Robert Lai
Well-known
I received a while back the book "The Best of Popular Photography", published in 1979. It is a compilation of the articles that the editors thought to be most significant to have been published over the years. My incentive to buy it was the recent announcement that Popular Photography, as a magazine is closing shop.
On page 332 is a fascinating overview of the photographic situation in recently defeated (in WWII) Japan. As the first nation to suffer atom bombing in war, post-war Japan was quite devastated. Yet, there was a tremendous demand for cameras, lenses and film - from two sources. The Japanese amateur who had endured a decade of shortages and privation was one source. The second was the soldiers of the Allied Occupation Force, who found their new temporary home to be fascinating and picturesque. I will say up front that the author of the piece demonstrates thinly veiled contempt and hatred towards the Japanese. Since the war had just ended, no doubt emotions were quite raw towards the former enemy.
Japan's Cameras, by Irving Lorwin. Popular Photography Sept. 1946.
He starts with this:
"Photography is undergoing a boom period in Occupied Japan today. The manufacturers of 'Sakura' and 'Fuji' films sell their products as rapidly as they can turn tem out in their chemical-scarce plants. It is practically impossible to find a Japanese camera selling for less than 350 yen ($23), and German Leicas get 18,000 yen ($1200)". Well, at least some things never change, i.e. how expensive Leicas are!
He then describes several cameras being made by the Japanese, and considers them to be crude reproductions of American and German cameras. Specifically, the stellar cameras of Kodak and Graflex. Shutters made by Seikosha (Seiko) don't always keep accurate speeds, and frame counters may not work at all.
"... Konishi Roku (sic) [later Konica] expects to start assembling some of its pre-war models. Popular amongst Japanese amateurs and some newsmen is Konishi's prewar rather crude imitation of our Speed Graphic type press camera."
"In production before and during the war were several imitations of the German Leica and Contax called the Leotax, the Cannon (sic), and several other names. Principal manufacturer was Seiki Kogaku (kogaku is the Japanese word for Optical Company). Except for the lenses used, the cameras were ingenious imitations. Best lens used in these cameras was modeled after the Elmar lens and called the Nikkor. Rated at f/2.5, this lens was manufactured by Nippon Kogaku in Tokyo, where most camera and optical plants are located. In pre-war days these Japanese imitations sold for about 150 American dollars."
"In many respects, Japanese photographic growth is some 10 years behind times. Although lenses of binoculars and telescopes were coated during the war, not a single Japanese camera or lens manufacturer has yet started coating camera lenses. Glass plates are still widely used in press and view cameras of Japanese make....
No exposure meters have been produced in the country. Flash powder is still used by many photographers there."
Interesting insight into Japanese - American interaction:
"When the Japanese surrendered, most photographers hid their cameras, fearing that American troops would steal them. Contrary to the Japanese propaganda, the Americans, rather than stealing their cameras, offered fabulous prices for them.
Press photographers are enjoying new-found freedom of movement under the American Occupation. Never before permitted to take pictures of the Emperor except by special arrangement, hordes of Japanese photographers now follow Hirohito around on his every excursion."
The author's conclusion, based on what he has seen:
"When the time comes that defeated Japan is again permitted to trade, a vast market for photographic good of all sorts will be open to American exporters. Japanese photographers recognize the superiority of our photographic products over theirs and are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to purchase American cameras and equipment".
Well, there is a lot here.
We all know how Kodak, Graflex, and even Popular Photography have fared over the subsequent decades.
I can't even blame the author for his intense feelings. My parents, grandparents, and my wife's family were in Burma and Singapore when the Japanese invaded. Their armies were brutal and murderous. For decades, my father refused to buy a Japanese car. He would only buy American.
But, this article is a remarkable window into a difficult time in world history.
On page 332 is a fascinating overview of the photographic situation in recently defeated (in WWII) Japan. As the first nation to suffer atom bombing in war, post-war Japan was quite devastated. Yet, there was a tremendous demand for cameras, lenses and film - from two sources. The Japanese amateur who had endured a decade of shortages and privation was one source. The second was the soldiers of the Allied Occupation Force, who found their new temporary home to be fascinating and picturesque. I will say up front that the author of the piece demonstrates thinly veiled contempt and hatred towards the Japanese. Since the war had just ended, no doubt emotions were quite raw towards the former enemy.
Japan's Cameras, by Irving Lorwin. Popular Photography Sept. 1946.
