ARAKAWA (Yoshio).

Taisho dai shinkazai kinen - Tokyo sangai jitsu shashin-cho [Tokyo Disaster Photo-album].

Unrecorded documentary photographs of the Great Kanto Earthquake

First and only edition. 3vols., complete. Each containing 13 original tipped-in silver gelatine photographs [i.e. 39 in total] each measuring 15x10,5cm, with printed captions in Japanese below as well as ms. translations in English. Large oblong 8vo, measuring 26x18cm. Overall in very good condition. Tokyo, Arakawa Shashin-kan, dated: Taisho 12 [i.e, 1923.

£1,200.00
ARAKAWA (Yoshio).
Taisho dai shinkazai kinen - Tokyo sangai jitsu shashin-cho [Tokyo Disaster Photo-album].

A very rare set of photograph albums recording the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1st, 1923.

The earthquake which measured over 7.2 on the Richter scale, destroyed large parts of Tokyo and Yokohama, killed over 100,000 people and left approximately 2.5million people homeless. It occurred at 11:58am, when many households were cooking lunch, which resulted in large firestorms throughout the capital. The photographs paint a grim picture of the extraordinary scale of the destruction. They feature scenes in Ginza, Nihonbashi, Asakusa, Kanda and Kojimachi, including the ruins of the Ryounkaku Tower, Mitsukoshi Department Store, Maruya & Co. and Ueno Station etc. The Arakawa Photo Studio was based in the Arakawa district of Yotsuya specialising in graduation and commemorative photographs.

Unrecorded. No copies in OCLC.

Stock No.
262571