Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

Hi Honmukijin -

You...and this site!... are full of surprises!

Well, I suppose you are referring to the very famous Seiji Ozawa, correct? He conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra for many years and was married to Miki Irie, who was a model and actress. She came from Yokohama, and was part Russian, so it is very possible that she attended St Mauer's. They had two children, one of whom, Seira, was a "guide" at Tanglewood along with my son who was about the same age. However, Seiju wanted his children to be brought up as Japanese, so the family was seldom in the Berkshires, and did not live in Boston. But Seiji had a large home overlooking the lake we live on...

And I think Seiji was wild about the Red Sox, along with everyone else in Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, he has been ill in recent years, but is still conducting in Japan. We all miss him in Tanglewood, which will be partially open this summer....

Here in Missouri, we will celebrate a uinque birthday this summer.
Bagnell Dam, which created the Lake of the Ozarks, will turn 90 years old.
Dozens of events have been scheduled.

The lake was created by Union Electric of St. Louis as a hydropower system, backing up the Osage River and several other streams to run its electric generators. Union Electric now goes by the name "Ameren," after merging with a neighboring utility in Illinois.

The lake attracts many thousands of visitors in the summer and has become a retirement community with homes built along the 90 + miles of shoreline. Look up "Lake of the Ozarks" when planning your next vacation.

Bingo! You win, Steffi. In 2000, I met and talked to Seiji Ozawa and his wife and son at a French cafe in Omotesando, Tokyo. I told his wife, Irie Miki, of our mega reunion in Los Angeles which was held earlier that year. The alumni included former students of Yo-Hi, St. Maur, St. Joseph and maybe St. Mary's. Seiji Ozawa was mesmerizing as he talked about life in Boston and his new position in Vienna, Austria. At the time his son was studying at NYU to be a film director. I think he found success as an actor.

Bingo! to Kaoru-san. I tend to confuse Hokusai with Hiroshige so I try to remember the artist of the Great Wave as having the letters "usa" within his name.

Hi ....how nice that you met Seiji.....I never met him in person.

In his youth he was a conducting student in Tanglewood, which is also the home of the Tanglewood Music Center, with the "fellows" a select group of young artists on scholarship for the summer to study with the members of the Boston Symphony, as well as the visiting greats of the time. One of his unusual traits was that he knew everything by heart, rarely using scores while conducting even the most complex and lengthy pieces.....

While we're talking about great musicians, I'd like everyone to look up Natsuho Murata, from Japan, who I discovered on You Tube. I think she is a phenomenal mature young violinist, all of 12 years old as of now, already having performed in Moscow, Italy and Montreal, as well as in Japan. But mostly she is still in school, living on the coast South of Tokyo.

Lake of the Ozarks sounds lovely......it would be nice to see it. Our lake is very small by comparison, with less than maybe a dozen miles of woods, a boating club, several beaches, boat ramp, a camp, and some homes along the shores, as well as an island on the western shore. It is actually a "great pond" belonging to the state, but locally looked after by the town.

Steffi:
I wonder if the lake you talk about is the same lake we saw from Edith Wharton's house where our daughter got married? That whole area is Norman Rockwell country that retains a special old world charm.

Homokujin,
The Wharton house, called the Mount, is not far from us, but on a different lake....on the western coast of Laurel Lake......a perfect setting for a wedding. Glad to hear you were able to visit the area, which is truly beautiful. And the Mount was designed by Wharton, along with the collection of beautiful gardens.......she was a woman of many talents, including design and architecture, which she wrote about before producing the novels that made her famous. In her later years she lived in France, where she is buried.

Thank you Steffi. My daughter is a huge fan of Edith Wharton.
Back to Yokohama. Before I forget, an older schoolmate, a German, told us about seeing over 300 B-29s fly over Yokohama headed toward Tokyo. Another older schoolmate witnessed the Doolittle Raid. As an infant my first memory is the bombing of Yokohama in May, 1945. So the Yokohama Navy Exchange, Areas One and Two were built on the burnt-out areas.
About three years ago, I was getting a haircut in Honmoku where I met an older lady. I asked her if she remembered the war. Turns out she worked at a factory located between two hills where she was building bombs. She was a high school student. She explained that the reason the factory was built between two hills was because if it blew up the explosion would not spread. Lest we forget the horrors of war.

I think I figured out who the web master is, the one in charge of this blog. His blog name begins with a K.

