U.S. SERVICEMAN'S 16mm HOME MOVIES FROM OCCUPIED JAPAN YOKOHAMA HONG KONG 83964 (1950)

Synopsis

Shot in 1950 by an unknown U.S. serviceman, this 16mm home movie shows Occupied Japan and briefly Hong Kong. It provides a striking time capsule of post-war life in Japan, a nation which was slowly rebuilding after defeat. It starts in summer with footage of a fire at the port of Yokohama. It also contains footage of a military base, the launching a private motorboat "The Joker", built for one of the servicemen, and the launch of the fishing vessel "Krill" (briefly seen in another film from the same group). It also contains some cabaret scenes related to R&R -- cancan dancing and stage performances. 0:10 Big fire at an open-air storage area 0:24 Bringing a firehose 1:17 A fire engine arrives 2:21 The area after the fire 3:17 A couple of US Army Jeeps fording a stream 4:00 Clearing a landslide 4:20 Mountainous forest 5:04 A group of children and villagers, looking at the strangers (the cameraman) 5:58 The jovial elder green-bespectacled US serviceman, seen in the previous 6:45 A building with a sign Kameyama, probably a rural hotel or an auberge (ryokan or minshuku) 6:54 Another sign Kameyama News 7:03 Electric Lighting Misuzawa Co. Ltd. People in the street. Possibly Oshuu city but might also be Hong Kong. 7:20 Man, making toy temple guardian toys. 8:05 Elderly man, holding a toddler in his arms. 8:28 A shakuhachi flute player busking 8:48 A teenage girl and her mother picking and sorting flowers for making flower decorations and arrangements for bars, hotels etc – it was a…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

59 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage