“The US Soldier In Japan”, 1957 Army Film

This 1957 film made by the US Army is a real jewel.

This does not really present a true picture of the US military in Japan during that era. My father came to Japan while on R & R from the fighting in Korea, just a few years before this video was made. The first thing he did while in Tokyo was buy the largest bottle of sake he could find, and try to drink all of it. Some Army MPs scooped him up out of the gutter, bundled him up in the back of their car, and dropped him off at a whorehouse, which took care of him until he got back on the plane to Korea.

When I first came to Japan in 1972, my father and Japan had both changed quite a bit, though the typical GI had not changed that much. Obviously, from this video, the Army was trying to convince GIs to find something better to do with their time.

(H/t: Rekishi no Tabi)

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