IN OCCUPIED JAPAN - THE HISTORIC DOCUMENT IN KODACHROME OF THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF LIFE IN THE FALLEN EMPIRE OF THE RISING SUN. REEL THREE [Main Title]

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  • Title: IN OCCUPIED JAPAN - THE HISTORIC DOCUMENT IN KODACHROME OF THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF LIFE IN THE FALLEN EMPIRE OF THE RISING SUN. REEL THREE [Main Title]
  • Film Number: MGH 4392
  • Other titles: WILLIAM COURTENAY AMATEUR FILMS OF PACIFIC WAR 1943-1946 [Alternative Title]
  • Summary: Amateur colour film shot by British journalist (Sunday Times, Sunday Chronicle, Daily Graphic) William Courtenay of his visit with the RAF to see the principal bombed cities of Japan including Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, Kure and particularly Hiroshima.
  • Description: An aircraft takes-off (seen from inside cockpit) and overflies an industrial area of Tokyo. Shots of mountains, rivers and Mount Fuji (Fujiyama), its peak almost covered by cloud. Nagoya (?) seen from the air, with much devastation apparent. The aircraft spends some time circling over the ruins. The aircraft overflies, probably, Osaka and Kobe next, showing the extensive damage done to the cities in general, but particularly to the industrial and dock areas. Kure and the islands offshore are seen next. The aircraft then flies over the destroyed city of Hiroshima, with its many rivers and gutted concrete buildings standing out in contrast to the devastated surroundings. Extensive views of the atom-bombed city are seen from the air. Mountains seen from the air, followed by a shot of the solitary snow-covered summit of Mount Fuji poking through the cloud layer. The aircraft closes in on Fuji's summit and closely overflies it, looking directly down into the crater. People walking along a traditional Japanese narrow street (Kyoto?), probably shopping for provisions. Men - some still in army uniform - women and children are all very much in evidence, but show little curiosity for the camera. Some disregard it almost with hostility. A man leads a horse pulling a cart full of sacks. A bullock pulling an empty cart passes. Most of the children filmed look unusually serious - only one young girl and a young mother with a baby smile. People, mostly women, queuing outside a shop (for food?). They hand, what looks like money or coupons, to a man with a small basket passing amongst them. A snow-capped Mount Fuji is seen from ground level, possibly from a train. Korea. The port of Pusan with many Japanese - mainly women, children and elderly men - boarding ship bound for Japan. Masked Japanese with brooms stand by the stern of the ship Harukawa Maru Kobe. A long line of Japanese, many carrying enormous loads, stretches along the quay waiting to board ship. US soldiers in evidence around the queue. The camera pans over the crowded ship's deck. Stragglers hurry along the quayside to board the ship with their heavy and outsized loads. Some are just children. Several CUs of smiling children. US troops examine the belongings of Japanese on the quayside (Japanese nationals were limited to what they could take with them). Two small boys, one on crutches, one carrying a large load, pose for the camera. A group of unsmiling Japanese women pose with a US soldier. The camera dwells on a very unhappy-looking and very small Japanese boy carrying an even smaller child on his back. Japanese men and boys being sprayed with DDT by masked Japanese medical personnel as a precaution against lice/typhus. Inoculations are also given to the same group. Bow of the ship SS Daiho Maru No 3(?). The crowded deck of the ship as it departs is seen. Some of the men banzai and the women smile and wave. The camera pans across the rooftops of Kyoto, followed by a busy street scene of people queuing for and boarding trams. Kiyomizudera temple and its grounds are seen, followed by shots of a great torii (temple gate). Shots of the Heian Shrine and its grounds, with people - including children - saying prayers. CUs of serious-looking children. Feeding Koi carp. CU of large group of unsmiling children, later seen praying. MS of two Shinto priests, with the Shrine behind. Final shot of long tree-lined drive looking towards the large torii. Half-sunken three-funnelled warship in Hiroshima harbour. CU of street sign 'For Hiroshima Station', with an arrow pointing to the right. The camera pans showing a number of severely damaged buildings, including the Hiroshima Nagarekawa Church of the Japan National Council of Churches (located 900 metres east-north-east of the hypocentre ie the ground point zero below where the bomb exploded) and stops on a large sign 'Hiroshima City Hall' (probably the Chamber of Commerce and Industry). The apparently undamaged building is seen behind. A tram passes and an elderly woman is seen eating, sitting on a stone plinth. From the top of a building, the camera pans across the devastated city, although the distant view is obscured by haze. CU hand-painted sign, 'Red Cross Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan', and the relatively undamaged building is seen from the front ( located about 1.5 kilometres south of the hypocentre). Looking out from the cockpit of an aircraft, a snow-capped Mount Fuji is seen through the clouds against a blue sky. The film ends with a sunset.
  • Alternative Title: WILLIAM COURTENAY AMATEUR FILMS OF PACIFIC WAR 1943-1946 [Alternative Title]
  • Colour: Colour
  • Digitised: No
  • Object_Number: MGH 4392
  • Sound: Silent
  • Access Conditions: NON-IWM
  • Featured Period:
  • Production Date: 1945
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Courtenay, William (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations:
  • Keywords:
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: Colour Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 16mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 1201 ft; Running time: 48 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    MGH 4392

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