Doing Photography and Social Research in the Allied Occupation of Japan, 1948-1951:
A Personal and Professional Memoir

Photographs taken by anthropologist John W. Bennett in occupied Japan, 1948-1951, (a few were made in the 1960's during his term at Waseda University), with comments on the photos by Bennett. Also included are extensive selections from Bennett's professional journal of the period, and other documents. Consisting of a personal and professional memoir, this site is also a record of a unique experiment in social analysis and research that focuses on a period of particular significance in the development of Japanese and international history, politics, economics, and culture. 23. Firing up a Bus in Sapporo Firing up the charcoal burner in the early morning, in the dead of winter in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. During the war, most vehicles--or at least the public and private vehicles that were allowed to operate--were powered by fumes from charcoal burning in a stove attached to the rear. Gasoline was reserved for the military and other essential activities. The outdoor temperature when this picture was taken was ten degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

This site is totally amazing. Incredible pictures and text about Japan in another time. It has another meaning for me. I moved to Japan in 1957. My dad was a transport pilot in the Air Force. The Japan in these pictures is not that far removed from the one I lived in. My dad first went Tokyo in 1952 on the way to Korea and I remember him telling me about these buses running on charcoal fumes. He also remembered bombed out blocks that were all built up by the time we moved there. Of course the charcoal buses were gone too.

35. The Toy Shop Another shopping scene. Note the youth facing the camera: he is wearing the standard public secondary school uniform. The stall is selling children's books and toys including toy samurai swords.

I was twelve when we moved to Japan. I was the oldest of six. I remember those little toy shops and toy samurai swords. My brothers had them. We lived in a Japanese house with the sliding shoji screens covered in rice paper. The rice paper didn't do well with samurai swords flying around. My dad became very adept at repairing holes in rice paper but eventually he gave up and covered them in plywood.

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  thanks to Photoethnography.com

I have slides that I took when we were in Japan. I need to put them up with some of the things I remember. Yet another project!