Ogawa Kazumasa was a Japanese photographer and businessman during the period when Japan opened itself to foreign influences after centuries of isolation. He began studying English and photography at the age of fifteen and later moved to Tokyo to refine his English. He landed a job as an interpreter for the police department while apprenticing with a master photographer. After returning from a stint in Boston, where he took courses in portrait photography, he opened the first photographic studio in Tokyo in 1884. Kazumasa was a founding member of the Japan Photographic Society, which is still active today.