Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

Cleaning out an old file, I ran across Kunio Francis Tanabe's "Memories of Old Honmoku," published in the Japan Times in 1999. Tanabe was born just before the end of the Pacific War and experienced the war's many horrors, then saw the Occupation and then the industrialization of Japan.

If Francis is still looking in, I hope he can take time to reprint it here.

Hey Eric san,

The weather forecast said Yokohama would snow, but it's not here yet.

I hit this link in The Japan Times, interesting.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/1999/05/19/general/memories-of-...

Parts of this recollection are familiar to me.
We left Yokohama in �e61 and missed the industrial revolution...

Kaoru-san
Thank you for finding the article "Memoirs of Old Honmoku. If you visit Sankeien, you might want to visit the Temple of the Eight Saints (Hasseiden) nearby. Upstairs in the temple is a small museum of what Honmoku looked like, with photographs, fishing boat, items that fishermen used.

Yes that�fs ok,
God's blessing everyone.

Back in the 1950s in our Sanotani/Honmoku neighborhood there was a book store that sold new and used books in various languages. Among the used were dozens of comic books from that era and earlier, nearly all in pristine condition. The comics sold for a dime when new. The book store owner concluded the resale price should be 10 yen. Thus, the "Ten Yen Store" was born.

There were a couple of giajins that knew about this secret outlet. And at least one Honmokujin.

These old comics became prized trading items amongst the kids my age. I had a Navy trunk full of these jewels and firmly believed their value would increase as time passed.

Then, 1961 rolled around. We were going home to the US.
My mother announced that was no room for my horde that suddenly had to make room for more valuable items like Occupied Japan china. The comics got tossed, probably ending up back at the Ten Yen Store for sale to kids from the new age...

Peter san, I hope get feel better soon, rest.
Eric san Happy BD.

Best wishes.

Eric-san
Some years ago we found out that Eric and I were buying comic books at the same bookstore near the Honmoku tram station. I purchased and collected about a hundred Classics Illustrated comic books which came in handy in school. I was familiar with William Shakespeare and Robert Louis Stevenson at a young age. Like Eric, I lost my collection when we moved from Honmoku to Zushi, when the tidal flats were buried and oil refineries and container ship ports were built. But the good ol' memories remain. The noodle shop near that bookstore--Tamaya--was operating when I visited a couple of years ago.

Hello everyone and families who lived Yokohama once.

The number of people infected with Covid in Japan is gradually decreasing. Japanese government has issued state of emergency, but it will probably end in all prefectures after mid month or more later. Vaccine shot is very slow It have first by healthcare professionals and then by people over the age of 65.

I heard injections have already been completed in many states in the US, detailed news is not reported in Japan.

Unfortunately think it will be difficult to hold the Olympic Games this summer or don't know if it will be postponed further.

17 years have passed since this thread was first posted, I am worried about the health of the members posted on this, reply if possible.

I'm still "kicking," Kaoru san. Maybe not as high as 20 years ago...
Both my wife and I have two Covid shots done. No ill effects.

I understand a new vehicle is in the near future for the Sase family...

Hi Kaoru and Eric,

Glad to hear you're both "still kicking"......and that Eric and family have gotten their covid shots. Ron and I are fully vaccinated as well. And this thread still going strong after 17 years is amazing......I hope everyone else is still doing well, and getting through some tough times, and getting vaccinated also.

Just 47% of the prioritized population and 17% of the US population as a whole have been vaccinated. Many groups of people are negative or suspicious about covid innoculatiion, which probably means that we will never be rid of this dangerous virus, which is sad. I think it will need to be mandated, in some way, the way vaccinations are required by law before children can be enrolled in school.

While our area in the northwestern corner of NYC is unchanged, I hear parts of Manhattan are still relatively empty, with many stores and businesses and restaurants closed, and some crime stats rising. Our mayor is optimistic that things will be back to normal eventually when entertainment and culture return, while others are not sure. Maybe with less demand, the cost of living here will become more reasonable so regular folks can live here more easily, which would be a good thing. We will see...

Temperatures here have been around freezing. In the Berkshires, in New England, it is colder still, and today we heard that our lake has ice that is a foot thick. We missed going up last summer because of health issues, and concerns about covid, but hopefully, we will open up our house there this year in May.....hopefully it has not been taken over by wildlife, and with luck our aging roof has held up.....

Hello Everyone. As per Kaoru's request, I'm checking in. I've been doing well here in Western Washington State. Things are starting to slowly open up. My husband and I have been able to sit at a couple of our favorite restaurants to eat dinner in the past week. I have a couple of acquaintances who have passed away from COVID; also 2 cousins who lived in North Dakota. So sad!

Hello Steffi and Lori,

Thank you for your posted. I'm glad to hear healthy and no infection. The number of sick people in Tokyo has decreased considerably. Japanese government will analyze it and say the state of emergency will be lift.
I think there are people in Japan who are worried about the side effects of vaccines but the injection is very late.

Lori, I'm sorry you lost your cousins. I think they became angels.

Best

I was checking the Yo-Hi webpage for 1961 and noticed the yearbook contributor was none other than Eric. For a novel I'm working on, titled "Yokohama Mama," I am trying to capture the fashion, the atmosphere and music of that time. The popular movie then was " Where the Boys Are," which probably played at Bill Chickering theater.
The question I have is about Navy officer's rank. I have a Commander in charge of the Navy Exchange and dependent housing in Yokohama. It's fictional but I'd like to be within the ballpark for his role as " Commander." I'd appreciate any help.
P.S. Thanks to Eric's yearbook contribution, I found a picture of a former girlfriend!

60 years ago, 1961, I was in Miss Nelm's 6th grade class.
But this was short-lived.

A friend of dad's had noticed the American military's increasing need for typing paper for Japan, S. Korea, the Philippines and the new US target of interest; Viet Nam. Every paper mill within reach was producing full out for America and likely wouldn't keep up.

A plan was hatched. Dad's pal was acquainted with the Lao royals. Dad and a handful of Americans would decamp to the Laotian countryside to build a paper mill.

My mother and I would live in Thailand and likely have to acquire some fluency in French, the second language of SE Asia.

But it was all for not. A heart attack sent Dad to the Navy hospital in Yokosuka for a month and crushed our Laotian adventure. We sailed home to the US instead.

Hi Everyone,
I'm well and got my second shot about a month ago. We are finally able to start getting out to eat and do other things that we missed. Good seeing that everyone who has checked in is doing well. Has anyone heard from Peter?

Yes, I did hear from Peter a while ago.
He has suffered some health issues, but is on the road to recovery, and resting at home.
He sounded hopeful and in good spirits. I think he will be fine.

Thank you for sponsoring this website! Now I have a question related to the Navy Exchange, to Yokohama history and to art:
Which famous woodblock artist stayed not far from Honmoku for a while during the end of the Tokugawa era and depicted clam diggers near the cliffs there as well as Mt. Fuji and the waves off Honmoku and Kanagawa?

I have another question that I know a regular contributer here knows the answer:
Which musician married to a former student at St. Maur on the Bluff, spent many summers at Tanglewood (near where Steffi now lives) , has purchased a plot in Yokohama's famous Foreign Cemetery? Hint: He is a big fan of the Boston Red Sox.

Hello Honnmokujin,

I guess the famous woodblock painter is "Katsushika Hokusai". He drew many prints from the late 1700s to the 1800s. He passed 88 years old and lived very long as Japanese at that time.

This print is on display at The Art Institute of Chicago.
Yes, it seems to have been painted by the bluff in Honnmoku.

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/24645/under-the-wave-off-kanagawa-kanag...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai