On a cold winter’s day on a Tokyo street, Japanese rickshaw owners talk and read newspapers as ...

On a cold winter’s day on a Tokyo street, Japanese rickshaw owners talk and read newspapers as they wait for passengers at their bicycle rickshaw stand. The rickshaws have canvas covers, with plastic windows, to protect the passengers from the weather. In the background buses are parked at a small depot. This image is part of a collection of photographs taken in Japan between 1947 and 1952, relating to the service of VX150779 Captain (Capt) John Patrick (Jack) McMullan, of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) Labour Unit in Japan. Capt McMullan’s wife Cecilia (also known as Celia and Celie), and son Brian John, lived with him in Japan as BCOF dependants. Cecilia and Brian were the photographers for most of the photographs in the collection. Brian was nine years old when he arrived in Japan in 1947. The presence of families of servicemen of all ranks was a distinctive aspect of BCOF.