Souvenir Book of Asia-Africa-Latin America Table Tennis Invitational Competition

 published by People’s Pictorial, Beijing, 1973, 25 x 36.5 cm.

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Image 3 on p.7. Photographed on August 31, 1973, it is a post-match visit to the Forbidden City, Beijing by the Japanese Delegation led by Hisao Kido. The young man on the left front looking back, in his early 30s, waits for his sightseeing group or speaks to them. He should be the guide as he carries a camera. But dressed in business suit with a briefcase in the earlier 1970s, he may be Japanese too, more likely an attaché from the Embassy of Japan. Receiving visitors from Japan would be part of his job and he must have learnt to enjoy himself as well.