The Land of the Rising Sun


It's been two weeks since the major earthquake in Japan, and now we are getting reports of an earthquake that yesterday hit Myanmar, China, Thailand and Laos. With so much focus on the devastation, I think it would make for a nice change of pace to shift our attention instead towards the timeless beauty of one of those nations, the Land of the Rising Sun.


The beautiful photograph above shows the majestic Mount Fuji and is from the Old Photos of Japan website. There, you will find dozens of photographs from as far back as 150 years ago, all of them depicting the old culture of Japan.


From quiet street scenes in Kyoto like the one above to festive occasions in Kobe as seen below, you will find numerous images, many of them skillfully hand tinted, showing the charming and intriguing places, peoples and customs of the island nation.


All of the images on the website have been carefully researched and have accurate descriptions and attributions. They are also available for licensing if you would like to use their high resolution images. Of course, you can always just visit the website and simply enjoy the many old photographs the site has to offer.

Going back to the present need of those affected by the earthquake in Japan, you can visit the Gekobot blog where a few helpful links are listed. If you know of any relief efforts for those affected in Myanmar, please leave them in the comments and I will update this post.

Disclaimer: The use of the images in this post is meant for educational purposes only. If you own or represent the oldphotosjapan.com website and you do not wish for the images to be displayed on this blog, then please contact me immediately through this form, or leave a comment below and I will remove them as soon as possible.

Comments

  1. Yet another fantastic post. And I love old photos that have been coloured (which I think these are?), it somehow helps me appreciate the reality of the image more. Nice set!

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  2. Those are wonderful photos of the historic culture of Japan. I appreciate you sharing them. I wish Japan the best in this tragedy, but it also seems they have it handled. You don't become a prominent island civilization without knowing how to deal with a few huge waves.

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  3. Always great to see the topography of a land from the past...it makes us cherish what we have

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  4. Wow very beautiful photos, that second photo reminds me a little bit of the river kwai bridge in Thailand. Have been there.
    Too bad about the seismic activity in Asia. Hope it all will be over soon!

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  5. I sooooo want to ge there! Lovely photos!

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  6. I love these photos, my favourites are of the castles still standing or rebuilt fom Japans past especially from around the Sengoku period 1550-1615 approx I believe, beautiful country.

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  7. OH MY ! It's awasome pics! great one my friend.

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  8. This is great! Japan is definately one of the top 5 most beautiful countries.

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  9. beautiful pictures! I'll check the website out. What I love with the Japanese culture, is that without getting any influences from Europe and they've created such a beautiful and balanced world

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  10. All of those shots are really nice!

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  11. old photos of japan are always fascinating

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  12. Very kewl appreciation in those.

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  13. Awesome, awesome photos! Japan is such a beautiful place. :)

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  14. Nice. I like the serenity of Kyoto temple pictures.

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  15. Nice photos, that bridge one is pretty cool.

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  16. people on farms are always more ready for earthquakes than those in buildings

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  17. I've been to Japan but only to cities.

    Be nice to take a look at the rural areas.

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  18. Very beautiful pictures of old Japan. I wish I knew more about ancient Japan.

    Let's hope they get themselves back on their feet soon.

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  19. As pretty as it is, they still had their share of natural disasters back then.
    As an aside, Japan sure knows how to throw a festival!

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  20. I've never seen anything quite like these photographs, I'd have almost mistaken the first for a painting at a glance.

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  21. Wow, china has some fantastic scenery! Great shots!

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  22. That second photo is magnificent, I love it.

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  23. Hello
    amazing blog
    PLease take the time to check my blog out

    showing some love

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  24. Back when Japan was still in the middle ages while the rest of the world was in the 1800s.

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  25. Wow these are beautiful pictures. Looking at them reminds me of the movie Seven Samurai. It's sad that they experienced this tradegy, I just wish the best to them.

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  26. nice pics. i really wanna go to japan some day

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  27. Something about the second picture is just striking. So subtle...so gorgeous. I love it. Thank you for sharing it.

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  28. What a beautiful place. I like how even though they just had an earthquake, you shift the attention towards a peacefull setting and calmness.

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  29. Great shots, lookin forward to more.

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  30. beautiful photos, classy, articulate post (nothing like mine).

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  31. awesome. i like it. have a great saturday :]

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  32. I need to tavel. these places look awesome!

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  33. Beautiful pics, I know they will get back on their feet

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  34. such a magnificent art of nature..... like it

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  35. I used to visit that site. the photos are truly amazing, and im not just saying that. Japan is a fascinating country and its people the strongest and most disciplined of all. It will be rebuilt from nothing, if necessary and still flourish again. Go JAPAN!

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  36. Japan is a beautiful country filled with good people.
    I do hope they come back after the disaster.

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  37. devasting...but I'm positive if any nation can bounce back from this, it's Japan.

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  38. wow, these photos are really great. and it's true that area has been aflicted by great unfortune.

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  39. japan is a fascinating country, i love the photos you have there.

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  40. lovely photos, they would look good framed and on the wall

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  41. Japan is so cool. I want to visit that place one day.

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  42. First photo... awesome... amazing.
    Thanks for this.

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  43. Wow. That's a really great photo.

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  44. Love Japan. Used to live there.

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  45. Lovely lovely photos. I especially love the third.

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  46. following and $upporting

    therichesthappiest.blogspot.com

    your best friend in the blogo$phere

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  47. I love your blog. I was I was a subscriber from way before hand to take in all these great images

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  48. lovely photos. lovely era. everything very peaceful

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  49. Another great photo...it seems such an exotic country

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  50. japan is great! too bad about the tsunami/earthquake...

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  51. The Japanese will overcome this tremendous tragedy. It'd be a complete disaster somewhere else, but over there, the damages were "minimum.

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  52. it would be nice for some peace! i like that pic you posted a lot ) too bad the middle east is also in turmoil for other reasons!

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  53. I love Asia and what wonderful photos these are!

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  54. Japan is such a beautiful country, I wish I could visit someday

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  55. really nice pictures and a good read...

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  56. Its nice to see abit of hope for japan in the dark times the got now, glansing back on a beautiful country.

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  57. This is one of the best blogs I read, really good stuff.

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  58. thanks for sharing these great pictures.

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  59. That are some great pictures, would've loved to visit that country back in that age.

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  60. Great pictures. They are obviously colored, but still beautiful.

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  61. wow those pictures are beautiful

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  62. SE and Pacific Asia have so much character. I was planning to go there sometime this year, too.

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  63. Nice pictures, is that the vulcano that is active?

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  64. Those photos were simply awesome! I just can't take my eyes off them!

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  65. It's terrible what's happening over there but luckily we have these pictures to remind us of what it's really like there.

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  66. those are great pictures.. my condolences also to the families that are hurt from the earthquake.

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  67. Beautiful photos, Japan is an amazing place

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  68. many great pics on that site! thanks

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  69. japan back in the days looked so romantic. i bet it was insanely nice to walk through these villages at night

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  70. Stunning picture, such bad news about the fresh quakes :(

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  71. hopefully those natural disasters don't destroy all the "timeless beauty." Those are some nice pics, i saved them, thanks

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  72. Excellent post and great idea. Thanks for the info checking out the rest of the set now!

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  73. ya that's so true.. lets try to focus on the beauty of life so people have something else to listen/look forward to.

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  74. its sad whats happening, thanks for sharing... also for some reason your title post reminded me of the song about a certain house in new orleans they call..

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  75. very nice dude! I really do think there is too much destruction!

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  76. Wow, I can't even imagine living in the shadow of something as massive as that! Here in florida we barely even have hills!

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  77. Fantastic post, such a rich and deep culture over there that we cannot even begin to appreciate.

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  78. AWESOME look at some historic places! It's amazing to think about the differences in human lifestyle from those days (not that long ago in the scope of everything) until now.

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  79. I love coming to you blog, you always have some great pics!

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  80. God I want to visit the old areas of Japan so bad.

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  81. following and $upporting

    therichesthappiest.blogspot.com

    best friend in the blogosphere returnin dem comments

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  82. Great photo's and a nice idea too! Thanks

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  83. Great photos on this blog buddy

    Will be donating what little I can to Japan over the next year or so I'm sure... Have a very strong connection to the place, having studied Japanese for five years and having an avid following of their culture - God be with them.

    Nice blog - Following

    Make sure to come and check out mine at some stage : )

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  84. This is so awesome. I love seeing back into the past. That is amazing

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  85. I would loveeee to see this first hand.

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  86. Japan looks like such a rich and diverse place. So much deeper than America. I would truthfully one day love to go there and learn as much as I can.

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  87. This is insane! Love it keep it up :) following

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  88. Lovely pictures, it's nice to reflect after the tragedy :/

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  89. I think the second one is by far the most moving. Such serenity..

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  90. Love the blog! keep up the great work!

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  91. currently learning Japanese, love the country, want to work there someday :)
    unfortunate turn of events with the earthquake and tsunami though :(

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  92. Nice photos, thanks for sharing!

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  93. That first one is amazing. Hard to image a scene as beautiful as that

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  94. I like the shift of focus from destruction to...not destruction.

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  95. great foto's! Really interesting Blog; following and $upporting.

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  96. Very nice. I'd like to see what the same street looks like now.

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  97. Really good pictures. Liked them incredibly.

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  98. nicely put man. although all countries go through tragedies you have reminded me the beauty it will forever hold.

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  99. This actually makes me miss Japan a bit.

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  100. Just stumbled upon your blog, but I love the photos you've picked out. I'll definitely be following your blog with much interest.

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  101. Beautiful and sad at the same time.

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  102. i've always wanted to go to japan, this didn't change my mind!

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  103. Great photos, thanks for sharing. You always have amazing pictures. :)I really like the top one
    -Dale

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  104. Wow, they just look like paintings

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  105. It won't be long before the San Andreas Fault slips up.

    ~H. Coct

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  106. These are great man, keep it up.

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