Early Glimpses of Japan

The Erich Sonntag Postcard Collection (ESPC), then and now.

A while back, fellow substacker and friend Francis Turner suggested I contribute to a substack he set up to write about his cycling tours.  We came up with the general scope and a tentative new name, “Less Known Japan” as this would allow us more freedom to include other aspects of Japan other than just geography.  As I have been going about daily life in madly masked Japan, I have been working on this mentally.

Then another Substacker, Epimetheus, asked for help translating Japanese photo postcards.  A couple I was able to rather quickly as I knew the places featured on the cards.  While anything but less known places within Japan, I thought it might make for inaugural posts on the travel substack to go back to the beginning of foreign tourism in Japan as a starting point. It also allows me to enjoy “Then and Now” juxtaposition of vintage images with my modern photographs.

When US Navy Commodore Perry and US Consul General to Japan, Townsend Harris negotiated the partial opening of Japan, only the ports of Kanagawa, Nagasaki, and Hakodate were designated as places where non Japanese could reside.  Kanagawa was later changed to Yokohama.  As these were rather small areas, a wider area where foreign residents and visitors could tour was also agreed upon.  For those living in the new foreign settlement of Yokohama, Kamakura was open for their tourism.  Thus, some of the earliest first hand written accounts by Westerners on medieval Japan and photographs feature Kamakura.  Going from memory, Kamakura is the first foreign tourist destination in Japan.  Kamakura was also the first place away from Yokosuka Naval Base and the area immediately around it that I visited in Japan. 

Kamakura is the Japanese city I have had the longest relationship with.  It offers many of what Kyoto does but is an easy day trip from Tokyo.  For a couple of summers, I made daily trips to the city during summer vacation from university.  Going through this shrine’s grounds makes for a delightful short cut to points of interest farther away from Kamakura station and I have done so countless times.  Thus, the bridge featured on this post card was immediately recognizable as likely being on the grounds of the Tsurigaoka Hachimangu in the city.

Picture postcard from the Erich Sontag Postcard Collection (ESPC).

However, the pictures I have of the bridge on the grounds of this shrine show that they are not the same bridge but they share some features, notably the 9 hexagonal pillars with each set of three connected by a single horizontal stone beam.  An online search uncovered a different view of the same bridge in the postcard labeled as the stone bridge at this shrine.  If so, and I believe it is, then the bridge was rebuilt sometime between the early 20th century and the 1990s.  Here are some of the many photos I have taken of the current bridge over the years.

All photos below are the author’s and are copyrighted.

The Shrine has a long history and is closely connected to bushi (Samurai) culture.  The first Shogun established the shrine at its current location in 1180.  In the series of photos below you should notice that something is missing in the more recent ones.  A 1000 year old ginko tree that predated the shrine stood next to the stairs since the shrine was built until a storm blew it over in 2010.  Legend has it that the assassin of Shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo hid behind this ginko tree until he stepped out from behind it and cut down his uncle in 1219.  The toppling of this tree was quite the story at the time.  Now one can see a view of the shrine that had not been possible for hundreds of years.  Personally, I miss the tree.

On September 15th each year the shrine holds its matsuri.  Here are photos I took of the festival in 1998.  I was not able to verify my memory on this point, but as I recall, the thee mikoshi (Portable Shrine) carried that year were 300 years old.  The 16th of September each year the shrine holds a Yabusame, (mounted archery) ritual. I have seen this twice at this shrine over the years.

Photo from my 2002 trip to the event.

Photo taken in 2012. It’s a hit!

Sorry for getting these out of order. The above photo is of one of the several dances held on a stage in the shrine the night of the matsuri in 1998. Dances can be offerings to the Gods here.

The photo above is the first of what was a tradition of mine. When visiting Kamakura I also used to seek out Japanese style meals, such as this. Ate this after watching the festival in 1998.