U.S. Army Provost Marshal Archive of Japan Occupation & War Crimes Tribunal (IMTFE) Photographs, General Charles S. Ferrin, c.1918–1940s

Japan War Crime Trials

Archive

[Japan Occupation][WWII] Primary-source photo album of United States military governance during the occupation of Japan, with particular emphasis on the enforcement of legal authority and the administration of war crimes proceedings under Allied control. Centered on the career of General Charles Sabin Ferrin in his capacity as Provost Marshal of Tokyo, the album captures the institutional frameworks through which U.S. forces maintained order, supervised political transition, and participated in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE). The collection includes images of high-ranking military and political figures, official proceedings connected to the war crimes trials, and formal and informal interactions with Japanese leadership, situating Ferrin’s role within broader systems of occupation-era administration, legal oversight, and diplomatic engagement.

The album contains 85 black-and-white silver gelatin photographs, varying in size from 2.5" x 2.5" to 6" x 4.25", mounted in a clothbound album measuring approximately 7" x 5". The images begin in the United States, depicting early domestic life before shifting focus to Ferrin’s stationing in China from 1919 into the 1920s, and later to his critical role in postwar Japan, where he engaged with Japanese political and military officials at the highest levels. The China-era photographs include striking scenes of the U.S. Army’s presence in Tientsin (Tianjin), as indicated by labeled photographs of “U.S. Army Buildings Tientsin” designed by architect Albert Benz. Other images capture American cavalrymen of the 15th Infantry Regiment on horseback, lined up in disciplined formation, labeled "1921 Tientsin China 15th Infantry U.S.A." The album also contains personal family moments, such as a uniformed soldier cradling a small child on horseback (annotated "1918 Russell"), and an image of two children dressed formally on a walkway, inscribed “Aug 26, 1919, leaving for China.” Additionally, candid moments in Tientsin show a young child riding in a rickshaw pulled by a Chinese laborer, and another with a Chinese woman identified as an “Ama” caring for the family’s child at a beach in Chinwangtao (Qinhuangdao) in July 1921.
By the late 1940s, the album shifts focus to Ferrin’s tenure as Provost Marshal of Tokyo, a role that placed him at the center of postwar military governance and legal oversight. Several photographs depict U.S. military officials dining and meeting with Japanese political figures. One particularly notable photograph shows Ferrin standing beside a dignitary identified as “Prince Takamatsu (Hirohito’s younger brother).” Other images depict high-ranking officers, including Admiral James O. Richardson, testifying at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), with a caption stating: “Admiral James O. Richardson, Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, testifies on the witness stand at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East during the Pearl Harbor phase of the trials of the 27 accused Japanese war criminals.” A separate image shows troops of the 720 MP Battalion executing a right-dress formation in front of the War Ministry Building in Tokyo on October 13, 1947. The presence of these high-ranking officials, alongside candid social and formal meetings with Japanese elites, underscores Ferrin’s prominent role in enforcing law and order during the American occupation and his involvement in overseeing war crimes proceedings. The album is in very good condition overall. A rare and historically significant visual chronicle of General Charles Sabin Ferrin’s career across pivotal moments in 20th-century history, with firsthand images of U.S. military presence in China, the occupation of Japan, and high-level engagements with political and military leadership.

Item #21641

Price: $2,200.00