We lived in Negishi Heights from about 1966 to 1971. Our house number was 597-D or 579-D. I don't remember a street name, but maybe it was a court. I had Mrs. Saunders for Kindergarten and Mrs. Albers for third grade. I don't remember who I had for first and second. I had a friend named Donna Vargas (sp) in third grade. I remember us riding our bikes and doing our homework together. I have great memories of growing up there, huge yards, Elvis movies at the theater with my sister, Sankien Gardens, going to the Navy Exchange to go shopping, swimming at the pool. I wonder if anyone else remembers the Japanese artist who painted beautiful cards in the entrance area of the Navy Exchange. My sister and I would watch her in amazement. She was so kind to all the little kids who liked to watch her paint. I wish we still had the cards we bought.

Tracy

Mrs Saunders, your kindergarden teacher was my wife and we both lived in Yokohama from 1967 to 1969.
I think she taught at the lighthouse school, is that right ? After that we moved back to New England, then a
US road trip, then Roswell NM for a year then back to New England. After we divorced she continued her early childhood education and ended up with a Masters. You can find her obit online, under Mary Ann Copolla.
She planned our trips throughout Japan, and I give her huge credit for that. I never witnessed a class but suspect she didnt allow much fooling around.
I am happy you remember her.
Peter

Welcome to Tracy and nice to hear again Peter.

My dad �hMitsuo" worked for the Yamate police station in Area 1 for about 30 years or more. Dad was sent to SP for two years. His boss was a gentle Navy SP called Mack. My family lived in Negishi Heights from 1960 to 61 ?. I'm still a baby, so I have little memories of it.

After that, we moved to Seya's apartment. It is about 12 miles from Honnmoku to Seya. However, dad's many friend officers, NCOs and sailors came to our small apartment every Sunday to enjoy the party. I really loved the PX toys they gave me and kind American loved to me very much. Unfortunately, the commander's letter of thanks and the military vote have now been lost.

Eric miraculously found my family and gave to me a picture of his father. An aged dad tears kept shedding when saw it and passed one years later.

This is Negishi Heights, A Last Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evn_juRXtpI

Thank you

Kaoru-san.....

Is Negishi Heights now the property of Japan?

Hello Steffi-san

Yes, Yokohama city has it. I heard parks and highrise apartments will be built in there.

Best wishes.

Anyone know what was built on the land once occupied by Bayside Courts?

Well, Bayside Court was Shin Yamashita near the Yamashita park. Wally-san lived there once.

Kaoru

Joe, l don't know that land before the pacific war.

Hello everyone,

This URL is pics of Bayside Courts, unfortunately these sxplanations are in Japanese. I was a kid, my dad took me to friend who lived. I heard there was a nice club. The first picture is the current location of Bayside Courts.

https://blog.goo.ne.jp/hagemarupika/e/1b6f693409db9e46e287a2d6a3bad0a9

Stay safe

We were in Japan from Sept, 1964 to Dec 31st, 1971. During that time we lived in Chiba ken for a year, then moved to Isogo-ku in Kanagawa ken, and later to Yamate.
I attended two Japanese schools where I learned to speak Japanese, and then was attending Saint Joseph College from Sept, 1966 to June, 1971.
When I went back to visit the Bluff in 1996, St. Joseph had only a dozen co-ed students and was closing that year. Father Gerber had passed away as did Brother Santos and everyone else except Brother Lobig.
Yokohama Naval Station was abandoned and what was once a thriving community was such a wasteland. The NeetNac Club was gone, as was the PX, bowling alley, and Nile C. Kennick. Area 1 and 2 housing was pushing up weeds but Motomachi was still thriving.
Now I hear that Saint Joseph College no longer stands. Santa Maria, where my sisters went to school, hasn't been operating for years.
I guess all of us who were there in Japan during the war years have very special memories of listening to FEN 810 AM; wearing striped bell bottoms; sharing records; riding our little Honda motorbikes; trying to grow our hair long in spite of our parents; speaking a mix of English and Japanese; hoping the war would end before we turned eighteen; trying to date the girls at Saint Maur's (the same girls who just a few years earlier were beaning us with snowballs down by the Boy Scout hut)... You just had to be there during that time.
I still love the Renown Clothing commercial jingle by Sylvie Vartan though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YiSAKWLh14

My experience in Japan began in 1951 at 500 Yabushindin, a duplex near where my dad worked for the Army at Yokohama Engineering Depot. A few years later, dad moved to the Army's Japan Procurement Agency in Tokyo. We lived in the Sannotani neighborhood across from Area 2 in Yokohama.
For various reasons, including the Zengarkuran pro-Communist demonstrations around May Day, my mom and I sailed back home and back to Yokohama on MSTS ships.
In '59 or so, we left Yokohama for three months Stateside, only to return to find the Navy had taken over from the Army. What had been Nasugbu Elementary was now Nile C. Kinnick Navy High school. The Bill Chickering name came down, then went back up a year or so later. The PX became the Base Exchange and everything Army green was now Navy white.
Mom, dad and I sailed home for the last time in 1961.