Nara Park Japan-1953: US Serviceman Hand-Feeding a Sika Deer Beside a Woman in Kimono

Catalog date: estimated · Catalog location: estimated. Review source evidence · Request a source quality check

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only. $149 flat from Stockfilm for documentary, news and educational use, plus internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Year1953
Decade1950s
LocationNara Park, Nara, Japan
Duration3s
Price$149 USD
Collection1953 · Nara Park, Nara, Japan
StatusStockfilm Exclusive

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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From the same film reel

1953 · Nara & Nara Park · Reel 6d908244 contains 5 published Stockfilm-exclusive clips. Watch them in reel order and review the available reel documentation.

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What is in this clip

US military presence in postwar Japan
soldier on leave
tame deer of Nara
cross-cultural encounter
tourism and sightseeing
traditional Japanese dress
human and animal interaction

Shot type: medium
Camera: handheld · static
Setting: outdoor · park lawn and gravel path with low wooden rail and tiled-roof buildings behind
Time and weather: day · summer · overcast
Lighting: soft diffuse daylight
People: 2 · A US serviceman in khaki shirt and trousers with a garrison cap, sleeve chevrons and a shoulder patch, and a woman in a dark blue kimono with a magenta patterned obi and upswept dark hair.
Animals: sika deer
Landmarks: Nara Park
Objects: garrison cap · khaki uniform · sleeve chevrons · shoulder patch · kimono · obi · wooden rail · tree trunk
Colors: khaki beige · navy blue · magenta · grass green · grey
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Low
Location confidence: Medium

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

The serviceman holds out food and the young sika stretches in to eat from his hands.
A warm flare crosses the frame as a second deer appears on the path behind.
The woman in kimono looks on beside him as the feeding continues.
He offers another morsel with both hands while the animal keeps eating.

US Serviceman Hand-Feeding a Sika Deer Beside a Woman in... — Clip Details

Nara Park in Japan, circa 1953, home movie footage of an American serviceman in khakis and a garrison cap hand-feeding a young spotted sika deer with short antlers. A woman in a dark blue kimono with a magenta patterned obi stands at his side and watches, while a second deer waits on the gravel path behind them. The scene is one handheld medium shot on 8mm colour film, set against a lawn, a low rail and tiled-roof buildings, with a brief warm flare midway.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: editorial use only Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 3s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800000849

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Editorial only Direct license: editorial use only. Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip. Review the flags below for your editorial context.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel record not linked for this clip
Date: 1953 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: Nara Park, Nara, Japan Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Answers requests for colour footage of American servicemen on leave in Japan circa 1953, for Korean War, postwar Japan or US–Japan relations documentaries.
Period detail: The khaki shirt and trousers, garrison cap, sleeve chevrons and shoulder patch point to a US Army enlisted man of the early 1950s, and the woman's kimono and obi may show everyday formal dress of the period.
Home-movie behavior: An unstaged visitor moment: a soldier absorbed in feeding a tame sika while his companion watches, filmed by someone in their party rather than a newsreel crew.
What appears in frame: A soldier in khakis and garrison cap, a woman in a dark kimono with a magenta obi, a young spotted sika with short antlers, a second deer on the path, a green lawn and tiled-roof buildings behind.
Film character: Handheld 8mm colour with visible grain, a blue-violet cast, soft focus in the background and a short warm flare that gives the shot its period home-movie texture.
Edit role: Works as a short memory-beat insert or a cutaway within a sequence on troops on leave, Nara sightseeing or postwar daily life in Japan.
Historical context: US forces stayed in Japan after the occupation ended in 1952, and Korean War R&R leaves sent many troops there from early 1951, so a soldier sightseeing among Nara's tame deer fits the period.
Research note: Both adults have recognisable faces and no names are known, so likeness and publicity questions are separate from the film copyright; the military insignia are uniform details, not commercial logos.
Research search match: Matches searches such as 'US soldier Japan 1950s 8mm', 'GI feeding deer Nara', 'Korean War R&R Japan home movie' and 'woman in kimono with American serviceman'.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's schoolchildren excursion, pilgrims in shrine grounds, rainy shopping street and monk on a temple corridor, then other Nara footage from the early 1950s, then servicemen-on-leave material.

Still Frames From This Clip

US serviceman hand-feeding a young sika deer beside a woman in kimono, Nara Park, Japan, circa 1953 — An American serviceman offers food to a young sika as a woman in a dark kimono looks on, Nara Park, circa 1953.
License this still · $49

Two sika deer in Nara Park, Japan, circa 1953, one eating from a US soldier's hands beside a woman in kimono — A second deer stands on the path behind as the feeding continues; a warm light flare tints the left of the frame.
License this still · $49

Woman in kimono and patterned obi watching a US serviceman feed a sika in Nara Park, Japan, circa 1953 — The woman in a navy kimono and patterned obi watches as the serviceman reaches down with food.
License this still · $49

Young sika stretching to eat from a US Army corporal's hands, woman in kimono beside him, Nara, Japan, circa 1953 — The deer stretches its neck to take another morsel from the soldier's hands, Nara Park, circa 1953.
License this still · $49

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