Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

Peter: There are about 25 videos with this name. Are you recommending a certain one or just any originally from the late-60's? I looked at 3 of them. Did you place one of them on YouTube and if so, which one? I did enjoy what I watched, but since I was in Japan in the 80's, this song wasn't one I'm familiar with.

The one by Ishida Ayumi is especially endeering. I know it was from the sixties, but the lilt and composition with this vocal I found very sweet. i hope you liked it. I did not place this on you tube, but I love it. I found the english lyrics on one of these but haven't looked it back up. There was a Japanses cosmetics company called Shisaydo or something like that, it comes up in the lyrics, wonder what that means, will have to look it up. Hope eric is Ok, the midwest floods are not good. What are you doing for your summer vacation teach? I still have to plant my flowers!! Stuff is getting ahead of me. greetings

On www.shiseido.co.jp is the following explanation: Three Chinese characters "shi", "sei" and "do" mean "resources", "life" and "house" respectively. The Shiseido company name which can be translated as "praise the virtues of the earth which nurtures new life and brings forth significant values" was taken from "Yi King", a Chinese classic written about 2000 years ago.


You can learn the history of the company at the above-mentioned website. After the website loads, there will be a pink box; click on "Welcome", then navigate the website in English. Happy exploring!

Thanks Lori.. thats what I was looking for. I tried comming up with it but didn't. You have great research skills. I recall that the shiseido ads on Japanese TV were beautifully done and very elegant as compaired to the others of the time. Also that the Japanese ads would run twice or even three times in a row, wondered about that untill obviously they were doing this so that they would catch viewers on the return side of the trip to the head. Had to laugh, saw that they are doing this here now. No suprise to you but as you know I am a bit of a student on Japan and history. I ran into a book reciently called The Journal of Ben Uchida. This is part of a series called My Name is America. This young American/Japanese boy wrote this journal in 1942 and was part of the Japanese internment "program" on the west coast. He lived in the Mirror Lake camp in California. It is a funny and yet poignant reflection of this time in history. Stuff like naiming the streets Maple, Spruce ect and his thought to name them barbed wire bulivard and machine gun avenue. Also finding his mother crying at when the young girls were 'playing house" by standing in line for the "mess" hall. And the "wreck" room. How very sad that many of these familys lost everything in the hysteria of the time. I have to wonder what libertys we are losing now with the hysteria of our time. Had some friends come to visit from Germany, they could not get on a train without "proper" identification, a Train! Anyway, hope you are well, wondering where the others are, perhaps were it.. Can you see Mt. Ranier? is there still snow on it ? Love..

BETWEEN THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THE
BOWLING ALLEY.

Hope you have a great 4th of July. Keep your powder dry!

Ka Boom...

Peter:
I recently heard that Kaoru was not feeling well.
Let us all offer prayers for a speedy recovery...

Eric

Eric-san
I am sorry to hear about Kaoru. I will keep him my prayers.. my list gets longer. I hope you are well and are keeping cool in that lake of yours. I have ment to send Kaoru an old letter for him to translate. I just haven't gotten to it yet. The thread has gotten thin lately I really enjoy the contacts, your a great bunch of guys.. and Ladies cant forget Lori. Keep in touch.. Today court in AM off to New York City this afternoon and then tomorrow late meeting up with a former Yokohama Army friend. I am way too booked.. need to smell the roses. Later, Stay in touch and keep me aprised about Kaoru-san. Thanks

My parents and I were immigrants from Nazi Germany, who spent 1939 to 1948 in Japan.I was raised in Tokyo, then Karuisawa, then Yokohama, which we left for the US in 1948 when I was 10. My father had been a violinist who died of natural causes in 1942 and who is buried in the International cemetary. I remember attending St Maur school in Karuizawa (sometime around 1943-44), after the German school burned down one night!In 1945 my Mom got a job with the Amer Red Cross, and we moved to the billets for women, which were across the street from an orphanage, and down the street from St. Joseph's, which I attended (grades 2 to 4, from 1945 to 1948). I remember the swimming pool, walking to the "downtown" areas, and friends who were Amer/Jap, Russian/French, Turkish, White Russian. I attended my first Seder with the Military when I was 8 - there's a picture of me reading the prayer in "Stars and Stripes." I am now 70 years old and all this seems almost unreal. It's so good to read the posts of people who saw the places I remember.

