Kenbu (lit. ‘sword dance’) is performed in hakama [a type of trouser] and kimono, wearing tabi, a type of divided-toe socks. Various other items may be used in the costume, including hachimaki (a headband used to keep the dancer’s hair pulled back) and tasuki (to keep kimono sleeves out of the way).

During their lifetimes, both Kawakami and Sada would cross paths with several of Japan’s most influential aristocrats who acted as patrons, benefactors and promoters of their careers, probably none more influential than Japan’s first prime minister, Ito Hirobumi.

... a famed geisha and dancer at the beginning who, by the end of her career, was considered to be the most significant actress of the Meiji era – considered by some to be Japan’s first actress – who could count among her fans Sarah Bernhardt, Ellen Terry, and Isadora Duncan.

The event was organized by the Mikasa Preservation Society, the organization behind the establishment of a permanent display at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal of Mikasa, Admiral Togo’s flagship during the Tsushima battle, the last remaining example of a pre-Dreadnought battleship anywhere in the world.

The Sea and Sky Exposition was open from March 20 thru May 31, 1930, at Ueno Park, Tokyo, marking the 25th anniversary of Japan’s victory at the Battle of the Japan Sea (Tsushima) during the Russo-Japanese War, combining patriotic remembrance with the promotion of Japanese industrial pride.

– Seeing Stars: Sports Celebrity, Identity, and Body Culture in Modern Japan, by Dennis J. Frost, 2010

“… Since Hitachiyama was one of Japan’s earliest sports stars, the narrative elements employed in crafting his story established important precedents, contributing to to the emergence of what I call a sports-star paradigm that shaped how later sports celebrities would be viewed and told.”

“What tied these elements together and made Hitachiyama appealing to so many people was the fact that Hitachiyama also made for a great story.

“Recurring evaluations of the origins and continuing basis of his fame almost invariably cited three things to justify claims of greatness: his achievements and skills as a wrestler, his excelled physique and strength, and his dignified character.

“Thus, in these cinema districts where banners and building fronts were rival transmitters to the street, dynamic information triumphed over exuberant but static building." – Learning from the Japanese City: Looking East in Urban Design, by Barrie Shelton, 2012

Despite a noted drinking culture in Japan, a surprising number of people embraced the foreign concept of alcohol prohibition. Activists in Meiji era Japan observed the US prohibition movement and sought to implement similar measures, although full prohibition ultimately was never enacted in Japan.

Although Japan did not enact a nationwide prohibition on alcohol as did the United States, public health campaigns and civil society groups (especially women’s organizations) played a key role in communicating the dangers of alcohol during the interwar years.

... , and that changes to the status quo or actions that affect preservation would be subject to permission from local commissioners.

With the Society’s prodding, the Diet in 1919 enacted the Law for the Preservation of Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments, stipulating that the Minister of the Interior designate historic sites, places of scenic beauty, and natural monuments ...

The preservation movement among the private sector grew with the establishment, in 1911, of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments led by Marquis Tokugawa Yorimichi.

By the end of the Meiji period, as national land development affected by railway construction and urban development accelerated, the preservation of historic sites and scenic spots and the protection of flora and fauna became recognized as issues.

"Be that as it may, it concerns me not, for my experience is my only guide, and I dub him a Prince of Hosts and his caravansary ideal in its comforts.”

– The Overland Monthly, January 1910

“I have been told that Manwaring’s experience in hotel work and management extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in the United States, and that long before he became famous as a hotel man in the Orient he was pointed out as a rising man in our own dear land.