196. Lake Hakone Shore, Docks, Inns and "Tea Houses"
For additional photos of the Hakone and Mount Fuji area, see Portfolio 5.

197. A Wing of the Fujiya Hotel on Lake Hakone
The Fujiya Hotel was one of the great resorts in monumental Japanese style on the lakes around Mount Fuji.

198. A Fujiya Hotel "Cottage" on the Shore of Lake Hakone
These "cottages" were used for elite parties and small conferences--and, of course, geisha parties.

199. Another of the Fujiya "Cottages"

200. Still Another "Cottage"
Note the archaic shrine-style architecture.

201. Repairing One of the Great Lanterns at the Fujiya Hotel

202. Entrance to Atami
Atami is on the Izu Peninsula--the Riviera of Japan--south and west of Tokyo. Here is Atami's road around the headland, painstakingly walled with granite. In the distance is the great curving wall of the bay (actually the whole area is part of an ancient volcanic crater). Above the bay wall is a modest hotel. By the 1990s, the entire curved cliff above and below the building would be covered with multi-story resort hotels and residences. Atami was served by roads and a rail line from Tokyo, and was a favorite location for assignations, picnics, family frolics, and professional conferences.

203. Atami: Inns and Villas
Around the corner of the great wall, we find some typical 1930-1940s small accommodations--essentially small cliff-side villas in private hands, or available for rentals.

204. A Restaurant in Atami
Further along the road is a small hotel and "tea house."

205. Old Atami
Along the steep and winding roads coming up from the bayside, climbing up the cliffs, were dozens of little tea houses, bars, sushi restaurants, overnight bed-and-breakfast spots (Japan invented the bed-and-breakfast so far as I am concerned), and of course, the mini-groceries and other shops characteristic of Japan in the old days, but rarer by the 1990s when supermarkets have taken over. Here you can seea roadside bar and restaurant--it is early in the morning, and the futon used by the residents of the up-stairs are draped over the railing for airing.

206. A New Sushi Restaurant
Early morning in Atami again--with the resident waitress just rising and gazing out of the window. This sushi bar, dedicated to Daruma--the folk-Buddhist monk who contemplated so long and persistently that he lost his limbs--was just opened the week the photo was taken, and next door, to the right, another new entertainment establishment is under construction.

207. Ladies at Work
Women operating the lift of roof materials on a new restaurant in Atami. By the late 1940s, Atami, like other holiday spots, was reviving, and construction was ferocious. Atami liked to think of itself as a kind of Riviera, and the new buildings were done in pastel colors. The women are wearing the ubiquitous wartime costume for housewives and working women: the baggy, warm monpe pants.

cf. photograph no.38 for more information

208. Along the Road
A mother and child alongside the coastal road. Both wear the wartime period clothing. The two tubs in the background were mother's burden: filled with fresh fish. She is on her way up the road to deliver the contents to a restaurant.

209. Fruit Sellers
Women sellers along the coast road positioned to catch the tourists and the Occupationaires as they drive in. The produce is citrus fruit, particularly the several kinds of grapefruit-sized citrus common in Japan, and for which Atami, with its mild climate, was especially famous.

210. Under the Plum Blossoms
An open-air snackbar, in a well-known (ume) plum tree garden park in Atami, in the early spring, when the plum trees were in bloom, and nostalgic young men and women came out to enjoy the ambiance.

211. Hotel Umbrellas Drying in the Sun at a Ryokan (Traditional-Style Inn) in Atami

212. The Old Resort Hotels at Matsushima
Matsushima is a northern resort--and is a famous coastal resort town halfway up the Pacific side of Honshu--the main island--from the Tokyo area. Matsushima was, like many old coastal communities, the seat of a famous and powerful lord in the feudal era. By the 19th century the area had become a favorite spot for tourists and vacationers. The bay is full of extremely picturesque small islands, with trees growing out of rocks--hence the name, which means "Pine Island." The old hotels--most of them long gone, can be seen here lining the road bordering the bay.

213. Matsushima: Zuiganji Temple
A view of the bayshore from a famous Buddhist temple at Matsushima. Note the bronze gong hanging to the right.

214. Bracketed Overhangs
A view of the complex bracketing carpentry of the Zuiganji temple.

215. Snack Bar along the Pacific Shore
The beaches and terraces along the coast are favorite places for holidaying and recreation. Here is a typical snack and drinks stand in a rather remote area of northeast coast of Honshu. It shows considerable signs of wear--no doubt because of lack of patronage during the war.