A hodgepodge of historical photos from Asian countries (20 photos)

Life in Asian countries has changed dramatically over the course of the 20th century, from colonial dependence to rapid economic growth and technological breakthroughs. This can be seen in a new selection of interesting historical photographs taken in different Asian countries.

A successful merchant. Shanghai, China, 1938.





"At the Heights." China, 1980. Chinese women perform maintenance work on high-voltage electrical cables at the Fushin Power Station.



A family of internally displaced persons huddle between freight cars in Sinmak. North Korea, 1950.





Shrine gate on Miyajima Island. Japan, 1930.



A Vietnamese refugee with his children returns to war-torn Hue, 1968.



Muslim women pray at sunrise over the Himalayas in Srinagar, Kashmir, India, 1948.



A Vietnamese welder, 1975.



A Japanese man looks at the peak of sacred Mount Fuji, 1930.



Seoul, Korea, 1959.



A Korean sailor on a sailboat, 1904.



Japan, 1983.



Elderly pipe smokers. China, 1936.



Young girls. Japan, 1930.



A Japanese couple taking a photo, 1959.

For a long time now, Japan has been the most progressive country in the production of photographic equipment. Japan began developing its optical industry in the early 20th century. Companies such as Canon (founded in 1937) and Nikon (founded in 1917) began producing lenses for microscopes and movie cameras, which laid the foundation for further development of technology.



Seoul Station, 1950.



Woman and little girls in a village. China, 1930s.



Street scene in the capital city of Keijo (also known as Seoul), Korea, 1944. The building in the foreground is a Mitsubishi department store.



Children of Singapore, 1962.



Bangkok, Thailand, 1924.



Robot "Master Ichiro" by Jiro Aizawa. Tokyo, Japan, 1959. Engineer Jiro Aizawa created this two-meter-tall humanoid robot named "Master Ichiro" that can walk and talk using microphones in its head.