解説Fortune Teller on the street of Japan (1914 by Elstner Hilton).jpg
My spouse's uncle Elstner Hilton took this photo in Japan between 1914 and 1918.
I do not know whether the man is a fortune teller, but the image suggests it. If anyone would like to offer a different interpretation, I would welcome it. Flickr Tags: fortune tellerwoman consulting fortune tellerOld Japanvintage photo of JapanJapan 1914 - 1918prewar japan日本昔の日本大正時代周易占断所日月堂.
Annotation from Wikimedia Commons: The sign behind says, transliterated, "I Ching Fortune-telling Judgement Place". So this is an image of fortune-telling, and the teller is holding a bundle of yarrow stalks.
Japan 1914 - 1918 I own the originals of these unpublished family photos. ... As a salesman for Atkins Saw Company, Elstner Hilton traveled to the Far East to sell commercial sawmills in the early years of the 20th century. ... Elstner Hilton was my father-in-law Frank Hilton's* brother, which makes him my spouse's uncle. ... * Elstner Hilton's brother Frank Hilton compiled a scrapbook of photographs, clippings and other ephemera at Stanford University between 1907 and 1911. ... ps: I now have reason to believe that the photos of Japan may be stock photos that Uncle Elstner purchased and pasted into his album. There may be some exceptions: the images of his sister, Miriam, and photos of logging operations in the Phillippines.