There is no doubt that Japan is a simply fascinating nation, as its wide range of traditions, flavors, culture, architecture and history have captivated a large audience in recent years. This is something that today we can attribute thanks to the popularity of anime, manga and video games, as well as this fascination with the culture of the Asian country has been boosted and has also reached a new audience thanks to the globalization that has taken place in the last 20 years.
Evidently, this fascination of the West towards Japan is not a new phenomenon, since about 100 years ago there was a man who could be defined as the predecessor of all modern “Otakus“, who made history thanks to this, a peculiar and very interesting photograph that we will see below.
This epic image of a tourist in Japan has ignited hype among fans!
Through a publication on “Twitter/X” the account called “Teach me about Science” (@EnsedeCiencia) caused a stir on the platform by showing a photograph dating back to 1890, approximately 134 years ago, where the following can be read: “Photo of English tourist in Japan who paid to wear authentic samurai armor for a photo. The photo is from 1890, making him the first documented otaku in history.” This peculiar photo takes place in a historical context that goes from the year 1853 to the year 1869, year that gives beginning to the era of the “Meiji restoration” where the emperor returns to be the figure that holds the political, military and social power.
In these years the Japanese country suffered a cultural and social shock, because in 1853 the United States Commodore Matthew C. Perry, with his fleet of steamships, stormed Tokyo Bay and forced the Asian country to open up to the world to trade again. This event put an end to the foreign policy called “Sakoku” of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which kept Japan backward and isolated from the world for more than 200 years. This new context caused a civil war that also put an end to the feudal system and in 1869 returned the emperor to power, starting a reform that gave birth to modern Japan with new and modern institutions.
Evident to the citizens of Western nations, the opening of Japan was like knowing a new world full of traditions, history and many new mysteries to discover, which unleashed a massive influx of foreign tourists to the port city of Yokohama in the years following the restoration. It is here where our photograph of the English tourist takes relevance, because as it happens today, the impact of knowing a new culture and seeing the armor worn by the mythical samurai, surely caused a tremendous impression on this man that led him to immortalize his trip in this photograph that has survived to this day.
As expected, this publication of the “oldest otaku in history” caused a stir on the social network, where its popularity was such that it reached thousands of “likes” and many comments where fans of Japan and anime were quite impressed by this image. So tell us in the comments section what you thought of this photo and if you knew all the historical context behind this epic image. As a final recommendation we invite you to watch “Rurouni Kenshin” (Samurai X) as the plot combines fiction with a bit of history in the years after the beginning of the “Meiji restoration”.
