Ogawa Kazumasa, “A Damsel – Maiko cherry blossom time” (circa 1890), albumin paper, colored, 27 x 20.6 cm (© National Museums in Berlin, Ethnological Museum, all images courtesy of Berlin State Museums)
Japan’s Meiji period (1868–1912) is commonly described as a time of quick economic and political modernization and self-conscious competition with Western military might and colonial aspirations. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 marked the end of feudal rule, of an agriculturally dependent economy, and of Buddhism as the official state religion
