Buy this book on-line

Collection of Nine Original Photographs in Occupied Japan (Tokyo, Christmas Day, 1945)

Collection of nine original black-and-white photographs of places in postwar occupied Japan. All of the photographed subjects are in Tokyo. Emphasis is on city scenes and buildings. No date, circa 1945. 6" x 4 1/4." Each photo is very clean and intact except for the occasional small mark and slightly bumped corners. Near Fine copies. The titles name the depicted subject. The titles are printed on the front of each photo as follows: "'Sanshin Bilding [sic],' Tokyo"; "'Shirokiya' Department Store, Tokyo"; "Parliament House, Tokyo"; "The News Factory, 'Asahi' Shinbun [sic], Tokyo"; "X' Mas Day at Tokyo, 1945"; "X' Mas Day at Tokyo, 1945" [another view of the same building]; "Ginza, Tokyo"; "Ginza Street, Tokyo"; and "Imperial Palace." The following is a description or history about each subject. The Sanshin Building was built c. 1930. It was later demolished in 2007 to make way for the new Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, a multi-use development with office, commercial, dining, and entertainment venues, which was completed in 2018. Parts of the new interior architecture mimic the curves of the original Sanshin Building. The Shirokiya Department Store was founded in 1662 as a dry goods store. It expanded its product line over the centuries. However, beginning in the twentieth century, a series of natural and man-made disasters as well as WWII and the postwar Allied Occupation of Japan brought ruin to the company. To prevent a hostile takeover, Shirokiya merged with Tokyu Group in 1958. In 1959, Shirokiya's first location outside of Japan opened at the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i. Eventually, Tokyu chose to sell Shirokiya, which resulted in Ala Moana Center being the only Shirokiya location to this day. The Parliament House is currently known as the National Diet Building. It was built in 1936 and still stands to this day. As the name suggests, it is where both legislative houses of the National Diet of Japan meet. Asahi Shimbun is one of four major newspapers in Japan and one of its oldest newspapers, being founded in 1879. It is unclear if the depicted newspaper building still stands to this day; Asahi Shimbun headquarters are currently located at the Nakanoshima Festival Tower which was completed in 2017. The first "X'mas Day" photo shows a large crowd of people gathered outside of a building with a sign that reads, "Merry X'mas." The other "X'mas Day" photo shows another view of the same building from the front that was taken from farther away and shows a pond or waterway in the foreground. There are two photos depicting Ginza. Ginza is a district in Tokyo; the first photo focuses on the district's famous landmark, Wako store (Ginza Wako), which was founded in 1881. Wako is still open to this day and sells luxury goods such as watches, jewelry, handbags, chocolate, and dishware. The Wako buildings functioned as a PX store (military general store) from 1945-1952 during the occupation. The other "Ginza" photo shows a bustling street scene in Ginza district. The "Imperial Palace" photo shows a view of the Tokyo Imperial Palace (background) and the famous Seimon Ishibashi stone bridge (foreground) which leads to palace's front gates. The photo was taken from the vantage point of the moat. The palace was built on the site of the former Edo Castle, which, in turn, had been built in 1457. The palace can still be visited today.. Photographic Image. Book Condition: Collectible-Near Fine (Near Fine). Binding: No Binding

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.