Imagining Japan: the early souvenir postcard industry in Yokohama at Birkbeck, University of London

What stereotypes do you associate with traditional Japanese culture? How were these stereotypes spread through images consumed in the West? Are these images (and the ideas they convey) still relevant today? In this session you will learn about the development of the souvenir postcard industry in the port city of Yokohama in the late 19th?century—a thriving business selling images of Japan to Western consumers and led by foreign photographers, such as Felice Beato. We will explore the concept of “Orientalism” to consider how stereotypical images of Japan were reproduced in these popular postcards and to what effect. The session will also include hands-on exercises on how to critically analyse images. 

Enquire about this event