The world outside the prisoner of camp

Prisoners were also connected to the world outside the camp. Photographs show Japanese scenes that the prisoners saw at that time.

The three photographs shown below capture the old streets of Hojo.

Left: Hojo at the opening of the railroads (courtesy of Mr. Masaaki Saegusa)
Middle: Hojo shot by a prisoner (courtesy of Mr. Hans Joachim Schmidt)
Right: Prisoners enjoying the view of Hojo (courtesy of Mr. Dieter Linke)

The left photograph shows a scene of Hojo shot by a local resident in March 1915, immediaTely before the establishment of the Aonogahara Prisoner of War Camp. Around that time, Ao Station and Hojomachi Station (the Hojo Branch Line) of the Banshu Railroad opened and the area was bustling with people.

The middle and right photographs were taken by prisoners. That is, they were taken after September 1915 when prisoners had arrived at the Aonogahara Prisoner of War Camp. In comparison with the left photograph, the other two show large buildings around Hojomachi Station. The right photograph shows more new buildings across from the ones that had already been constructed. Therefore, these photographs show that they should be arranged from left to right according to when they were taken and that prisoners had visited Hojo several times.

In addition, the mountain range at the back and the roads show that these photographs were taken from the Kotohira Shrine (southeast of Hojomachi).

Photo: The current Hojo (from Kotohira Shrine)