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DescriptionThis is an original commemorative photo album from the 1924 Exhibition Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Japan’s Participation in World Expositions, held in Kyoto, Japan.The exhibition commemorated approximately fifty years since Japan’s participation in the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair, presenting the country’s development in industry, technology, commerce, architecture, and culture during the decades following the Meiji Restoration.Held at Okazaki Park in Kyoto in 1924, the exposition was one of the major public exhibitions of the Taisho era.The album contains numerous photographs documenting the exposition itself, including exhibition halls, interior displays, architecture, commercial exhibits, and illuminated nighttime views.An important historical background to the exhibition was the marriage of Crown Prince Hirohito, the future Emperor Showa.At the time, Emperor Taisho was still on the throne, but because of his declining health, Hirohito had already been appointed Prince Regent in 1921 and was carrying out the Emperor’s official duties. In January 1924, Hirohito married Princess Nagako, and the exhibition also celebrated their marriage.A portrait page showing Prince Regent Hirohito and Princess Nagako appears near the beginning of this album.However, the principal subject of this book is the 1924 Kyoto exposition itself.What makes this album particularly fascinating is the picture it provides of how Japan viewed its own modernization at the beginning of the 1920s.Japan had first participated in the Vienna World’s Fair in 1873, only a few years after the Meiji Restoration. Roughly half a century later, this exhibition presented a dramatically transformed Japan—industrialized, electrified, increasingly urban, and eager to display its achievements.The photographs preserve exhibition buildings, interiors, signs, products, displays, and public spaces that have long since disappeared.Rather than simply being an old photo album, this is a visual record of Japan looking back on fifty years of modernization and presenting its progress to the public in 1924.Published in Kyoto in December 1924, bibliographic records identify this work as
“Commemorative Photo Album of the Exhibition Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Japan’s Participation in World Expositions.”
Institutional records describe the original publication as containing 49 photographic plates and measuring approximately 27 × 36 cm. Approximate size:
26 × 36 × 1.5 cmConditionThis is an antique item more than 100 years old.There are signs of age and use, including discoloration, stains, fading, scratches, rubbing, creases, tears, peeling, edge wear, and other deterioration.Each individual page has not been inspected in detail, so there may be missing pages, damage, or other imperfections not specifically mentioned.Please review all photographs carefully and consider the item as an antique historical document sold in its current condition.A fascinating piece for collectors of Japanese exposition history, Taisho-era Japan, early Japanese industrial history, Imperial history, historical photography, and Emperor Hirohito material.Own a Piece of History.Shipping
FedEx or Japan Post
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