Ogawa Kazumasa – Takashima, S(uteta). The Hanami (Flower-Picnic). (Published by Kazumasa Ogawa). Yokohama, Hongkong, Shanghai, Singapore, Kelly and Walsh 1897. Quer-Folio (29 x 38 cm.). [2] Bl., 25 farb. Lichtdruck-Tafen (Collotypes), davon 24 nach Photographien von K. Ogawa. OPbd. mit floralem Krepppapierbezug u. Deckelschild, als Blockbuch gebunden.

Einzige Ausgabe. – Seltenes aufwendig ausgestattetes Album mit sparsam kolorierten Aufnahmen, welche bei den tradionellen Kirschblüten-Festen (Hanami) in Ueno Park, Mukojima und Koganei entstanden. – „By the end of the 19th century the first photographic publications about Japan by a Japanese photographer were published in Boston and London, though Japan showed little interest in them. Many of the early photographs in these „foreign“ publications came from the studio of Ogawa Kazumasa who was also a printer and publisher. He had learned English and the craft of photomechanical printing in Boston. Returning to Japan in 1884, he opened his first studio in Tokyo the next year. At the time, it seems that there were few, if any, Japanese photo publications and most were made for Western consumption. Culturally, Japan was still burdened by its feudal history, which made it suspicious of anything new or Western“ (M. Heiting in Heiting/Ryuichi S. 9). – Rücken am Fuß mit kl. Fehlstelle am Bezugspapier, gutes sauberes Exemplar.