Twenty-year-old women draped in traditional kimonos gather for their “Coming-of-Age Day” ceremony at the Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, eastern suburb of Tokyo on January 13, 2020. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)

A man prays to mourn victims of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in front of a ship brought ashore by the disaster in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. (Photo by Kyodo via Reuters)

These timeless postcards offer an eye-opening glimpse into life in Japan in the early 20th century. Taken from hand-colored photographs, the postcards showcase the still beauty of the country, depicting a nation on the cusp of modernization. The images feature solemn fishermen, bustling streets, temples and shrines: a country yet to be influenced by Western culture. The tinting effect brings out the rich colors of the natural surroundings, with trees, flowers and cherry blossoms jumping from the original black-and-white images. Here: Toyokuni Shrine Nakanoshima, Osaka, Japan. (Photo by New York Public Library/Caters News)

An illustration showing scarecrows pulling a firewood cart beside a road is on display at Kakashi no Sato, or the Scarecrow's Hometown on September 10, 2014 in Himeji, Japan. In this district of Yasutomi in Himeji city, over 100 of scarecrows stand in farmlands and abandoned houses to illustrate the good old Japanese countryside and attract visitors. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

Women, dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos, cross a street in Kyoto, western Japan November 19, 2014. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Children dressed in festival costume sit on the huge paper doll of historical Japanese figure named Hashi-Benkeii on the carts during the Mikuini annual festival on May 20, 2014 in Sakai, Japan. The annual festival takes place from May 19-21 and is attended by thousands of visitors. During the festival people dressed in traditional Japanese costumes pull carts carrying 6 meter high dolls of Japanese historical figures through the narrow streets. The origins of the festival are unclear but its history can be traced back more than 250 years. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)