Soon there was too much work for Wirgman, and Beato was employing Japanese 'ukiyo-e' wood block artists to add the delicate colours; they were organised as a production line to work on the prints, and could turn out 20 or 30 a day.
Beato's pictures were taken for sale to a Western audience - travellers, merchants and diplomats visiting Japan who would take back home albums of his pictures to display to family and friends.
Beato's time in Japan coincided with the overthrow of the Shogun and the Samurai and the return to power of the Emperor in 1868. His 45 years of 'enlightened peace' (Meiji) and was a period in which Japan was undertaking a rapid modernisation, discarding many of the old customs and modes of dress and adopting Western technology. Japanese were encouraged to study abroad and foreigners invited to come to Japan and teach the new techniques.
Beato's audience had little interest in this, and his pictures show an exotic view, concentrating on traditional dress and occupations and on dramatic and picturesque landscapes. This did not stop him picturing scenes that were barbaric to a modern audience, including executions by crucifixion and he also reported on various events and wars in Japan.
Beato's vast output over the years and also the export of much of his work back to Europe and North America made his view of Japan the dominant one for this period. In his later years in Japan he also pursued other business interests and finally left Japan in 1884. He continued to travel and photograph, settling in Rangoon a few years later.
Austrian painter Baron Raimund von Stillfried-Ratenicz (1839-1911) set up his photographic studio in competition with Beato around 1871, and in 1877 he purchased Beato's studio, equipment and negatives. Stillfried concentrated on portraits; although his subjects were still in their varied traditional costumes, he produced work that was much more a portrait of a person than the types depicted by Beato.