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)

Participants pose for a photographers during the Miss Iraq Pageant in Baghdad, December 19, 2015. (Photo by Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

A bull savar (jockey) jumps off his tray as he competes in a bull race in Pind Sultani, Pakistan January 31, 2017. (Photo by Caren Firouz/Reuters)

Actor John Travolta (L) and recording artist Lady Gaga attend Interscope's Grammy After Party with Lady Gaga at the Peppermint Club on February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Interscope)

A man plays with his pet goat while taking a bath to cool off in a canal during hot and humid weather in Lahore, Pakistan May 30, 2018. (Photo by Mohsin Raza/Reuters)

People visit the Yellow Sea forest park as the leaves of Dawn Redwoods turn red and yellow in winter in Yancheng, eastern China's Jiangsu province on December 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)

Pakistani Waseem Akram, 27, dances during a private party in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. By day, Akram sells mobile phone accessories from an alleyway shop in an old neighborhood of this Pakistani city, Thursday, January 15, 2015. Across conservative Pakistan, where Islamic extremists launch near-daily attacks and many follow a strict interpretation of their Muslim faith, male cross-dressers and the transgendered face a challenge of balancing two identities. Some left their villages for the anonymity of a big city, fearing the reactions of their families while still concealing their identity from neighbors and co-workers. (Photo by Muhammed Muheisen/AP Photo)

A Bosnian special forces soldier returns fire 06 April 1992 downtown Sarajevo as he and civilians come under fire from Serbian snipers. The Serb extremists were shooting from the roof of a hotel at a peace demonstration of some of 30,000 people as fighting between Bosnian and Serb fighters escalated in the capital of Bosnia- Hercegovina. (Photo by Mike Persson/AFP Photo)