Quarto (30 x 21.5 cm or 11 ¾ x 8 ½ in). Twenty-eight stiff tan paper leaves (six blank). 143 gelatin silver photographs, sixteen from ca. 25 x 20 cm (9 ¾ x 8 in) to 15.5 x 11 cm (6 x 4 ¼ in) and 127 from ca. 11.5 x 8.5 cm (4 ½ x 3 ¼ in) to 5.5 x 4.5 cm (2 ¼ x 1 ¾ in). 32 images with period ink captions on verso. Eleven pieces of ephemera from ca. 25 x 18 cm (9 ¾ x 7 in) to 13.5 x 8.5 cm (5 ½ x 3 ¼ in). Period blue cloth album; front cover with embroidered title “Occupation Souvenir of Japan,” dragon, and insignia of the US Army 25th Infantry Division. Both covers with mild rubbing on extremities, front and rear hinges cracked; several leaves with minor tears not affecting photos; some photos with creasing or minor tears, a few photos mildly faded or with silvering, but overall a very good album of interesting photos.

A lively collection of original and studio photographs compiled by an officer of the US Army’s 25th Infantry Division stationed in Japan during the Allied occupation (1945-1952). The officer trained in Fort Ord, California, and graduated from the “Leadership School” in 1949.
Over 50 photographs show American-occupied military bases in Japan. They include snapshots of training exercises and tents, likely at the East Fuji Maneuver Area; a building with a sign reading “Shinodayama Barracks”; and the buildings (including the “I and E offices” and boiler rooms), barracks, and water tower of Camp Sakai (present-day Sugimoto campus of Osaka Metropolitan University). Five studio photographs also show the camp at the East Fuji Maneuver Area.

Other photographs in the album show Kyoto, including several shrines, Yasaka Pagoda, and the walls of Nijō Castle; street views of Kobe; and Namba and Umeda Stations in Osaka. Two snapshots show a musical performance with Japanese singers using the back of a van as a stage. There are also studio photographs of a devastated Tokyo, the Tokyo Imperial Palace Bridge, Dai-ichi Building (general headquarters for the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers), Yomeimon Gate at Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine, Miyako Odori dancers, the Kamkura Daibutsu, and the torii gate at Miyajima.

Several photographs show the compiler and his peers at Fort Ord, posing in front of the “3rd Platoon D” barracks. There is also a group portrait of the compiler’s graduating class—their surnames are written on verso.

Ephemera in the album includes eight printed photo postcards; two dinner menus, one for seafood, from Hotel Rakuyo in Kyoto, dated January 1950; and an informative flyer on “Daibutu” (Daibutsu), the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, located at the Buddhist temple Tōdai-ji in Nara, Japan.

Overall, a historically interesting collection of photographs showing Japan during Allied occupation.