Bat as Black as Sumi, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper

kōmori mo
ideyo ukiyo no
hana ni tori

(и ты явилась, летучая мышь:
все птицы меж цветов
этого изменчивого мира)

Red Blossom Plum, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Bullfinch and weeping cherry blossoms
Polychrome wood block print (ukiyo-e); ink and color on paper

Robert V. Mosier, 1946-1947

着物姿の２人の女性（後ろ姿）　（場所不詳）

４人の子どもと富士山　（山梨県山中湖畔）

The images, taken by the staffer at the central secretariat of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers who was stationed in Japan after the war, are among very few color photos of Japan that remain from that period.

Experts believe the photographs are “important materials that show how (Japan) began rebuilding itself after the war.”

Scenes they depict include food shortages, with one photo showing the inner moat of Nagoya Castle being used for farming. In another photo, a row of movie posters shows the type of entertainment available to the public after the end of the war.

A picture taken in 1946 or 1947 shows the inner moat of Nagoya Castle being used for farming, one sign of acute food shortages in the immediate postwar years.

Japanese White-eye and Titmouse on a Camellia Branch, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Hito mushiro
chiru ya hikage no
aka tsubaki

(над одинокой циновкой
трепеща в лучах солнца
цветёт камелия)

The Kiso Mountains in Snow
dated 8th month of the Snake year, 1857, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper

Nintendo's original headquarters in the Kyoto Prefecture in 1889

Nintendo was founded as Yamauchi Nintendo (山内任天堂) by Fusajiro Yamauchi on September 23, 1889. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the business produced and marketed hanafuda (playing cards). The name "Nintendo" is commonly assumed to mean "leave luck to heaven", but there are no historical records to validate this assumption. The cards, which were all handmade, soon began to gain in popularity, and Yamauchi had to hire assistants to mass-produce cards to keep up with the demand.

Narcissus, Tsuchiya Koitsu (1870-1949), circa 1930
Watercolor on paper (ukiyo-e)