Can anyone help with a Japanese translation

[cowanw]

I have this Elliot and Fry photograph of, I think, Y. Yamazaki. I wonder if there are any Japanese language readers who might help with a translation of the back of the photograph?

[John Olsen]

The right column looks like the date: Meiji era 36th year, 12th month (1903). The lower middle column is Yamazaki with kanji for four-man-six, perhaps yon-nan-roku. The left is "presented" (?) then katakana spelling of some place - mi se su pu su ka ri, I think. Well, I'm not much help, am I?

[angusparker]

The right column looks like the date: Meiji era 36th year, 12th month (1903). The lower middle column is Yamazaki with kanji for four-man-six, perhaps yon-nan-roku. The left is "presented" (?) then katakana spelling of some place - mi se su pu su ka ri, I think. Well, I'm not much help, am I?

The sitter's name is Shioroku (given name) Yamazaki (family name). Here is some more on him here and here. If you want to google search him use these characters: 山崎四男六 it's not a common name at all, his given name I think literally means: "Forth Son of Six". He was adopted into a family possibly as a Mukoyōshi becuase he was smart and ambitious.

I'm not surprised he knew foreigners and was photographed - since he was in Yokohama working in the Customs Office at some point and must have had quite a bit of contact with "gaijin".

You are right on the date: Meiji reign year 36 was 1903, and the pencil in English says "Dec 1903' to confirm that.

My take on the second name is "Mrs (from the phonetic Misesu) Buasukarii (God knows what that was in Russian, Turkish etc etc originally...the Japanese phonetically transliterate names, for example my British pronounced name "Parker" becomes Paakaa!).

The name could start with "Pu" but I think that's two dashes not a circle to the right which would indicate "Bu". Alternatively, it could be a "comma" dividing the Mrs from the name in which case the name is "Mrs Fuasukarii".

[cowanw]

Amazing results. Interesting the sitter was in England in 1903; perhaps to go with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902
Thank you all

[angusparker]

Amazing results. Interesting the sitter was in England in 1903; perhaps to so with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902
Thank you all

Yes, we forget that the Japanese were allies in WWI....