Twee gezichten op een tuin bij een woning van een handelaar in Fukagawa in Tokyo, Japan before 1893

These two photographs of a garden in Fukagawa, Tokyo, were taken by Kazumasa Ogawa, a pioneer in Japanese photography. His work emerged during a period of rapid modernization and Westernization in Japan. Ogawa's photographs offer a glimpse into the aesthetic values and social hierarchies of Meiji-era Japan. The carefully arranged stones, pruned trees, and traditional structures reflect a cultivated sense of harmony with nature, one deeply embedded in Japanese cultural identity. Yet, this harmony exists alongside a strict social structure in which only certain people had the means to possess such cultivated spaces. Ogawa was not merely a documentarian; he was also an artist shaping a vision of Japan for both domestic and international audiences. By focusing on serene gardens, he curated an image of Japan that emphasized its unique traditions. The garden becomes a stage where identity, class, and cultural values are carefully composed and presented.