Yokoyama Matsusaburo (1838–84) photographed the Takebashi monument opposite Palaceside Building. Besides the "Old Edo Castle Photo Album," he shot Japan's first exposition at Yushima Seido (1872) and joined the "Jinshin Inspection" with Ninagawa Noritane — photographing Todai-ji Daibutsuden, Horyu-ji pagoda = photo bottom left =, Shosoin treasures; some shown at Vienna 1873.
Not only a photographer — Edo-Tokyo Museum's 2011 show called him a rare figure mastering photos, lithography, oils, and more from the West. His "photo-oil" collage "Topknot Man and Foreigner" = photo top = is iconic.
He opened Tsutenkaku in Ueno, then taught art at the Army Academy — excellent facilities. First Japanese aerial photography from a balloon experiment. Edo-Tokyo Museum compares him to "Japan's Da Vinci."
Shimooka initially refused to teach him — painter Iwamatsu Korechika records Shimooka's anguish and Matsusaburo's persistence. In 1868, hearing Hakodate was occupied, he rushed north in bathhouse clothes to find his mother. Gazing at his rugged self-portrait = photo bottom right = invites reflection.
