Series:  Series 1: Samuel McCune Lindsay Collection, 1923-1930

Scope and Content:

This series contains 784 photographs and postcards with other ephemera items collected by Samuel McCune Lindsay during the American Magazine Editors and Writers Tour in Japan in April, 1930. Samuel McCune Lindsay, Professor of Social Legislation at Columbia University and the representative of the Review of Reviews (New York), was the leader of this tour group of eighteen members. The tour was sponsored by the Japan Tourist Bureau and visited Yokohama, Tokyo, Nikko, Mt. Fuji, Atami, Shizuoka (Mikimoto’s pearl culture), Nagoya, and Kyoto as well as cities in Korea and China.

Arrangement:

This series is arranged by Japanese geographic names in alphabetical order, followed by subjects, including non- Japanese geographic names, in alphabetical order.

Subseries:  Subseries 1.1: Lindsay Tour Materials, 1930

Scope and Content:

This subseries includes photographs of the tour group and of Dr. Lindsay and Mrs. Lindsay taken during the trip in 1930. Many photographs are annotated by Lindsay. This subseries also includes correspondence and newspaper articles concerning the tour. Kai Catalog No. 2865.

Subseries:  Subseries 1.2: Lindsay Photographs, 1923-1930

Scope and Content:

This subseries includes photographs collected or produced by Lindsay or the tour group during the trip in 1930. Kai Catalog No. 2865.

Subseries:  Subseries 1.3: Lindsay Postcards, circa 1930

Scope and Content:

This subseries includes includes various tourist postcards collected by Lindsay during the trip. Kai Catalog No. 2944.

Series:  Series 2: J. W. T. Mason Collection

Scope and Content:

J.W.T. (Joseph Warren Teets) Mason (1879-1941) was an American journalist who devoted himself to the study of Eastern philosophy and religion. While he was living in Europe as the manager and foreign affairs writer for several newspaper companies, he became acquainted with famous European philosophers as well as Japanese diplomats such as Suematsu Kenshō and Hayashi Gonsuke, who introduced him to Buddhism and Japanese Shinto, the native religion of Japan. He visited Japan in 1932 and lived there for a while as he continued his scholarly work. His departure date from Japan is unknown, but he died in New York on May 13, 1941. See Related Materials.

Arrangement:

The original organization was kept for Subseries 1, but item groups were renamed and re-arranged in alphabetical order. Subseries 2 is arranged by Japanese geographic names in alphabetical order, followed by subjects, including non-Japanese geographic names, also in alphabetical order.

Subseries:  Subseries 2.1: Mason Photographs, 1915-1941

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains 108 photographs and correspondence collected by J. W. T. Mason. The date range of the events captured in the photographs is 1915-1945; however, Mason died in 1941. Portraits of Japanese and some American politicians, nobles, generals, and ambassadors seem to have been collected by Mason during his stay in Japan in the 1930s. Photographs are annotated by Mason. Kai Catalog No. 2869.

Subseries:  Subseries 2.2: Mason Postcards, circa 1929-1939

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains 571 postcards, photographs and ephemera collected by J. W. T. Mason during his stay in Japan in the 1930s. Many items are annotated by Mason. Kai Catalog No. 2946.

Series:  Series 3: Katharine Becke Photographs

Scope and Content:

This series contains 14 hand-colored photographs of Japanese scenery from the late nineteenth century. They are noted as a gift of Katharine Becke, 29 May 1942, and originally recorded in the Kai Catalog No. 2953. Photographs are arranged in alphabetical order by the titles written on the original mounts.

Series:  Series 4: Japanese Subjugation of Rehe Sheng (China) "Public Relations" Photographs (Nekka Tōbatsu ni kansuru kōhō shashin), 1933

Scope and Content:

This series includes 138 black-and-white photographs (size: 4 5/16 in. x 6 in.) taken during the Japanese subjugation of the Rehe Sheng (Nekka 熱河) Province of China by the Japanese government in 1933. The photographs were used for the Japanese government’s "public relation" purposes. Some photographs are dated from February to April 1933. The photographs were originally organized in five groups entitled "Nekka Tōbatsu ni kansuru kōhō shashin (熱河討伐ニ関する弘報写真)," "sono-ichi [part 1]” through “sono-go [part 5]." Kai Catalog No. 2881. Arranged in the original order.

Series:  Series 5: Japanese Photographs & Postcards, 1911-1982

Scope and Content:

This series includes 1,600 postcards and photographs and other ephemera items. The majority of items are undated, and the donors are unknown. Kai Catalog (see Bibliography) has further details on each item (Kai Catalog No. is stated in item description).

Arrangement:

This series is arranged by geographic names in alphabetical order, followed by subjects, including non- Japanese geographic names, also in alphabetical order.