Steffi: I am glad you found us. You have a most amazing story and have been through very tough times. I hope your life is now at peace and comfortable. I have seen pictures of Yokohama in late 1945 and almost cannot imagine the extent of death and destruction that was then. When I was there 1967-69 there was a wonderful but crusty German lady that ran a little german restaurant called "Bettys Kitchen" it was in Chinatown about a block from the canal that goes to Motomachi and then to the Bluffs. She arrived in Yokohama in 1923 on the day of the Great Kanagawa Earthquake. There was another German man who we used to know who lived in our apartment building. Aheam Purschwitz was a friend and also ran a german restaurant which we went to only once because it was pretty expensive. I often wondered why Germans would go to Japan. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us.. where do you live now ?

You tell an amazing story, Steffi. Its amazing that so many Europeans either spent the war or post war years in Japan.
We knew the Reik family, who had been posted by the post war German government to a diplomatic post in Korea. They lost everything they had during the Korean Conflict but made a comeback after the grandfather of the family set up a small business in Yokohama.
Another fellow was Robert Lang, an American-Hungarian. He had been a commercial photographer when the war started and spent the war repairing and making shoes in a POW camp. He lived in Kamakura. As a little kid in the 1950s, I always looked forward to visiting the Langs since he would prepare domestic rabbit with lots of paprika.
Another German fellow I knew was Siege Yajima, a math teacher at Yokohama International School. He had been a soldier in the German Army and had later married a Japanese woman. Following a sometimes-used tradition in Japan when there were no male heirs in the family, he adopted his wife's family name. He later taught at St. Joseph's which was also on the Yokohama Bluff area.
Regards,

Hi - thanks for your emails. In answer to your questions: I don't remember the people you write about - I wish I did - but I enjoyed hearing about them. I live in NYC, though during summers we're up in the Berkshires, in western Massachusetts. My life is pretty terrific. I don't regard my childhood as anything but good - except for the constant earthquakes, and the death of my Dad when I was 4. My Mom, who is no longer alive, would probably not agree. Japan, as you know, is very kid-friendly, and I had a generally good childhood, in spite of the war and general destruction. If you're lucky enough to have a strong parent, you feel secure and survive relatively unharmed. Regarding the presence of foreigners: there were a small handful of Germans in Japan, some being Jewish and immigrants from the war, like us, and others who were not. There were also white Russians (as opposed to red, or communist) who came from such places as Harbin, which is on the Russian/Chinese border. In wartime people move around for all kinds of personal reasons. If you're interested, I'll tell you how we came to be there.
I have some questions - perhaps you know:
Does St Joseph's college still exist, and what is it called now, and what is the name of the street it's on, since that is also the street where I lived, I think.
Does St Maur's still exist? the nuns were very kind and good to me.
Do you happen to know what the building might be where we lived - it housed the Amer Red Cross girls, for whom my Mom was a housekeeper from '45 to '48. I seem to remember that it belonged to the British before then - perhaps as an embassy.
Lastly, what were you both doing in Japan? Were you in the Amer. military, or private persons?
Best - Steffi

Hi Steffi;
I went to Japan with my mom to join my dad back in 1951 I was 3 years old. Dad was in the China-Burma-India Campaign ( a Hump pilot) before I came along and had come to love Asia. He went to Japan as a Department of the Army Civilian (DAC) in the late 40s, then was recalled for an engineering job related to the Korean conflict. Our first home was in Sagamihara and Dad worked at Camp Zama.
Mom and I went back to Iowa in '55 for a summer break and when we returned, Dad had moved us to Yokohama and had taken a new purchasing position with the Army's Japan Procurement Agency in Tokyo. We lived in Yokohama through 1961.
My Yokohama is the land of strretcars, three wheeled trucks, honeybuckets, etc., mostly all gone now.
In regard to your questions, I think Kunio (see earlier posts) could probably answer with the status and location of the various schools.
My wife and I live in the Missouri Ozarks today and are nearing retirement. Maybe if I win the lotto, I can make a return trip. I've thought about it many times but one thing or another has always come up. I have a pen pal, the son of our neighborhood policeman when we lived in Yokohama, who has encouraged me to visit. I'd have to brush up on my Nihongo...

