THIS IMAGE is one of several examples of a largely ignored facet of Old Japanese Photography -- a genre called "TAISHO ART" or "TAISHO PICTORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY". The pictorialism movement in Japan reached its peak during the reign of EMPEROR TAISHO (1912-26), thus the name attached to the genre. See the extended comments at the set link for PICTORIALISM IN OLD JAPAN just to the right of this picture. RANDOM SOBA : www.flickriver.com/photos/24443965@N08/random/