Showa Pop! Josei In Kimono Photograph

Last Saturday Uptown Whittier had one of its street fairs. Being a collector of Militaria I always take my time to look through photographs to locate Military photos from WWI and WWII.

It was when I was looking through the photographs that I came across this original photo of a young Japanese girl in a Kimono that most likely originated in the 1920's or 1930's.

The photo was taken at the Yeghi Photo Studios in Shimbashi Tokyo. The main Yeghi Photo Studio was located in Ginza with the Shimbashi studio being just a branch from the main studio. The Yeghi studio's heyday was during the Meiji and Taisho era with many of the photographers retiring in the late 1930's. After nearly 70 years of service Yeghi studios finally closed its doors during WWII in 1943.

This leads us to the photo. Its actually quite rare to find these types of photos at swap meets and thrift stores in the USA and I was quite shocked at the beauty of the photo. $3.00 less in my pocket It was now part of my collection of old photographs.

It is actually one of the most beautiful pictures of this type I have ever seen. The young lady is perfectly poised with a slight air of regalness as well as her kimono being a work of art. I love the soft lighting on her face that casts a soft shadow on the right side of her face. Her fan is firmly held in her soft hands and the peek of her toes from underneath adds small details that makes this picture so dynamic. Her smile is inviting and she seems like a very kind person.

Whomever this young lady may be we shall never know, but let her own beauty be admired by many. I'm sure she would appreciate it!

Leonardo Flores