The Far East 1952-53 James L. Blilie

James L. Blilie

Photos of the Far East, 1952 and 1953

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James L. Blilie Index Page

James L. and Harriet E. V. Blilie family photo albums

James L. Blilie's Life

B-24s In Fight 1944

1940s and 1950s Photos by James L Blilie

Frankfurt am Main 1951

Arctic Days

Japan 1952-53

Korea and the Philippines 1952-53

Moses Lake 1953-54

Eglin AFB Florida, 1955-58

My Dad was a true Renaissance Man. He was an electrical engineer by trade; but he was also

an artist. He drew, painted in watercolors and oils, was a great reader and writer, a photographer

obviously, he built and operated his own radios (amateur radio, aka “HAM radio”), and he was

very active in politics. He also loved to travel and took us on long summer road trips.

James L. Blilie at Taegu, Korea, 1952 or 1953

I have no idea how he squeezed all this in, while working full time and raising kids!

All of the negatives prior to sometime in late 1950 were taken with an Argus C-3, which I purchased

shortly after graduating from the University of Minnesota on August 26, 1948. At last I had the money

(about$60) to buy a decent camera. The Argus C-3 was a 35mm camera made in the USA. It had

an F/3.2 50mm lens with a behind-the-lens shutter.

I shot nothing but Kodak Plus-X film at that time - Weston 32 (ASA 50). Before being recalled to

active duty in the Air Force in September 1950, I had the film processed and prints made at West Photo,

in northeast Minneapolis, close to Control Corporation, 718 Central Avenue, where I worked.

West Photo was a tiny place owned and operated by a rather young man and his wife. The existing

negatives attest to their careful developing.

After recall to the service, my first "permanent" duty station was Westover Air Force Base, near

Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee Falls, etc. Massachusetts. Those negatives taken in 1951 were taken

with my Leica [IIIf], which I bought on my first trip to Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Quite a number

of the 1951 negatives were processed by me.

-- James Louis Blilie [written circa mid 1990s; text of a note in his first notebook of negatives]

Introduction the album of prints from Japan:

I was in Japan for 15 or 16 months starting June 1, 1952. I was a Captain and navigator in the US Air Force,

assigned to the 315th Troop Carrier Group at Tachikawa, about 30 miles west of Tokyo. Tachikawa had

been the "Wright Field" base [analogous to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio] for the Japanese air forces

before and during WWII, where they conducted research and development.

The main function of the 315th was to support the US Forces in Korea. We flew to Korea frequently.

But I was in the 15th Troop Carrier Squadron, which had most of the navigators in Tachikawa, so I

also flew frequently to Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippines, and occasionally to Guam and Iwo Jima.

[JWB: What an advenure!]

I came to Japan with a Rolleiflex and a Leica IIIf. I had 50mm and 135mm Leica lenses. While in Japan,

I bought a Leica-compatible f/1.4 50mm Nikkor lens and a Leica-compatible 85mm Canon lens.

In addition, I bought a Canon camera that used the same lenses as the Leica. Most of the photos

I made were on Kodak Super-XX film.

There was a dark room on the base [Tachikawa] for service personnel to use. I developed all

the films there, and made many prints. However, manyof the photo prints I made there were on old

paper and some were not adequately "hypo-ed" [fixed] or washed. So many of the prints in this

album are replacements made at 12 Brian Road, Chelmsford, Mass., in the late 1960s.

Almost all the pictures of people are candids. Either the people did not know I was taking their picture,

or were not concerned with posing, etc. For this I was grateful

Japan has changed greatly since 1952-53. These photographs represent and era that has passed, as

I have been told by various people from Japan. I think this makes the pictures more interesting and valuable.

James Louis Blilie [written circa mid-1990s]

My Dad served in the US Army Air Force in WWII, flying a full tour of combat missions (35 when he was in)

in the 8th Air Force over Germany and occupied France. When the Korean war broke out, he was called up

in 1950. Since he’d done his full combat duty, he was assigned to Military Air Transport, where he continued

to fly as a navigator on cargo airplanes. He was mainly based in Tachikawa Air Base in Japan; but also flew

frequently into Clark Field near Manila in the Philippines, Taipei, and Taegu and other fields in Korea: The

work involved supplying US forces in Korea.

When he was not on duty, he wandered the areas around the air bases. These photos are ones that he took

around Tachikawa, other places in Japan, around Manila in the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Korea.

He really knew how and when to snap the decisive moment with portraits.

These are, of necessity, my interpretations of my Dad’s negatives. I think he would approve. I cropped the images,

adjusted exposure and contrast, occasionally spotted out a distracting element, and spotted out the dust (some

of my dust-spotting is sub-optimal). But the final versions are quite close to the originals.

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All of the photos on this page are scans of the original black and white negatives or color slides.

