To mark “Showa 100,” counted from the first year of Showa in 1926, “Tracing ‘Showa’ in Photographs” (organized by The Mainichi Newspapers) is on view through the 16th of this month in the show window in front of Mainichi Hall on the first basement level. The 10 photographs begin with the opening of Japan’s first subway (Ueno–Asakusa) in 1927 (Showa 2) and continue through wartime student evacuations, the first postwar grand sumo tournament, the completion of Tokyo Tower, the first public showing of pandas, and the birth of JR.
The exhibition looks back on a turbulent Showa through holdings of Mainichi Photobank, one of Japan’s largest photo databases for corporate users, operated by The Mainichi Newspapers. From some 9 million photographs held by the newspaper, more than 1.3 million carefully selected images are published. Rich in historic news photography and highly reliable as source material, they are used in many textbooks, books, and television programs.
Mainichi Photobank: https://photobank.mainichi.co.jp/