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Japanese (Camera) Invasion

Chicago, Illinois. In the waiting room of the Union Station.^Wartime Chicago, Illinois. In the waiting room of the Union Station.

Consider this: Japan has never happened to be here on earth.

Scenario 1: There would not have any war zone in the east during the WWII. The bombing of the Pearl Harbour would not have taken place. The horrible killing of civilians in Nanjing would not have happened. Many women than you and I will ever know would not have become "Comfort Women". The atomic bombs would have been spared. Millions of lives would have been saved

Scenario 2: The saddening non-existence of Ricoh, Oly, Pany, Canon, Nikon, Sony and younameit.

Chicago, Illinois. Model airplanes...Union Station.^Wartime Chicago, Illinois. Model airplanes, Union Station.

While any form of wartime atocacies should be rebuked, no least those of the Japanese Imperial Army during the WWII, Japan has contributed tremedously to the history of photography. It would be unimaginable if we don't have those first-class camera makers and, bear with me, are left with the European makers.

The European competitors are all very supreme old hands in their own ways. But the facts speak for itself. In this digital camera era, at least in the popular market, Japan is the sole winner. The innovative stuff all comes from there.

Photographical relevancy aside, the new features we have been hearing on the new cameras over the week are somewhat gobsmacking: 3-D shooting, projecting images, hand-held night shot, half/full-press snap mode, sweep panoramic shooting and so on and so forth.

Should the European makers be at the helm, it may have been a different story. At least, we photographers may have to wait longer for what we need, in particular on a smaller size.

I am just wondering.

(Photos are collected from the Congress library, USA. Not copyrighted.)

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