A cool glimpse into the past:

Forty-three photos taken in Tokyo in autumn 1945 by a U.S. soldier waiting to rotate home were exhibited Wednesday at Chubu University.

The photos of Tokyo streets and people were donated by the widow of Clifford McCarthy, who stayed for six weeks in Tokyo’s Chofu area, where a U.S. airfield was located. McCarthy had served in a U.S. Army Air Corps photoreconnaissance unit in the South Pacific.

About 10 years ago, the photos were put on private display in Japan. The current exhibition, which is open to the public, will run through Dec. 19 on the university campus in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture.

“They are valuable photos both historically and artistically. We want as many people as possible to see them and look back on the time,” a university official said.

The photos mentioned in the Japan Times article quoted above can be viewed online on the Mainichi Shinbun’s website (text in Japanese, but it shouldn’t be to hard to navigate the gallery).