These amazing hand coloured photos of Japan from the late 1800's to early 1900's have recently hit the internet, giving an amazing glimpse into a historically private culture.

Armed with the relatively recent invention of photography, the shots were believed to be taken by Italian Adolfo Farsari. A photographer who after a brief military career, made Japan his adopted home.

Farsari's photographic work was highly regarded, particularly his hand-colored portraits and landscapes, which he sold mostly to foreign residents and visitors to the country.

His studio was the last notable foreign-owned studio in Japan and was one of the country's largest and most prolific commercial photographic firms. Largely due to Farsari's exacting technical standards and his entrepreneurial abilities, it had a significant influence on the development of photography in Japan.