The photos were taken by one Arnold Genthe, a German-born American scholar who visited Japan for 6 months in the year 1908. Keeping his camera partially hidden, he walked through the city to capture the seemingly mundane moments of the locals. By the 1920s, Japan had become one of the world’s leading industrial nations. Major industries included textiles (silk and cotton), shipbuilding, steel, and machinery. Japan exported goods across Asia and the West, integrating into global trade networks.
Large family-owned conglomerates such as Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo dominated finance, manufacturing, and trade. Their power shaped the economy and politics. Western styles—Art Deco, modernism, and impressionism—spread among artists. Japanese painters developed hybrids of traditional Japanese aesthetics and Western techniques.
