The Snapshots in Time Collection
Devastated Urban Landscape, Postwar Japan
This photograph, from a personal album documenting postwar service in Japan, shows the scale of devastation left by wartime bombing. Once a populated townscape, the area has been reduced to scattered rubble and bare foundations, with only a utility pole and railroad tracks remaining as landmarks. Images like this, taken by American servicemen during the occupation, provide a sobering visual record of the destruction wrought on Japan during World War II. Project: 218332