151 wartime photos of Angkor ruins found at university in Kyoto
By TOMOYOSHI KUBO/ Staff Writer
January 27, 2022 at 07:10 JST
KYOTO--A box that sat for decades in a university library storeroom here yielded a trove of photos presumed to have been taken at Cambodia’s Angkor archaeological complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, during World War II.

A librarian at Hanazono University found the box on a shelf of unsorted materials in June. It contained 151 images printed on paper, each measuring 12 by 15 centimeters.

Angkor, located outside Siem Reap, about 300 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh, was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from the ninth to 15th centuries.

The collection includes an overall aerial image of Angkor Wat, the crowning glory of the temple ruins from the early 12th century, and photos of gigantic towers with carved faces at the central Bayon temple at the Angkor Thom ruins of the royal capital.
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The third floor of Angkor Wat (Provided by the Hanazono University library)

The box was inscribed with Japanese characters that roughly translate as: “Cambodia, Angkor Wat photos, 150 sheets, Hanazono University.”

Notes written in pencil on the backs of photos show locations, objects and other information.

The photos were likely shot by an artworks expedition organized by the Shinshu Otani-ha branch of Jodo Shinshu (Shin Buddhism), which is based at Kyoto’s Higashi Honganji temple.

Koji Osawa, a specialist at the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Religious Affairs Division, said the discovery of these photos is significant.

“The records are evidence of how a Japanese Buddhist sect ventured into the rest of Asia during the war,” said Osawa, who is well-versed in the activities of Buddhist sects in Southeast Asia.

According to Osawa, Shinshu Otani-ha dispatched the Higashi Honganji southern artworks expedition to Angkor from 1942 through 1943 to pursue academic studies in and around Southeast Asia in line with national policy.

The expedition comprised 12 members, including painters, photographers and priests. They are believed to have brought back 30 artwork reproductions, a multitude of rubbings and 1,000 photos.

The photos are attributed to Naotaro Nomura, a member of the photography team, in a note on the box.
Full article: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14519551

Direct link to photos: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/photo/41751635

February 3, 2022
Researcher hails find of WW2 Japanese photos taken at Angkor
Peter Olszewski / Khmer Times

Siem Reap photo researcher and collector Nick Coffill with his new book. Supplied

The discovery at a Japanese university library of a box of 151 photographic prints taken at Angkor during World War 2 has been hailed as significant by Nick Coffill, Siem Reap photo researcher and author of a book about Cambodian photography.

The photos were taken by an artworks expedition organised by a branch of Shin Buddhism, based at Kyoto’s Higashi Honganji temple, and are evidence of how the Japanese Buddhist sect ventured into the rest of Asia during the war.

The expedition of twelve members, including painters, photographers and priests, was at Angkor from 1942 through 1943 to pursue academic studies in and around Southeast Asia in line with national Japanese policy.

Some glass photographic plates, also taken by the expedition members, were discovered in 2018 by Masaharu Asada, a Tokyo-based collector. The 52 glass plate photos have now been compared to the newly found printed paper photos and at least 43 photos were identical.

Siem Reap photo researcher and collector Nick Coffill said the new photo discovery was an important find.

“It is exciting that a larger collection of paper prints have been discovered, most likely taken by Naotaro Numura, the group’s photographer,” he said.

He also praised the matching of images from the earlier found glass plates with the newly found printed paper versions.

“It begins to tie together the loose threads verifying who, where and why the photographs were taken. It may be a small issue, however it is heartwarming to see our knowledge and understanding of another side of the war and its photographic memory has been given some completion and conclusion,” he said.

“As a consequence, an understanding of Cambodia’s complex history can be given further clarity because of these new finds.”
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501018170/ ... at-angkor/

Amazing photo history to visit in Phnom Penh until 13 November, and then in Battambang.
History exhibit spans 170 years of photography
Hong Raksmey | Publication date 13 October 2022 | 20:21 ICT
Since the arrival of the French about 170 years ago, countless books about Cambodian history have been written.

Australian collector of photography Nicholas Coffill believes most of these works lacked the rich illustrations which help a reader to engage personally with its subject matter.

“I come from a theatre and gallery background. For me, pictures and images are really helpful in telling stories and helping people to understand the written words,” he said.

Meta House is holding an exhibition, which he has curated, titled Photography in Cambodia: 1866 to the present. The works on display range from images that date from the arrival of the French in the 1860s to the past few decades.

“This is first time that Meta House has shown such a broad range of images. It really documents the modern history of the Kingdom,” said Nicolaus Mesterharm, director of the Meta House Phnom Penh Goethe Centre.

“Many young Cambodians are interested in photography as a hobby. Here they can learn something not only about the history of their country, but also about the history of photography,” he added.

“There are some great exhibitions of contemporary photographers in Cambodia’s galleries, and sometimes museums or hotels display work by a particular photographer, but few span 170 years of photography in Cambodia,” said Coffill.

He explained that while many images belong to museums overseas, this exhibition relied primarily on private collections available here in Cambodia, and is the first show to span so many years.

Owing to limited space at the gallery, 40 photographs were selected for display. The exhibition runs for five weeks from October 11 until November 13, when it will travel to Battambang for the Chamnor Arts Festival.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle ... hotography