National Museum of Ethnology, OSAKA, JAPAN Close

Nepal Photo Database

Japanese
Enter
Nepal Photo Database consists of 3,584 photographs taken by Ryuzo TAKAYAMA, a former professor of Kyoto Bunkyo University, and other members of the Japanese Scientific Expedition for Northwestern Nepal in 1958, under the leadership of Jiro KAWAKITA. The database includes 295 photographs of materials collected in Nepal by the expedition, and now held at the National Museum of Ethnology.

"Search by map" … View 1,062 photographs selected from all of the photographs.
"Search by materials" … View 295 photographs of materials and relevant local photographs.
"Search by theme" … View 3,320 photographs organized by theme.

The photographs of Dolpa in northwestern Nepal are internationally valuable and precious records in terms of data depicting local scenes before the Tibet Uprising in 1959. By making this database publicly available for educational and academic purposes, we hope to help others by sharing historic photographs of the local area, exchanging and updating local information, and conducting research on Nepalese society and natural environment changes.
In the 1950's when the photographs were taken, the concept of portrait rights was not usually considered. Therefore the photographs were not always obtained with the consent of the people who were photographed. However, because they are historically very important, we are showing selected portraits to the general public for academic and educational use (see copyrights below). We also hope to return old records to local communities and the relatives of the people in photographs. Please inform us using the "Inquiry" form below, if you find any unsuitable content in this photo database.
Copyrights
Copyrights to the Nepal Photo Database belong to the National Museum of Ethnology.
Copyrights to the photographs belong to the photographers and/or those given the copyrights from the photographers.
Reproduction and reprinting without permission from the copyright holders are prohibited.
Photographs include digital watermarks. Please contact us if you need photographs without the watermarks for research purposes.
Note
* This Web site may not function properly on Mac computers.
Production Staff
Inquiry
Links to partner sites of the Nepal Photograph Database
Digital Himalaya
Links to other relevant sites
Tibet Culture Centre