Chapter 2: In Social System

Photography and the Transcript -- In the Case of the Emperor's Appearance and Words KINOSHITA Naoyuki

In 1872 and 1873, the public portrait photograph of the Meiji Emperor was taken for the first time.  At the time the emperor was a young man of around twenty years of age.  For the next fifteen years, over 4,000 copies of the portrait photograph were sent to administrative institutions, the army, and schools across the nation.  Of these, however, less than 150 were sent to schools. In 1889, in accordance with the promulgation of the Japanese Imperial Constitution, a new imperial public portrait was distributed.  The new portrait was issued because it became necessary to disseminate a more appropriate image of the sovereign of a nation that referred to itself as an "empire," one that portrayed a stately, imposing head of state full of dignity.  In order to realize this idealization of the sovereign's appearance, it was decided that rather than a photograph of the emperor, a painting would be photographically reproduced instead.  The Imperial Rescript on Education was issued at around the same period, and transcripts of this text along with the portrait photographs were widely distributed among schools.  The photograph, which represented the emperor's appearance, and the transcript, which represented his words, served as substitutes for the sovereign himself.  They were handled as ritual objects and contributed to the emperor's deification.  Tokyo Imperial University was no exception, and today a gorgeous frame that once contained the emperor's portrait photograph still survives.  The photograph was taken out of the frame soon after the end of the war in 1945, when the emperor announced that he was not a divinity.

Whether Art can be Judged or Not -- Incident of Model 1,000yen Bill --  NAKAHARA Yusuke One of Japanese contemporary artists, AKASEGAWA Genpei made Model 1,000yen Bill by hand-drawing and a photomechanical process to display a collage work for an exhibit. This “Model 1,000Yen Bill” was reckoned to be against the law. Akasegawa and the printers were persecuted to the Court, where the artists and art critics gave testimony. This trial had attracted attention of many people. In this article, NAKAHARA, one of the witnesses, discussed the meaning of the incident. The article is reprinted from Magazine Bijutsu Techo No.287 published by Bijutsu Shuppan-sha. in September, 1967.                                         (This abstract was written by TSUTSUI Yayoi)

Philately and Forgeries NAITO Yosuke From the viewpoint of philately, there are two types of “forgery”; the one is postal forgery, and the other is philatelic one. In the former case, postage stamps are regarded as securities. For example, in Japan, the then stamps of 10sen and 20sen was forged and sold in order to obtain money equivalent to postage by a fraud in 1913. This is one of ordinary crimes by individuals. But, in some case, the postal forgery can be manufactured as a part of national strategy. For example, both the Allies and the Axis forged enemy’s stamps to disturb the economy, or propagate their political claims. On the other hand, in the case of “philatelic forgery”, postage stamps and its usages are regarded as materials for collectors. In almost all of countries, forgeries of expensive classic stamps are sold for tourist as a souvenir. In this case, the advanced collector can distinguish them from genuine copies easily. However, in the market, there are many ingenious forgeries which is a serious problem for philatelists. In such cases, forgery of stamps itself is very few except the case of Jean de Speratti or some other “Meisters”. Most of forgeries for advanced philatelists are altered material such as forged postmarks on genuine stamps. Thus, the major philatelic groups usually have expertising staff who consults with their members.