Great to get your reply. I am sorry I do not know about the places you mentioned. I was newly married and stationed in Japan with the US Army Veterinary Service. I was a food inspector. In 1967-69 I was not very happy with the military [ but loved the people ]. We had a small Japanese apartment and whenever possible traveled and experienced this wonderful culture. I guess you could say I led a double life. Army during the day and free spitit otherwise. I have often wished to return and may at some point. I live in Kingston NH and just last week came back through the Berkshires. I take my wife to Eden Hill, in Stockbridge twice a year. Last year we visited Naumkeg House. Very wonderful if you havent been. My wife and I operate a number of enterprises. Mermaid Antiques, we are auctioneers, do real estate, are involved in Historic Preservation and are working on a large internet launch. Just for fun you could "tour" Yokohama on Virtual Earth or Google earth. I have, and found that even from the time I was there, it seems to have all changed. The street cars are gone and the city is probably ultra modern now. Steffi, I am glad that you have fond memories of your time there, except for you father, I'm sorry. My father played the violin also, he loved the violin but was pretty bad and sat in the last seat in the violin section. I was in Woodstock NY last week and visited with a friend who was a food inspector also. I was very lucky to have the experiences that I did. It was easy living in Yokohama when one had the "back-up" of the military to fall on. I met some missionarys who lived there without this support and had a tough go of it. They had been in Japan ten years and had to learn to write the language that caused the wife to have a nervous breakdown. At the end of three years, I felt at that time that I was ready to " come home" but in retrospect I was just hitting my stride with the language and getting to really know what was really happening. We visited Ainu villages, climbed Mt Fuji, went to Kyoto, Sado Island and had a thousand other experiences... I would very much like to know how you came to live in Japan. On another note, Eric.. is Kaoru doing better? Stay cool, I hear its pretty hot where you are..best to all.

Peter:
I understand our friend is feeling better but may have more doctor visits ahead.
I'll be praying for a quick recovery.

Thanks Eric I hope he is doing well. At some point previously you were thinking about a return visit to Yokohama. Any thoughts still in the works ?

If my job would settle down, I would go. I'm anticipating a major road bump.

Sorry about the bump,, work is the curse of the drinking class. Still owe you a hamms

Hi - wow, this is getting so amazing. Your stories are great to read. And whoever said something about there being two degrees of separation between any two people in this world was so correct! Peter - my husband and I are just two miles north, up Prospect Hill Road from Eden Hill, which is so beautiful - my son went to day camp there for several years in the late '70's. Also, Eden Hill belongs to the Marion Fathers, who it seems are related to the Fathers who set up my old school, St Joseph's, in Yokohama, back in the 19th century. Did you know that? And as for Naumkeag, the Choate estate, we pass it all the time to get our mail in Stockbridge, but in the many years we've been here, we've never gone in - sort of like being a New Yorker and never having set foot in the Empire State building - quite common! - we will definitely do it this year. Our interest has always been in the other direction - towards Tanglewood, which is just a mile north of us, and which you probably know is the summer of home the Boston Symphony Orch. It is truly a small world. Peter - let us know when you pass through next time. Perhaps we can meet for coffee at the Lion's Den at the Red Lion Inn, in town!
Eric, you mention someone called Kunio. I just found an online post, dated April 1997 from Kunio Tanabe - a wonderful story in the Washington Post about his 12 years at St Joseph's. It was wonderful to read, and helped me find several other sites online that have answered my questions about my former school - I found a detailed history, with many many pictures. Unfortunately, it seems to have closed as of 2000. But St Mauer's is going strong - they have an active website, which describes them as being the oldest international school in Japan and third oldest in the world. I may send them an email and see what happens.
I also found a map online that actually included the ARC (Amer Red Cross) billets where my Mom worked from 1945 to 1948, and where we lived in a sort of gate-house. The map corroborates my recollection of where things/places were - my "orphanage" was actually part of a hospital - I had forgotten that. And I also do remember roaming around a Chinatown in the other direction, but never got as far as the "beach" they mention. I guess you both were there 10 and 20 years after I was, by which time things had normalized and been built up. My memory is sort of of a flat downtown, low structures built of tin, dirt roads, military everywhere, jeeps but no other vehicles.
I notice you are corresponding with each other - are you online acquaintances, or do you actually know one another in person from Yokohama? At this end, it is amazing to find you both, and to see what's there online in terms of postings. Best - Steffi