This fascinating Japanese photography book features over 140 images taken between 1853 and 1905 by the most important local and foreign photographers then working in Japan.

Almost one-fourth of the images are hand colored, superb examples of a rich art form long since vanished. The Japan of this book too has disappeared, but author and compiler Terry Bennett has put together a unique portrait of the country at perhaps its most decisive turning point, a nation about to abandon its traditional ways and enter the modern age.

Important features of Early Japanese Images include the following:

• A historical overview of the years 1853-1912


• The story of early Western photographers in Japan


• The story of early Japanese photographers


• Over 100 images reproduced in original sepia tones


• Over 40 images reproduced as originally handcolored


• An invaluable index that identifies the photographers