This photograph, part of a personal album kept by an American serviceman stationed in Japan following the 1945 surrender, depicts a traditional coastal village viewed across calm water. A large tile-roofed building rests atop a stone seawall, flanked by pine trees and utility poles -- architectural features typical of Japanese towns largely untouched by the wartime bombing campaigns that devastated major cities. Photographs like this one, taken informally by Occupation personnel, offer a rare civilian-eye view of everyday Japanese life in the immediate postwar period. Project: 218591