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It's a staged photograph by Kimbei Kusakabe (or Baron Raimund von Stillfried, they sold each other's works a lot and Kusakabe worked for Stillfried at one point) of hikyaku (express couriers) created to sate Western desire for souvenirs of "real" Japan.

They had long since disappeared by the time the photographs were taken, replaced with uniformed men on bicycles. In the past though, they ran express mail in relays with a partner who carried a torch.

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hermitcrab 9 days ago | parent | next [-]

Thanks. Are the tattoos, the scanty clothing and the somewhat (to my eyes) effeminate appearance anything to do with being a courier? Or just something to titillate postcard buyers?

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WastedCucumber 9 days ago | parent [-]

I was curious about this too and did some searching. Found this source

https://www.oldphotosjapan.com/photos/882/19th-century-japan...

as well as the wikipedia page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikyaku

I didn't see anything about tattoos or the eye makeup, but the loincloth definitely came up. That was their typical clothing, regardless of weather, although I find kind of hard to believe.

	▲	hermitcrab 9 days ago \| parent [-]
		Interesting. I wonder how easy it is to run distances carrying a pole? >I didn't see anything about tattoos or the eye makeup, but the loincloth definitely came up. That was their typical clothing, regardless of weather, although I find kind of hard to believe. Maybe that was just while they were running? And the way station provided some warm clothing when they stopped?

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merothwell 9 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Fascinating