Nieuwjaarsgroet in Japan 1900 - 1907

Curator: Welcome. Today, we're observing a scene captured between 1900 and 1907 by T. Enami titled "Nieuwjaarsgroet in Japan", or "New Year's Greetings in Japan". This albumen print offers a glimpse into a specific cultural practice. Editor: What strikes me immediately is the deep sense of reverence; their posture just exudes respect and anticipation, almost like they're on the verge of discovering some long-held secret. Is it always this somber, this profound? Curator: Somber is one word, but I see it more as solemn. The repeated act of bowing signifies much more than a greeting. Within the Japanese New Year tradition, this image resonates with purification, renewal, and reverence for ancestors. It shows continuity, not just politeness. Notice the decoration above the doorway, which are important shimekazari, that protect and attract good fortune. Editor: That's incredible! I had just seen a quaint moment frozen in time, but you reveal a depth I hadn’t appreciated. That thatched decoration does have a totemic air, doesn't it? The photographic stillness gives it a powerful, almost hypnotic quality. It’s intriguing how this intimate interaction becomes this visual gateway into a nation’s hopes and beliefs. Curator: Exactly. Consider too that Enami, working in Yokohama during this period, catered largely to a Western audience curious about Japanese customs. He expertly staged these "genre paintings" using photography to frame specific narratives and traditions, providing a romanticised, almost ethnographic viewpoint. Editor: Which brings to mind questions around authenticity and intention…Was this for export, essentially selling an idea of Japan to the outside world? It’s not to undermine Enami's work but to ask if it perhaps reinforces a predetermined narrative for the Western gaze. It makes you ponder what's staged versus what is candid tradition in a time capsule of image and emulsion. Curator: Those layers of interpretation are precisely why these images are so rewarding. Enami presents one view, colored by his commercial objectives and our own preconceptions—it invites reflection upon what and how we perceive cultural symbols. Editor: In a way, we, too, are performing a kind of cultural bow now. Curator: Precisely, one with knowledge and reflection. Thank you.