[Kodansha Co., Ltd.] Time travel to the “Showa” era, which you can no longer see! “Photographs tell the story: Showa street scenes with trains and buses running” released.
*Kodansha Co., Ltd.*
Press release: September 19, 2024
**
Time travel to the “Showa” era, which you can no longer see! “Photographs tell the story: Showa street scenes with trains and buses running” released.
The Showa era once achieved high economic growth. The dynamism of the 1950s to 1950s saw the arrival of the Shinkansen, heralding the beginning of the era of speed, and the hosting of the Tokyo Olympics and the Osaka World Expo.It was a time when the country of Japan, including its vehicles, underwent drastic changes. In this book, we will carefully interpret the scenery of the Showa era in which such vehicles ran through 26 photos.
Chapter 1 Trial run of the Shinkansen in the 1950s (1966)
■What are the traces of the times that can be seen in that landscape that can no longer be seen?
This book has a three-chapter structure with the 1950s in Chapter 1, the 1960s in Chapter 2, and the 1960s in Chapter 3. First, in the 1950s, the Tokyo Olympics were held just 19 years after the end of World War II, and the Blue Train, also known as the “running hotel,” and the Shinkansen that ran at super high speeds of over 200 km/h appeared, and the Olympics were held. It was a time when the cityscape changed dramatically, with the emergence of new forms of
transportation such as subways and monorails.
Chapter 2 1960s Toden disappeared from Ginza (1966)
In the 1960s, high economic growth progressed further, with events such as the Osaka Expo and the Sapporo Winter Olympics supporting the era. It was a time when people’s incomes increased, the ownership rate of private cars increased, and a car-based society developed, while subways and buses became the majority of transportation in major cities. Symbolizing this was the sensational event of the
disappearance of the Toden streetcar from Ginza.
Chapter 3 1975’s Seibu “Red Electric” in the student town (1978)
The era of high economic growth ended with the oil shock that occurred in 1970, and the 1970s entered an era of low growth. A nationwide strike occurred at the Japanese National Railways, and the path to privatization began, while the opening of the Tohoku-Joetsu Shinkansen also ushered in the Shinkansen era in rural areas. The 1970s was also a time when the trams, which had a strong Showa flavor, disappeared in local cities, marking the beginning of the next era.
If you look closely at the photos, you are sure to find things like the vehicles and cityscapes of the Showa era that disappeared for some reason. In some cases in this book, the things in the corners of the photographs are more interesting than the main subjects.
[Product overview]
Product name: Photos tell the story: Showa era street scenes with trains and buses running
Kodansha BC edition
List price: 2000 yen (excluding tax)
Release date: September 20, 2024
Format/Page: 46/144 pages
ISBN: 978-4-06-534530-6
Publisher: Kodansha BC/Kodansha
https://amzn.asia/d/9PXsglY