San no Torii, Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura

Category

Library Item

Item no

15177

Title

San no Torii, Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura

Description

Behind this torii, or gateway, is an arched stone bridge, called Taikobashi ('Drum Bridge') and the main building of the shrine can be seen up the hill. Ten men, women and kids stand in the middle distance and face different directions in order to suggest their ignorance of the photographer. A sign with Japanese writings on it can be seen to the right, probably indicating the entrance of the shrine.

Artist / maker

von Stillfried-Ratenicz, Franz

Date

1881

Size

19.5 x 24 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Art and Design Library

The San no Torii (literally 'third gate') marks the entrance of the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura, about 50km southwest
of Tokyo. This gate is situated to the north near the entrance of the shrine and is the third one in this area, hence its name. The Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine is dedicated to Hachiman, the patron of the Minamoto family and of samurai in general.

This item is part of a collection of prints from the studio of Baron Franz von Stillfried-Ratenicz, an Austrian photographer practising in Japan in the late 1870's. Von Stillfried ran a studio in Yokohama at the same time as his brother Raimund, who was also known as 'Baron Stillfried'. This caused a great deal of confusion with the local residents and visitors to Japan in the Meiji Period, and with art historians today.

This album, which dates from 1879-83, comprises 67 separate mounted prints presented in a lacquerware box. Albums of this kind were popular among foreign tourists, who frequently selected the individual prints they wished to include from the studio's collection. Many of these albumen prints were hand tinted. This was a laborious process for which von Stillfried employed, at the height of his success, a substantial number of Japanese workers. Contrary to many pictures in the Dyer collection, this photograph was not hand tinted.

Exhibitions with this item

Other views of this item

Related images

Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Torii

Places > Asia > Japan