in Japan, but the expansion of the field had been
limited by the fact that all photographic equipment
had to be imported at great cost, as there were no
native manufacturers. This sitiuation changed in
the early years of the century, with the Cherry
Portable camera debuting in 1903. A forerunner
of Konica, this modest dry-plate camera marked
the beginning of the Japanese camera industry,
which was soon to become a dominant force. The
Fujii Lens Seizo-sho factory was founded in 1908,
equipped with modern manufacturing equipment
imported from Germany, and consolidated in
1917 into Nippon Kogaku Kogyo K.K., a forerun-
ner of Nikon, considered one of the finest lines of
cameras in the twentieth century. For the amateur
market, an affordable pocket-sized camera called
the Minimum Idea was introduced in 1911. Its huge
popularity can be surmised from the founding, two
years later, of the Minimum Photo Club.
During the Meiji era, photography had been
linked to the aristocracy and the upper class, both
as patrons and subject matter. At the turn of the
century, however, newspapers begin to publish pho-
tographs; the first Japanese photojournalists cov-
ered the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900 and the
Russian-Japanese war in 1904–1905. Important pio-
neering photographers of this period were Reiji
Ezaki and Kenzo Tamoto, who studied with Hiko-
ma Ueno and created the well-known work,Ainu
woman harvesting seaweed(ca. 1900), and paved the
way for a more realistic photographic style.
Great expansion in the field took place during the
Taisho era (1912–1926). With Emperor Taisho’s
succession to Emperor Meiji, Japan was finally
fully emerging on the international scene. Despite
the boom of the Minimum Idea camera, photogra-
phy was still largely an artistic medium, remaining
under the influence of painting in the dominant
Western style known as Pictorialism. Japanese Pic-
torialists include: Teiko Shiotani, Hakuyo Fuku-
mori, Ori Umesaka, and Yasuzo Nojima, who, like
their western counterparts Robert Demachy, Julia
Margaret Cameron, and Gertrude Ka ̈sebier, con-
centrated on techniques to enhance texture, create
half tones, and soften outlines. In Japan, painting
and photo are so closely linked that the term which
is used isshashin-ga, which could be translated as
‘‘photographic painting.’’
Until 1920, the division of style common in
painting was applied to photography: on one
hand, theNihongastyle or Japanese painting and
on the other hand, theYogastyle, which means
Western painting. The Fukuhara brothers, Shinzo
and Roso, who were a major force in the early days
of modern photography in Japan, and Kiyoshi
Nishiyama are key figures of this period. They
were the first to breach this stylistic partition, asso-
ciating the spare but atmospheric characteristics of
the Nihonga tradition with a clearer pictorial
vision, as exemplified by the emerging Modernists
in the West such as Paul Strand or Edward Wes-
ton. In 1921, Shinzo Fukuhara, who had traveled
and photographed extensively in the West, formed
Shashin-Geijyutsu-shaalong with his brother Roso
and Isao Kakefuda and Motoo Ootaguro, and
founded the magazineShashin Geijutsu(Art Photo-
graphy). Shinzo also served as first chairman of the
Japan Photographic Society. These photographers
did not free themselves entirely from Pictorialism,
as can be seen in Shinzo’sParis et la Seine, 1922.
Roso Fukuhara, however, achieved a more Mod-
ernist vision in his works.
A number of illustrated news and popular maga-
zines appeared during the 1920s, providing venues
for photography, includingKokusai Shashin Joho,
Kokusai Jiji Gappo(later namedSekai Jiji Gappo),
andKokusai Gappo. Photography magazines includ-
edGeijutsu Shashin Kenkyu,Photo Times,andAma-
teur. The first major photography curriculum at the
college level, the Konishiroku Shashin Senmon
Gakko photo school, was established in Tokyo.
Renamed Tokyo Shashin Senmon Gakko in 1926,
the school currently exists as the Tokyo Institute of
Polytechnics. This program joined the already exisit-
ing photography department, founded in 1915, of
Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko (Tokyo Art School).
During the Taisho period, the history of Japa-
nese photography also saw a major milestone with
the introduction and subsequent widespread use of
the small format, roll-film camera. A leading
example was the Kodak Vest Pocket, introduced
by Eastman Kodak in 1912, and available in
Japan around 1915. This camera spawned the
Vesu-tan group, who experimented with lens
effects and printing techniques that were relatively
simple and did not require a professional studio to
achieve. In 1925, the Konishiroku Honten Com-
pany introduced the highly popular Pearlette cam-
era as an imitation of the Vest Pocket. The
consequence was a major expansion of amateur
photography associated with Japanese practice.
The 1920s also saw the founding and expansion
of numerous photographic clubs and associations.
Along with Shinzo Fukuhara’s Nihon Shashin-kai
(Japan Photographic Society), founded 1924, the
Zen-Nihon Shashin Renmei (All-Japan Associa-
tion of Photographic Societies) formed from the
consolidation of numerous smaller clubs. This
organization published the influentialAsahi Cam-
eramagazine.JAPAN, PHOTOGRAPHY IN