He starts with this:
"Photography is undergoing a boom period in Occupied Japan today. The manufacturers of 'Sakura' and 'Fuji' films sell their products as rapidly as they can turn tem out in their chemical-scarce plants. It is practically impossible to find a Japanese camera selling for less than 350 yen ($23), and German Leicas get 18,000 yen ($1200)". Well, at least some things never change, i.e. how expensive Leicas are!
He then describes several cameras being made by the Japanese, and considers them to be crude reproductions of American and German cameras. Specifically, the stellar cameras of Kodak and Graflex. Shutters made by Seikosha (Seiko) don't always keep accurate speeds, and frame counters may not work at all.
"... Konishi Roku (sic) [later Konica] expects to start assembling some of its pre-war models. Popular amongst Japanese amateurs and some newsmen is Konishi's prewar rather crude imitation of our Speed Graphic type press camera."
"In production before and during the war were several imitations of the German Leica and Contax called the Leotax, the Cannon (sic), and several other names. Principal manufacturer was Seiki Kogaku (kogaku is the Japanese word for Optical Company). Except for the lenses used, the cameras were ingenious imitations. Best lens used in these cameras was modeled after the Elmar lens and called the Nikkor. Rated at f/2.5, this lens was manufactured by Nippon Kogaku in Tokyo, where most camera and optical plants are located. In pre-war days these Japanese imitations sold for about 150 American dollars."
"In many respects, Japanese photographic growth is some 10 years behind times. Although lenses of binoculars and telescopes were coated during the war, not a single Japanese camera or lens manufacturer has yet started coating camera lenses. Glass plates are still widely used in press and view cameras of Japanese make....
No exposure meters have been produced in the country. Flash powder is still used by many photographers there."
Interesting insight into Japanese - American interaction:
"When the Japanese surrendered, most photographers hid their cameras, fearing that American troops would steal them. Contrary to the Japanese propaganda, the Americans, rather than stealing their cameras, offered fabulous prices for them.
Press photographers are enjoying new-found freedom of movement under the American Occupation. Never before permitted to take pictures of the Emperor except by special arrangement, hordes of Japanese photographers now follow Hirohito around on his every excursion."
The author's conclusion, based on what he has seen:
"When the time comes that defeated Japan is again permitted to trade, a vast market for photographic good of all sorts will be open to American exporters. Japanese photographers recognize the superiority of our photographic products over theirs and are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to purchase American cameras and equipment".
Well, there is a lot here.
We all know how Kodak, Graflex, and even Popular Photography have fared over the subsequent decades.
I can't even blame the author for his intense feelings. My parents, grandparents, and my wife's family were in Burma and Singapore when the Japanese invaded. Their armies were brutal and murderous. For decades, my father refused to buy a Japanese car. He would only buy American.
But, this article is a remarkable window into a difficult time in world history.
Thanks for this. My parents were in Japan during the occupation and even though they shared fond memories of the Japanese he also would never buy a Japanese car. He did bring back a MIOJ Nicca three lens kit and used it for the next 30 years...
View Range
Well-known
The wartime and post-wartime history of camera technology is very interesting. Irving Lorwin clearly do not know he was witness to the birth of the all-conquering Japanese camera industry. And likewise Irving Lorwin probably didn't recognize the beginning of the slow death of the German camera industry hastened by the split of Zeiss into East and West German companies. The US, whose industrial facilities and tooling were undamaged, just resumed producing the equipment where they left off. Who needs innovation and new design approaches when you can sell every Argus C3 you can make?
David Murphy
Veteran
Robert, thanks for posting that fascinating article summary. One can really get a keen sense of the early circumstances that led to the birth of the modern Japanese camera industry.
Those behind that early industry were clearly responding to a strong unmet demand for personal use cameras that took quality photos. The opportunity to sell something utilizing remaining Japanese manufacturing prowess, and the desperate need for cash, was a rather unique set of circumstances.
I have heard, or perhaps saw in a cold-war spy movie somewhere (whether it is true or not I am not sure), that in post-war Berlin, cameras were often used for barter by East Germans for other for goods. As a defeated and occupied country there were similarities to the situation in Japan at the time.
Those behind that early industry were clearly responding to a strong unmet demand for personal use cameras that took quality photos. The opportunity to sell something utilizing remaining Japanese manufacturing prowess, and the desperate need for cash, was a rather unique set of circumstances.
I have heard, or perhaps saw in a cold-war spy movie somewhere (whether it is true or not I am not sure), that in post-war Berlin, cameras were often used for barter by East Germans for other for goods. As a defeated and occupied country there were similarities to the situation in Japan at the time.