So I did some photos for cosplayer friends recently, a Vocaloid song called 千本桜, and the PV has associated imagery like this:

What time period?

History-sensei Akira advises that we're looking at Meiji/Taisho period. Think turn of the century, like 1900-1920.

I've got one shot in particular that I think would make a great photo for official ID papers or something similar (think of like a military passport or something). I can make it b/w, beat it up to make it look aged, design and print some sort of page structure to go around it. But first, I need some idea of what that would look like, and whether it's something I can work with at all.

The Senbonzakura garb is not entirely clear, because school uniforms were military-inspired as well, but it's a fair guess that it's military because they have medals and stuff on the uniforms.

This is a Google search for Taisho-era attire, which gives us 1912-1926. It's pretty classic stuff that we've seen in Sakura Taisen. (example)

This establishes that printed photos are entirely plausible, sweet!

What do documents look like?

• Passport for colonial subjects: http://www.globalnum.com.tw/13-2_auction/04_literature/01_images/1504.gif

• A Japanese passport (unknown year, possibly 1940s era): http://auctions.c.yimg.jp/img385.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/users/7/6/0/6/de_coracao_53-img600x450-13690236758sb1br13591.jpg

  • It says Grorious Nippon across the top, probably "teikoku something-something" (actually, "Passport of the Greater Japanese Empire")

• A nifty guide to current stuff, and some history: http://www.turning-japanese.info/2012/07/types-of-japanese-passports.html

  • "Fun fact: the very first passport issued by Japan was issued by the Japanese Empire to a juggler/acrobat by the name of 隅田川浪五郎 {SUMIDAGAWA Namigorō}, for the purpose of performing at the World Expo in Paris in 1867."

• Official information: http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/annai/honsho/shiryo/qa/sonota_01.html

  • Looks like some good history here

• Mention of pictures here? http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/yosha/yr/empires/Detritus_passports.html#japan1922

  • Referring to http://www.bunzo.jp/

What shall I do?

I think I can get away with either a booklet-type passport, or an "old-style" paper sheet. The latter will be especially complex, if it's at all like the grand old document link above ("colonial subjects").

I want an imperial seal stamp

• http://www.stamps.net.au/products/Hand-Rubber-Stamp-Square-Shape-38mm-Square.html

• http://www.jemacstamps.com.au/conventional_-_square_42.html

References

• http://vocaloid.wikia.com/wiki/%E5%8D%83%E6%9C%AC%E6%A1%9C_%28Senbonzakura%29

• http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120313224640/vocaloid/images/5/56/SenbonzakuraMiku2.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan

• http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/1406368/passport-issued-to-setsutaro-hasegawa-japan-1897

• http://lanefamilygenealogy.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/mystery-monday-japanese-passport-in.html

• https://www.google.com/search?q=japan+seal+script+font&safe=off&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=_zVIUtvYBMmqkwWx94HwCw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAA&biw=2048&bih=1026&dpr=1.25

• Exploitable: http://www.linotype.com/search/Keywords:japanese-seal-script&

• http://www.linotype.com/110329/DFKinBunJapaneseStdW3-product.html

• http://www.nihongoresources.com/language/writing/typefaces.html

• http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Japanese.html

• http://www.freejapanesefont.com/category/handwriting/