I scanned them and then cropped/adjusted and dust-spotted them. I tried to keep as close to

the original version as possible. My Dad had a great photographic eye and was technically good.

I have tried to preserve his original vision as best I can.

-- James W. Blilie, April 2021

Japan

Most of these photos are taken in and around Tachikawa City


James L. Blilie, Taegu Korea	Kamakura	Kamakura	Kamakura	James L. Blilie





Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Some of my Dad's gear	Tachikawa City			This young man built, for my Dad, three solid wood models of the planes my Dad flew on: B-24, C-97, and C-54. He's holding the C-54, Tachikawa City. We still have these models. I made contact with Tetsouro Miura in Japan. He identifes this man: "This is my best friend Kozo Ozaki-san. Mr. Ozaki died of cancer on December 19,2012. He was 84 years old . Both I and Mr. Ozaki met well at the airplane model club. I think Mr. Ozaki was very pleased to know Mr. Jim Blili." The lower picture is Mr. Ozaki later in life.

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City		John C. Kasper and friends, Tachikawa City	John C. Kasper and friends, Tachikawa City



Kikyo-san. (Identified on the frame of a slide, shown in the color section, below.)	Geisha at Kumachi-En	Geisha at Kumachi-En	Geisha at Kumachi-En	Geisha at Kumachi-En

Geisha at Kumachi-En	Geisha at Kumachi-En	Kunitachi Temples	Kunitachi Temples	Kunitachi Temples

Kunitachi Temples	Kunitachi Temples	Kunitachi Temples	Kunitachi Temples, John C. Kasper	Kunitachi Temples

Kawaguchi-Ko	Kawaguchi-Ko	Kawaguchi-Ko	Kawaguchi-Ko	Kawaguchi-Ko

Kawaguchi-Ko			Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City		Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City			Tachikawa City

Tired Tabi, Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Farmer	Farmer's sons	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Silk cocoons, Tachikawa City	3 generations

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Grandmother's love	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

At the docks in Tokyo	At the docks in Tokyo, one of my Dad's service colleagues	At the docks in Tokyo	At the docks in Tokyo	At the docks in Tokyo

At the docks in Tokyo	At the docks in Tokyo Kachidoki Bridge over the Sumida River in background	At the docks in Tokyo	At the docks in Tokyo	At the docks in Tokyo Kachidoki Bridge over the Sumida River in background

Tokyo street scene	Tokyo street scene: Kachidoki Bridge over the Sumida River.	Tokyo street scene	A UNESCO site near Tokyo (doesn't seem to be listed anymore)	A UNESCO site near Tokyo

A UNESCO site near Tokyo	A UNESCO site near Tokyo	A UNESCO site near Tokyo	A UNESCO site near Tokyo	A UNESCO site near Tokyo

Sagami Dam on the Sagami River. I was able to idntify this dam using Google Earth.	Sagami Dam on the Sagami River	Sagami Dam on the Sagami River	Yose	James L. Blilie at Yose

Diet building, Tokyo	Diet building, Tokyo	Canon camera factory (Tokyo?)	Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory

Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory

Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory

Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory	Canon camera factory	Iwo Jima	Iwo Jima, beaches where the marines landed

Iwo Jima	Iwo Jima	Iwo Jima	Iwo Jima	Mitake

Mitake, sakura time, 1953	Nara	Nara	Nara	Nara

Nara



				Little Samurai

Little Samurai	Hop scotch



				Tachikawa City, John C. Kasper at right

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City		Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City		Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

UNESCO Site	UNESCO Site	UNESCO Site

		Tachikawa City

		Loading troops: Korea

			Nikko	Nikko

Nikko	Nikko	Nikko	Nikko	Nikko

Nikko	Nikko	Sakura Day, 1953, Komachi-En	Sakura Day, 1953, Komachi-En	Sakura Day, 1953, Komachi-En

Sakura Day, 1953, Komachi-En	Sakura Day, 1953, Komachi-En	Sakura Day, 1953, Komachi-En	Sakura Day, 1953, Komachi-En	Sakura Day, 1953, Komachi-En

Moat around Emperor's palace, Tokyo	Tokyo	Tokyo, the Diet, Imperial Hotel	Frank Bartolomei, Paul Flood, Tokyo	Tokyo

Tachikawa AFB	Tachikawa AFB	Tachikawa AFB, Loran Class	Tachikawa AFB, Club Tachi & Simley's Orchestra	Tachikawa AFB, Roy Burger, Ed

Tachikawa AFB, Ed, David P. Smith	Trentman, White, and Kozman, Tachikawa	Tachikawa AFB, James L. Blilie at Sr. NCO Club	James L. Blilie, Tachikawa AFB

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City

Tachikawa City	Tachikawa City	Tachikawa River	Dam at Yose. Sagami Dam on the Sagami River.	Dam at Yose. Sagami Dam on the Sagami River.

