After Japan surrendered in 1945, ending World War II, Allied forces led by the United States occupied the nation, bringing drastic changes. Japan was disarmed, its empire dissolved, its form of government changed to a democracy, and its economy and education system reorganized and rebuilt.
Years of reconstruction were required to recover from thousands of air raids, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By the 1950s, a former enemy became a Western ally, parts of American culture became part of the Japanese landscape,. And Japan began to find its economic footing as a manufacturer consumer devices and electronics.
These amazing color slides were found by Bill Greene that captured everyday life of Japan in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
Years of reconstruction were required to recover from thousands of air raids, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By the 1950s, a former enemy became a Western ally, parts of American culture became part of the Japanese landscape,. And Japan began to find its economic footing as a manufacturer consumer devices and electronics.
These amazing color slides were found by Bill Greene that captured everyday life of Japan in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
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| Healthy and bright Japanese girls in bathing suits |
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| ‘Koto’ or Japanese harp |
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| Art of tea-making |
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| Ashino-ko A lake |
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| Flower arrangement |
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| Hikers on Togakushi plateau |
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| Kamakura. Bridge of Enoshima. In order to connect KATASE with ENO-SHIMA, there is a fine wooden bridge built on the sea between them |
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| Kamakura. High-class residence section |
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| Mt. Yarigatake and climbers |
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| Naha City. Road of flagstone |
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| Naha City. Sakurazaka is a pleasure center with numerous eating and drinking places |
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| Naha City. Shurei Gate |
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| Naha City. The public market along the Heiwa Street south of the Kokusai Boulevard |
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| On the back read: “A Japanese housewife is clean and beautiful when she prepares a meal at the kitchen” |
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| On the back read: “A pearl is cultivated in the pearl-oyster gathered by fisherwomen under the water. It is one of precious jewels” |
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| On the back read: “Looking at the Mt. Fuji from the Mito Sea-shore of the Izu Peninsula” |
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| On the back read: “Looking at the Mt. Fuji from the neighborhood of the iron-bridge over the River Fuji” |
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| On the back read: “Maiko, or a budding Geisha Girl in Kyoto city, is fourteen or fifteen years of age, and waiting at banquets shows her dance” |
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| On the back read: “One of the three famous beautiful spots in Japan. The pine-grove of Miho (in Shizuoka Prefecture)” |
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| On the back read: “The girl, living in an isle, is full of local color. She can carry everything with a pole on her head” |
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| On the back read: “The Mt. Fuji and the fishing boats seen from the Shizuura Coast of Izu Peninsula” |
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| On the back read: “There are many women who are working in the home waters, picking pearl oysters, ear-shells, JAPANESE jelly plants & C. under the water. They are called ‘AMA’ (Fisherwomen)” |
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| On the back read: “When autumn comes and rice bears fruit, farm women work at paddy-field putting on field clothes of dark blue splashed pattern” |
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| Osaka Train Station |
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| Osaka. Dotonbori canal |
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| Osaka. Mt. Rokko cablecar |
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| Osaka. Shinsaibashi bridge |
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| Tea-making art, or 'tea ceremony' |
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| Tea-picking |
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| Tokyo Station |
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| Tokyo Train Station |
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| Tokyo. “The Paleface” playing |
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| Tokyo. Asakusa street scenes |
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| Tokyo. Ginza street scenes |
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| Tokyo. Nihonbashi bridge |
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| Tokyo. Nihonbashi bridge |
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| Tokyo. The shape of kimonoed young girls is beautiful even in Ginza, the modern street in Tokyo |
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| Tokyo. Wako Clock Tower Bulding in Ginza |
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| Yamana-ko A lake. Yamana-ko is the largest and most beautiful among the five lakes at the northern foot of Mt. Fuji |
Amazing how quickly they rebuilt after the war!
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