[OCCUPIED JAPAN HOME MOVIE 1946]

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1946

Description: This silent, color home movie offers a glimpse into post-WWII Japan through the lens of a U.S. officer stationed there in 1945-46. Col. Arthur “Art" Paul Thayer Jr. was a member of the First Cavalry Division and the Sixth Army. After the defeat of Japan he was part of the U.S. Occupation forces, led by General Douglas A. MacArthur. The footage captures a range of scenes, blending personal moments, cultural exchanges, and daily life. Thayer's wife Lucille Anne Meyer and daughter Lucille Collette "Tardy" Thayer are also shown in the film. This 1946 home film shows a tour of the country with other military personnel with stops along several famous sights including the Itsukushima Shrine and Mt. Fuji. The tour also stops at several villages along the way, where Col. Thayer focuses on people and scenery. He also filmed some of the people he was traveling with and showed them drinking Sake with their Japanese hosts. 0:08 children dressed up for a Mikoshi purification ceremony, 0:51 rice paddies, 0:56 people in traditional clothes arriving for the ceremony, 1:37 Mt. Fuji seen from a train, 1:55 Mt. Fuji’s reflection on a lake, 2:24 the Torii of Itsukushima Shrine, 2:29 different shots of the Itsukushima Shrine grounds, 3:40 close-ups of the buildings of the Itsukushima Shrine, 4:36 people carrying goods in a snowy landscape, 4:51 different people on skis during an outing with some US military personnel, 6:21 overview of the scenery at the ski site, 6:56 U.S. military personnel, speaking with each other in front of a building, 7:33 farmers preparing to fish with nets, 8:05 American and Japanese guests enjoying Sake together, 8:29 close up shots of different flowers, 9:05 a Koi pond, 9:17 an old wooden water wheel, 9:33 two women posing for the camera in front of Mt. Fuji, 9:40 different shots of Mt. Fuji, 10:16 a woman posing next to flowers

Complete Record: This silent, color home movie offers a glimpse into post-WWII Japan through the lens of a U.S. officer stationed there in 1945-46. Col. Arthur “Art" Paul Thayer Jr. was a member of the First Cavalry Division and the Sixth Army. After the defeat of Japan he was part of the U.S. Occupation forces, led by General Douglas A. MacArthur. The footage captures a range of scenes, blending personal moments, cultural exchanges, and daily life. Thayer's wife Lucille Anne Meyer and daughter Lucille Collette "Tardy" Thayer are also shown in the film. This 1946 home film shows a tour of the country with other military personnel with stops along several famous sights including the Itsukushima Shrine and Mt. Fuji. The tour also stops at several villages along the way, where Col. Thayer focuses on people and scenery. He also filmed some of the people he was traveling with and showed them drinking Sake with their Japanese hosts. 0:08 children dressed up for a Mikoshi purification ceremony, 0:51 rice paddies, 0:56 people in traditional clothes arriving for the ceremony, 1:37 Mt. Fuji seen from a train, 1:55 Mt. Fuji’s reflection on a lake, 2:24 the Torii of Itsukushima Shrine, 2:29 different shots of the Itsukushima Shrine grounds, 3:40 close-ups of the buildings of the Itsukushima Shrine, 4:36 people carrying goods in a snowy landscape, 4:51 different people on skis during an outing with some US military personnel, 6:21 overview of the scenery at the ski site, 6:56 U.S. military personnel, speaking with each other in front of a building, 7:33 farmers preparing to fish with nets, 8:05 American and Japanese guests enjoying Sake together, 8:29 close up shots of different flowers, 9:05 a Koi pond, 9:17 an old wooden water wheel, 9:33 two women posing for the camera in front of Mt. Fuji, 9:40 different shots of Mt. Fuji, 10:16 a woman posing next to flowers