Strand te Japan, met op de achtergrond de berg Fuji before 1892

This photograph of a beach in Japan with Mount Fuji in the background was taken by William Kinnimond Burton. Burton was a Scottish engineer and photographer who spent much of his career in Meiji-era Japan. He was invited by the Japanese government to teach sanitary engineering at Tokyo Imperial University. His photos offer insights into the social and cultural changes that Japan experienced during this period of rapid modernization and westernization. As a social historian, I am interested in Burton's role as a Westerner documenting Japanese life. We can consider questions of cultural representation and power dynamics inherent in this kind of exchange. What was the public role of photography at this time? Was it a tool of objective documentation or a means of shaping perceptions of Japan for Western audiences? These are the kinds of questions we can explore through further research into Burton's life, his writings, and the institutional context in which he worked.