Yose Lake	Dyed silk skeines	Scenes near Tachikawa	Kodomo



Kikyo-san		Miyako-san	Fisherman mending nets, drying nets	Tachikawa City

Older man, parasol shop	Lakeside artists	Nikko	Nikko	Harvesting shellfish

Election returns (r)	Tachikawa City, Patent medicine seller	Tachikawa City, making cedar bathtubs	Tachikawa City	Older man, John C. Kasper

James L. Blilie, John C. Kasper	Tea house, John C. Kasper, James L. Blilie	James L. Blilie, dining service	James L. Blilie country inn

		Newly transplanted rice	Maturing rice, rice drying before threshing	Threshing rice, drying rice grains

drying rice grains	Kites and shellfish gathering at Yokusuka		Good clean fun on the beach	C-54 ready to fly to Korea

Tachikawa night life	Hakone Lake, a garden		Kofe, where people begin climbing Mt. Fuji	Fujiyama

Nikko	Nikko	Fuji, looking north from the air	One of the "Five Lakes"	Sakura Day 1953

Sakura Day 1953	Sakura Day 1953	View on the bridge to the island, the bridge	Kamakura	Kyoto, world's largest wooden building, Kyoto

Kyoto	Kyoto	Kyoto	Nara	Nara

Nara	Nara	Road to Hakone Lake, Hakone Lake

Korea and the Philippines


Manila	Manila	Manila	Clark Air Force Base, Manila	Aerial of an airfield (Korea?)

Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes

Manila	Manila	Manila	Manila, "No Firearm Allowed Inside"	Manila street scenes

On approach	Clark Air Force Base, Manila	Philippines from the air	Clark Air Force Base facilites	Manila

Manila, inside the walled city, destroyed in the Battle of Manila, 1945	Manila, inside the walled city	Manila, inside the walled city	Manila, inside the walled city	Manila, inside the walled city

Manila, inside the walled city	Manila Negrito village near Manila	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes

Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	The Officer's Club at Clark Field

Manila street scenes, with "jeepneys"	At the pier for the launch to Cavite Naval Station from Manila	At the pier for the launch to Cavite Naval Station from Manila	At the pier for the launch to Cavite Naval Station from Manila	Young boys, playing at the pier

Young boys, playing at the pier	Young boys, playing at the pier	Young boys, playing at the pier	Young boys, playing at the pier	Young boys, playing at the pier

Young boys, playing at the pier	Views from the launch, Manila Bay	Views from the launch, Manila Bay	Curtis flying boat, taking off from Cavite

Bar scene, Manila. Hand-hled at f/1.8 and around 1/8 sec	Faces, Manila	Faces, Manila	Luzon from the air, probably Manila	Luzon from the air, probably Manila

Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes	Manila street scenes

Manila street scenes	Clark Air Force Base, the flight line	Rice, outside Manila	Manila street scenes	Syeed Wahab Radio Operator at MATS

Clark Air Force Base facilities	My Dad and some of his friends went on a fishing trip to the Lingayen Gulf: Joe Navarre, Oliver Kinney, fishing in the Lingayen Gulf, Philippines. James L. Blilie caught an 8-pound Pompano. James L. Blilie, second from left in the top photo	These are the owners of the guest house they stayed at at the Lingayen Gulf: Mr. and Mrs. Lichauco	Mrs. Lichauco	Mr. and Mrs. Lichauco

The Lingayen Gulf, the "Dos Amigos" boat	The Lingayen Gulf	The Lingayen Gulf	Mr. and Mrs. Lichauco

Enroute to Korea, Korea from the air	Ambulance drivers, Korea	Taking off, Korea	Suwon, Korea. P-80 in the first photo, F-86 in the second photo	F-86s at Suwon, Korea

Clark Air Force Base facilities	Clark Air Force Base facilities	Clark Air Force Base facilities	Clark Air Force Base facilities	Manila street scenes

Ambrose Chiu and Basilio King, Chinese bunsinessmen, Manila. Manila Officer's Club, over the Pasig River	Manila the Pasig River	Manila the destroyed city walls	My Dad and friends visited a Negrito ("pygmy") village near Manila	Negrito village near Manila

Negrito village near Manila	Negrito village near Manila	Manila, inside the walled city	Manila, inside the walled city

The launch to Cavite Naval Station from Manila	The launch to Cavite Naval Station from Manila. Last photos: The pier at Sangley Point (Cavite)	Sangley Point (Cavite)	On the way to Lingayen Gulf, fishing at Lingayen Gulf, the boat "Dos Amigos"	Fishing at Lingayen Gulf

Chinese cemetery, Manila	Chinese cemetery, Manila		Near the Hundred Islands National Park	Near the Hundred Islands National Park