A photo exhibition about postwar Japan opened at Tokyo International Forum on Saturday showcasing children at home and abroad from the end of World War II until the present day.
More than 70 photos on display include some images of children trying to make ends meet soon after the war, and others after major disasters such as the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns triggered by them.
Also on display are photos of several famous people such as singer Hibari Misora, actress Sayuri Yoshinaga, table tennis player Ai Fukuhara and Princess Kako when they were little, as well as of children in other countries, including Angola, Pakistan, the United States, China, Kenya, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, South Sudan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, North Korea and Myanmar.
The exhibition, entitled "Children in the 70 Years Since World War II — A News Agency as Eyewitness," will run through Sept. 6.
The nonprofit Japan Press Research Institute has organized the exhibition as part of events to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
It previously held photo exhibitions on the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, a half-century history of Tokyo, the history of postwar Japan and events leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Kyodo News has assisted the institute in its exhibition projects.
Kazuaki Hasegawa, chairman of the institute, cites serious modern problems children have faced, including social withdrawal, poverty and bullying.
"Some of the reasons behind such phenomena are the declining birthrate, the aging of society, the proliferation of the nuclear family, the concentration of populations in urban centers, the depopulation of the countryside and an increase in fatherless families — problems that have afflicted postwar Japan," Hasegawa said in a message.