Emperor Hirohito visits the grave of his father (Emperor Taisho) following the surrender of Japan at the end of World War 2. View of Mt. Fuji in Japan. Torii gate at the Musashi Imperial Graveyard (1833 Nagabusamachi, Hachioji, Tokyo 193-0824, Japan) in Nagabusa-machi, Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan. Shinto priests waiting for Emperor Hirohito’s arrival. Emperor Hirohito, wearing a Western semi-civilian court dress, alights from his car and salutes. Shinto priests bow to Emperor Hirohito. Emperor Hirohito and other Japanese officials descend a set of stone stairs. Emperor Hirohito, now posthumously known as the Shōwa Emperor, leaves the Musashi Imperial Graveyard by car.
Soldiers marching in the Yasukuni Shrine (3 Chome-1-1 Kudankita, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 102-8246, Japan), in Tokyo, Japan prior to World War 2. . Soldiers visit the shrine to commemorate Japanese troops who died in the wars involving Japan since the Meiji period. Soldiers march through a torii and into the shrine. The Imperial Seal of Japan, known as the Chrysanthemum Seal (菊紋, kikumon), is displayed in front of the Yasukuni Shrine. Officers salute in front of a map.
Wounded Japanese troops visit the Yasukuni Shrine (3 Chome-1-1 Kudankita, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 102-8246, Japan) in Tokyo, Japan. Visitors commemorate the Japanese people killed on foreign soil in wars involving Japan since the Meiji period. A group of wounded soldiers (wearing white robes) leaves the shrine. The Imperial Seal of Japan, known as the Chrysanthemum Seal (菊紋, kikumon), is displayed in front of the Yasukuni Shrine. A man in uniform accompanies the group of wounded soldiers. Soldiers put on their caps while walking. Two soldiers sitting near a window in a bus, watching a woman and a child near the window outside. Wounded soldiers get into buses. A woman standing at the gate of a bus bows as the soldiers enter the bus. (Note: the conflict creating casualties at this time is probably on the Manchuko border with the Soviet Union.)
From "The Last Bomb": The defeat of Japan through American airpower in World War 2. Mix of actual combat footage and a small amount of vintage, dramatized, pilot in cockpit footage. A single B-29 from the 39th Bomb Group (stationed at North Field Guam) drops clusters of incendiary and fragmentation bombs over Japan. Bombs away view of large number of bombs falling toward Japan. A formation of B-29s from the 498th Bomb Group, Isley Field, Saipan, in flight during a daytime bombing mission over Japan. Explosions and smoke rise from targets in Japan, including two Japanese aircraft plants and an airdrome as part of U.S. tactical plan 574. Color, low aerial view of massive bomb damage over Tokyo following U.S. air attacks of March 1945. Escorting P-51s from Iwo Jima engage defending Japanese fighter aircraft in dogfights. Aerial gun camera footage of Japanese airplanes being hit, exploding, bursting into flames, and falling from sky to crash. Later, P-51s conduct strafing attacks against Japanese ground targets, including: lines of communication; railroads; marshaling yards; factories; airfields; ships; and harbors. Color gun camera footage shows these strafing attacks. P-51s returning to land at Iwo Jima and performing celebratory rolls over the field. Crippled B-29s making emergency landings on Iwo Jima. A B-29 from 500th Bomb Group with an engine shutdown. A B-29 from the 29th Bomb Group. Bad weather over runway at Iwo Jima forces a P-51 pilot to bail out over the field. A B-29 from the 6th Bomb Group ditches in water near beach on Iwo Jima. A B-29 crashes and bursts into flames during landing at Iwo Jima (all crew escapes.) Firefighters douse the flames with foam. Formation of B-29s from 39th Bomb Group returning to Guam after bombing mission over Japan. A B-29 crashing on landing and bursting into flames. Sole surviving crew member being carried on stretcher, as firemen and rescue teams work at scene. Formations of B-29s from 498th Bomb Group and 9th Bomb Group, in flight. Good color view from B-29 of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, which brought about the capitulation of Japan and end of World War 2. Large mushroom cloud rising into the air following atomic bomb explosion at Nagasaki.
Aerial view of buildings and tourist attractions in Asakusa District, Tokyo, Japan. Exterior of Matsuya Department Store Building (1-4-1 Hanakawado, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0033). Views over Asakusa and Honjo-Ward from the top of Matsuya Department Store, Sumida River and the vehicles on the Kototoi-Bridge over Sumida River of Asakusa Ave., the facilities of Dai-Nippon Beer Company along Sumida River in the background. to Sensō-ji temple (2 Chome-3-1 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0032, Japan) with the five-story pagoda are also seen. The Kototoi-Bridge over Sumida River, the tugboat going down Sumida River and the rope way on the top of Matsuya Department Store. Tourists taking a walk in the Sumida Park at the riverside and boating under the truss bridge of Tobu Railway in Sumida River.
Publication of the Pacific edition of Star and Stripes newspaper in Tokyo, Japan. Traffic on streets in Tokyo. Pedestians on busy city streets of Tokyo with large office buildings and retail in background. View of the plant where publication of the Pacific edition of Stars and Stripes newspaper began on 3rd October, 1945. Editorial staff members work in the plant. A man works on a typewriter. Closeup view of hands on typewriter. An officer checks the newspaper. A navy man pastes picture cuttings from a newspaper on a chart. A man places a paper in a photo offset machine. Printing of newspapers. Men check and stack newspapers. Newspaper bundles are covered with plastic sheets and loaded in a truck. Men load the newspaper bundles in a jet liner aircraft.