In the mid 1920′s in the northern Japanese town of Hakodate, photographer Kumagai Kōtarō (1893–1955) was making remarkable street photographs with a cumbersome camera using glass-plate negatives. His work was discovered relatively recently and compiled into a wonderful book entitled はこだて 記憶の街 (i.e. “Hakodate: Town of memories”). It is an essential addition into the rich history of Japanese street photography.
A comprehensive and well done write-up of the book can be found on Microcord here: Hakodate in the 1920s.