collectively, developed a distinct
aesthetic from Western photographers, and the gender dynamics of adoption of a
new technology.

~~~
dmix
What was the "gender dynamics of adoption of a new technology" part about?

~~~
severine
See for yourself:
[http://gen.lib.rus.ec/search.php?req=Photography%20for%20Eve...](http://gen.lib.rus.ec/search.php?req=Photography%20for%20Everyone%20japan)

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pavel_lishin
> _Having obtained the camera, the daimyo ordered his retainers to study it
> and produce working photographs. One of these retainers was Ichiki Shirō (市来
> 四郎). Ichiki had previously excelled in the study of gunpowder production,
> which involved an understanding of chemistry._

> _To the daimyo’s delight, on September 17, 1857, Ichiki succeeded in
> creating a portrait of Shimazu dressed in formal attire. Ichiki recorded his
> struggles, and eventual triumph in mastering the camera, in his memoirs
> which he compiled in 1884._

Does anyone know if these are available in an English translation? Sounds like
it'd be a fascinating read - I wonder how much of the memoirs are taken up by
the nearly-decade-long process of mastering the use of that camera.

~~~
severine
Your best bet is Anne Tucker et al., The History of Japanese Photography (Yale
University Press, 2003; ISBN 0-300-09925-8).

Which is a mammoth 477 MB pdf:
[http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=D82EEFD90A97302DBD9...](http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=D82EEFD90A97302DBD919A68F95B62BC)

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amarant
interesting read. makes me think of my great(x3)grandmother, and her father,
who both were a photographers not too long after this occurred. I hadn't quite
realized just how early days it was for photography when they ran their
atelier in the late 1800's.

i find this stuff quite fascinating.

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kartan
I visited Nagasaki a year ago. I was surprised how open the city was
historically to outsiders. After some reading I understood why. Previously I
only knew the city in reference to the atomic bomb. European and Chinese
influences are noticeable all over the place.

It is only in Nagasaki where you could have bough an European machine.

This year I am planning to visit Kagoshima. I wonder if the photo is still
there after it was found.

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theguppydream
Love the big suit like David Byrne in Stop Making Sense.

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
It's a sort of cape with starched shoulders sticking out.

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Nexusie
Kinda hard to imagine such primitive, yet working technology. Reminds me of
Fatal Frame though

~~~
coldtea
> _Kinda hard to imagine such primitive, yet working technology_

Photography wasn't that different until the advent of digital (not to mention
there are still people working with daguerreotype photography). And the box is
just a pinhole style camera, which we still use...

