Meiji Inspired Photos with Just One Click!

For PhotoShop dummies. . .we’ve found an ultra-cool website that lets you instantly transform your favorite snapshots from your trip to Japan to look like photography from Meiji Japan (1868-1912). Here, take a look at the transformation of this picture:

Original

Meiji-fied

History Lesson: What was photography like in Meiji Japan?

In terms of technology, the Edo-to-Meiji period is a really interesting time to look at, because it’s when Japan transitioned from complete isolation (sakoku) to accepting a flood of western influence into their homogeneous Japanese culture. Prior to the Meiji period (1646-1867), during Japan’s isolated feudal period when the country was ruled by the Tokugawa shogun, the only foreign influence came from a small Dutch trading post in Nagasaki. It is this Dutch connection, in the mid-19th century, that photographic technology was first introduced to Japan. This was also the first time photographs of Japanese people were also capture.

As Japan started to open up to the West during the final years of the Tokugawa (a period called Bakumatsu), foreigners, including photographers, started to settle in Japan where they taught the art of photography to some Japanese. As interaction between the West and Japan became more common, the foreign and Japanese photographers set up studios catering to mainly foreign residents and tourists.

You want to get the Meiji-inspired look too? Click here!