Link to pre-1912 photos of Japan

http://zoomphoto.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/en/main_menu.php



This is Sarusawa Pond in Nara, about thirty miles south of Kyoto. With the addition of a number of modern buildings and foliage, this pond and the pagoda you see still exist.






This is the Shimogamo area of Kyoto. It looks TOTALLY different now, very built up.



But the shrine is still lovely:




Here's a REAL change. This is Tokyo's Ginza, THEN and



NOW.

a modern photo collection of the 47 Views of Mt. Fugi, but I can't remember where. It was pretty interesting.

That would REALLY look different for much of its length, because a lot of it goes through Tokyo and Yokohama.

I'd love to visit Japan someday. What a fascinating culture (apart from the hello kitty stuff!) :hi:

Were you the one that lived there? Someone on the board lived there for awhile. If you were, what was it like?

I have, of course, but I'm back in the States. However, Art_from_Ark and Yollam live there currently.

What was it like...Well, before I went for the first time, I had about four years of listening to other students' Japan stories, and I STILL didn't really understand what it was like until I went there.

If I were to some it up briefly, it's modernized, NOT Westernized, NOT Americanized, and the Japanese-ness pops up in unexpected places. Some people like only the traditional culture or only the modern pop culture. I like both, and they're both extant, although you sometimes have to search.

The food is a great attraction. For some reason, it's hard for a non-Japanese to get the cuisine right. I go to a "Japanese" restaurant run by some other Asian nationality, and I can tell right away. Western food, including fast food, is available, but I make a point of avoiding it while I'm there.

:-)

these color photos are from circa 1912? WOW!! I love the downtown Tokyo photo...if I ever come across some money and want to go on a trip, I would go to Tokyo. That would be the closest you could ever get visiting another planet!

The downtown Tokyo (Ginza) one is contemporary. And Ginza is only one of Tokyo's several commercial centers--Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ueno, Ikebukuro, all linked by an elliptical commuter rail line.

Here's a scene from Shinjuku. It was the trendy area for youth in the 1970s, when I was a student.



Here's Shibuya, the current trendy area for youth:



Here's Ueno, with its park:



A side street in Ikebukuro:



But Tokyo isn't all neon: