Scenic Mementos of Japan

Scenic mementos of Japan is a National Diet Library exhibition from a couple of years ago. It's in english and I didn't find the interface particularly endearing - better links to me are: Edo Area and Osaka Area which give thumbnail views of all that's on offer. Essentially the exhibition shows off (for the mostpart) woodblock images from the Edo and Meiji periods for the two main urban centres in Japan covering festivals, amusements, work, people and outdoor activities. There are some comparison views with today and film available in some instances. [The areas/periods in the above images are in their URLs]

This comes from the Nippon in the World page which also has photos from the 1873 Vienna Exposition Japan feature together with historical political ephemera.