Ueno Hikoma was a pioneer Japanese photographer, born in Nagasaki. He is noted for his fine portraits, often of important Japanese and foreign figures, and for his excellent landscapes, particularly of Nagasaki and its surroundings. Ueno was a major figure in nineteenth-century Japanese photography as a commercially and artistically successful photographer and as an instructor.

Johannes Lijdius Catharinus Pompe van Meerdervoort was a Dutch physician based at Nagasaki, in Bakumatsu period Japan. While in Japan, he briefly taught medicine, chemistry and photography at the Nagasaki Naval Training Center, and established a medical school and hospital. Some of his noted students included Nagayo Sensai and Matsumoto Jun.