Panoramakan

(Above:) Ueno Park Panoramakan. A temporary Panoramakan was an entertainment venue for visitors to the 1907 Meiji Exposition held at Ueno Park.

Two Panorama-kan [Panorama building] theaters existed in Tokyo after the turn of the 19th century. The example above, a temporary theater, was built for the 1907 Meiji Exposition at Ueno Park; a larger, more permanent version was built in the nearby Asakusa entertainment district.

The Panorama-kan was only one of the many novelties and distractions that gave "Rokku" its boisterous reputation. Both theaters were similarly built, and operated on the same principle. Both buildings were round, white, wooden structures, with a long corridor and staircase that led to battlefield dioramas.

The representations of famous battles were all the rage after Japan's victory over Russia in 1905. Painted scenes decorated the walls of the Panorama-kan; in the foreground were life-size models representing great battles from the American Civil War, Waterloo, and, of course, the recently won Russo-Japanese war.