Japanese books for foreign tourists (from the Meiji era to the Second World War)

Abstract

From the Meiji era (1868-1912), Western travellers to Japan published books and guidebooks recording their impressions and recommendations of their experience there. From an early stage, the Japanese became aware of the need to offer an attractive, but documented, image of its customs, art, architecture, folklore, festivities, etc. Japanese printed works aimed at foreign tourists are a great source of information about the cultural elements with which Japan identifies itself, as well as the topics and locations potentially attractive for Westerners. The main features of these first books are that they were written by Japanese, proficient in the topics they addressed, and that they were published in Japan in foreign languages, mainly English. Regarding the publishers, it is necessary to highlight that the promotion of tourism and the publishing of these texts was a joint private-public enterprise, as can be seen in the printed works published by The Welcome Society of Japan, the Japan Tourist Bureau and the Imperial Government Railways. Without any doubt, an exceptional collection was the “Tourist Library”, which was superbly edited by the Board of Tourist Industry and the Japanese Government Railways. Hotel companies also played an important role in the promotion of cultural heritage with detailed publications, among which the work We Japanese published by Hotel Fujiya from 1934, offered an almost encyclopaedic description of customs, fashion, ceremonies, festivals, arts and an endless list of topics.