Shima Kakoku
Shima • Illustration — Self-portrait of Shima Kakoku (1870) Shima Kakoku was a pioneering Japanese photographer and artist. He was born in modern-day Tochigi Prefecture.
Shima Kakoku
Shima Kakoku · pwHDvoxrqu7jzw at Google Cultural Institute, zoom level maximum · Public domain
- Born
- 1827 · Shimotsuke Province.
- Died
- 1870
- Nationality
- Japan
- Occupation
- photographer · engineer
- Teachers
- Tsubaki Chinzan · Tazaki Sōun
- Languages
- Japanese
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Shima • Illustration — Self-portrait of Shima Kakoku (1870) Shima Kakoku was a pioneering Japanese photographer and artist. He was born in modern-day Tochigi Prefecture.
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getty · 500458329 · wikidata · Q3482111 · wikipedia · Shima Kakoku
In this article
Early life
Early life
Possibly inspired by his father, who was an avid painter, in 1847 he entered an art school in Edo (now Tokyo) where he met Ryū (surname unknown; 1823–1900), a fellow student. The two married in 1855 and soon began moving about the Kantō region, possibly exhibiting their works along the way.
Photography career
Photography career
At this time Shima seems to have had some pictures published as book illustrations. At some point the couple learned photography, and in the spring of 1864 Ryu photographed Kakoku, thereby creating the earliest known photograph by a Japanese woman. A wet-plate print of this portrait remains in the Shima family archives. The Shimas operated a photographic studio in Edo in about 1865 to 1867, until Kakoku accepted a teaching position at Kaiseijo. Later, Shima worked at Daigaku Tōkō (the predecessor of the School of Medicine, University of Tokyo), and while there invented the first Japanese movable type, for the printing of medical textbooks. Shima Kakoku died in 1870, and his wife returned to Kiryū where she opened her own photographic studio.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Shima Kakoku”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3482111: Shima Kakoku
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
authority file
- Getty Union List of Artist Names 500458329, Shima, Kakoku.
General reference · The Getty Research Institute
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority file
Getty Union List of Artist Names 500458329, Shima, Kakoku.The Getty Research Institute
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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