Impact of landscape photographs distribution by the “Taiyo” magazine on the way Japanese see natural landscape

Abstract

It has been indicated that “The Japanese Landscape Theory” by Shiga shigetaka, which was published in 1894, was the key to change the way Japanese see natural landscape. The change occurred during this period seems to have resulted in the designation of National Parks in 1930s, and further investigation of the background is required. This paper examines the transition of landscape photographs published in the “Taiyo” magazine, which is considered to be one of the factors influencing the way of seeing natural landscapes in Japan by distributing a large quantity of printed landscape photographs to the public. As the “Taiyo” magazine started to publish photographs selected by competitions, photographs of unidentified landscape increased in number after 1902, whereas “Meisyo” had been mainly featured before around 1900. This paper suggests that the distribution of photographs which had been influenced by landscape painting, hence emphasizing artistic beauty of landscapes, had changed the way general readers see natural landscapes.