The Snapshots in Time Collection
Gallery: Part 2
At the heart of this Japanese archive is a memorial packet prepared for the family of Army Infantry Sergeant Yonekura Toshiro, killed in Shanxi Province in 1939: a handwritten service record, a battle narrative, and photographs annotated in red and blue ink to show where and how he fell. Home-front memorial portraits, a street ceremony, a family castle portrait, and a 1952 envelope trace remembrance across decades.
Handwritten Battle Narrative Account on Japanese Army Stationery Describing a Night Engagement, WWII Era
Handwritten Japanese Diary/Journal Page, WWII-Era Album
Postwar Postal Envelope Addressed to the Yonekura Family, Okayama Prefecture, Dated 1952
Handwritten Military Service Record (Rirekisho) of a Japanese Army NCO Killed in Action, Shanxi Province, China, 1939
Handwritten Military Service Record (Rirekisho) of a Japanese Army NCO, Continuation Page, North/Central China Campaigns, 1938-1939
Informal Family Portrait of a Young Man and Boy Before a Wooden Gate, Japan, Mid-20th Century
Handwritten Follow-up Letter from a Japanese Army Unit Commander to the Yonekura Family, Dated Showa 14 (1939), November 9
Handwritten Letter Continuing Correspondence on Unit Activities Following a Soldier's Death, WWII Era
Annotated Memorial Album Page with Battle Photographs Documenting the Circumstances of a Soldier's Death, WWII Era
Annotated Battlefield Terrain Photograph Marking Line of Advance, North China, WWII Era
Group Portrait of Japanese Army Soldiers at a Forward Position in China, Later Annotated as a Memorial Photograph, WWII Era
Annotated Battlefield Photograph with Hand-Drawn Tactical Overlay, North China, WWII Era
Pair of 1952 Japanese 5-Yen Postage Stamps with Postmark Cancellations, Occupied Japan Era
Three Generations of a Japanese Family Posed Before a Castle Keep During Cherry Blossom Season, c. 1930s-1940s
Group Portrait at a Japanese Neighborhood Association Ceremony with Lanterns and Banners, c. 1930s-1940s
Imperial Japanese Army Soldiers and Civilian Crowd at a Wartime Street Ceremony, c. 1930s-1940s