HOME MOVIES: TOUR OF OCCUPIED JAPAN 1949

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1960s

Format: 16mm

Description: One of a series of extraordinary home movies shot in Occupied Japan immediately after WWII, this film shows scenes from a tour of the islands. It includes footage shot during a trip down the Hozu River, and includes footage shot on the Sakamoto funicular railway and a temple on Mount Hiei. Both of the funicular and river raft tours are still in operation, and visited by modern tourists. The man who filmed these was a Harvard graduate ('43) and U.S. Army Intelligence Officer named Robert Ryan. Ryan may have very well worked for the OSS, although it's not clear. He definitely worked as an instructor at the U.S. Army's AFFE Intelligence School, and toured Vietnam in the early 1960s to conduct strategic vulnerability surveys. These films dates to the period July 1947-May 1951, when Ryan served in the Department of Defense in the Geographic Branch, Theater Intelligence Division, Far East Command. During this time he served in Occupied Japan and in the Korean theater. This film begins with shots of a tourist boat transiting the Hozu River, part of Katsura River in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The river is known primarily for its association with Hozugawa Kudari, literally "down the Hozu river", a sightseeing whitewater boat that goes downstream from Kameoka to Arashiyama. Hozugawa Kudari is especially popular in the fall, when the Japanese Maple leaves change colors, and in the Spring, when the sakura, or Japanese cherry tree, blooms. At :29, a point of view shot from being on a rickshaw, drawn by a man who seems to be wearing an old Japanese army uniform. At 4:30, a Komusō with a wicker helmet (resembling a pot or urn) on his head plays a flute for the tourists. At 5:48, boats are shown being removed from the river for the journey upstream. One of them has the words "Hozukyō Station" on the side. This indicates it is near the railway station located in the city of Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture. At 6:12, people pose in Komusō helmets. At 7:16 a funicular railway is shown. This is the Sakamoto Cable, officially the Hieizan Railway Line in Ōtsu, Shiga.The line opened in 1927, as an eastern route to Enryaku-ji, a famous temple on Mount Hiei. This is the longest funicular line in Japan. The temple is shown at 9:27 and following. At 12:52 the famous Yamanaka & Company art gallery is shown. Yamanaka was one of the most prolific art dealers, selling Asian art to occidental buyers in the late nineteenth century and early decades of the twentieth century. At 13:50 a fan is unfolded for the camera.

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