The Meiji at 150 collection consists of visual images that were produced primarily in Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912). They include 21 Meiji-era woodblock prints, 1 hand-painted kimono book, a 7-volume book on the Ainu, 1 tourist album, 2 Japanese-Canadian booklets, and 41 photographs from the John Cooper Robinson collection. This will complement UBC Library’s other major Japan-related digital collections which include Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era, Tairiku Nippo (Continental Daily News), and the Japanese-Canadian Photograph Collection. This collection will also complement the Japanese Canadian Research Collection and other archival materials related to Japanese-Canadians

This digital collection was created in conjunction with visual essays, as part of the larger Meiji at 150 project’s Digital Teaching Resource. Each essay pairs visuals and illustrations from our Meiji at 150 digital collection with historical narratives and interpretive analysis. Topics include: Tokugawa “national” maps; urban change in Edo and Tokyo; the Ginza Bricktown; Meiji-era kimonos; the Ainu population of Hokkaido; the activities of Canadian missionaries in Japan; women, migration, and the silk industry in early Meiji Japan; photography in the Meiji period; poetry; as well as the immigration and lived experiences of Japanese-Canadians in Vancouver.

This project was made possible through generous funding from the Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver and through collaboration between the Asian Library, Digital Initiatives, and Rare Books and Special Collections.