'Accidental Tourist' exhibition provides views of postwar Japan

Buddha statue

An exhibition sponsored by the Department of Art and Archaeology features photographs taken by Egbert Giles Leigh, a 1925 Princeton alumnus, during the occupation of Japan by the United States and its allies after World War II. The exhibition, titled "An Accidental Tourist in Post-World War II Japan," runs through Sept. 30 in the first-floor lounge of McCormick Hall. Leigh's photographs from his time in Japan from 1947 to 1950 include this image of the Great Buddha in the Kotokuin temple in the city of Kamakura.

Photo: Egbert Giles Leigh

Egbert

Leigh was an economic and financial reconstruction official during the postwar occupation of Japan. His photographs from Japan were given to the Department of Art and Archaeology by his family.    

Photo: Courtesy of Department of Art and Archaeology

Photographs taken by Princeton alumnus Egbert Giles Leigh in post-World War II Japan are the focus of an exhibition on view through Wednesday, Sept. 30, in the first-floor lounge of McCormick Hall.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Department of Art and Archaeology in honor of retiring art historian Yoshiaki Shimizu, the Marquand Professor of Art and Archaeology.

woman in rice field

Leigh's images capture Japanese citizens struggling to survive after the war, including this woman working in a rice paddy near Kyoto. (Photo: Egbert Giles Leigh)

Leigh, a 1925 Princeton graduate, served as an economic and financial reconstruction official during the postwar occupation of Japan by the United States and its allies. His photographs from his time in Japan from 1947 to 1950 were given to the Department of Art and Archaeology by his family and were in Shimizu's care for many years.

Leigh undertook exploratory and educational journeys that are captured in the images he took while living in Tokyo. His photographs of colleagues, visiting officials and family members chronicled the rather privileged lifestyle of the occupying force. He took pictures of sacred temples and iconic landscapes that reflect his appreciation of Japanese art and architecture. Leigh also depicted the Japanese people struggling to survive after the war.

The exhibition is on view weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Torii

This photo of the gate of the Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima, which remains one of Japan's major tourist attractions, is one of many images of sacred temples and iconic landscapes that reflect Leigh's appreciation of Japanese art and architecture. (Photo: Egbert Giles Leigh)