Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

American Volunteer Group, I believe. The Tigers were in a different area than the Hump pilots. I'm told that when the Tigers were pulled into the Army Air Force, they also had to "step forward," and join up. Note some of the early photos of the Tiger P-40s had Nationalist China stars on the wings. After the group was sworn in, Army stars replaced the Chnia stars.
My dad's first C-46 was green with Nationalist China stars, later replaced with typical US issue bright aluminum w/Army stars.
He wore a captain's uniform, and flight jacket with CBI patches but without rank insignia and was referred to as "captain." I think there were a few onetime civilian Tigers who were made officers in the same fashon.

Saw a photo of the Nationalist china stars on the wings. I would think that in combat there might be a chance that these might be mistaken for the "zero". Its too bad that you don't have his old leather flight jacket. Not that you would ever part with it but I can guess what they are worth today, hugh bucks. Saw a cheap repro at some store years ago Banana Republic[?]
Even those were very cool, can you imagine he lived that. All of this is boring Steffi to tears. Did you ever learn to fly? Wish I had. Well thinking of Steve Fossett, not that sure now. Goofing off, must get to leaves. Enjoy being with you more.

Back when we lived in Minnesota, I wanted to buy into a three membership flying/airplane ownership deal. The airplane was a 35 years old Piper but the obligation was expensive and time demands nearly prohibitive. We were considering building a new house and wife gave me the choice of airplane or house.
I think her attorney would have gotten some work had I made the wrong choice...

You're wrong, Peter - I don't get bored easily and I'm hanging in there and enjoying all these tidbits about flying etc. - but you're kind to be concerned. Sorry I have nothing to contribute into this discussion. And thanks for clarifying the identity of Eichelberger.
On a related matter - last night at the Metropolitan Opera here in NYC, they presented a contemporary opera by John Adams called "Dr Atomic" - about Oppenheimer etc and their ethical struggles with coming to terms with testing and using this monster bomb they had created. There was some fear regarding how big this thing was and how it would affect the environment - they talked of the possibility of igniting the atmosphere and causing a world catastrophe, but Oppenheimer thought that wasn't likely. The Germans had already given up, of course, but the Japanese were still fighting us. During the testing preparations in Los Alamos there was also a weather factor - thunder and lightening - which someone suggested might hit the tower and set off the bomb by accident. But then the weather eased and they went ahead with it. Anyway, the audience was filled with bigwigs for this grand opening - but my husband Ron pointed out that I may actually have been the only one there who had been in Japan at the time of Hiroshima. Strange.
So we're back from the Berkshires, which were also a splendid riot of color - but our life in NY goes into full gear and we returned. We have a fellow from Bulgaria - Todor - who mows the grass and gives us home-brewed crab-apple cider and wild mushrooms and flower plants for which we have no English names because they were smuggled in from Bulgaria. He rakes our leaves sometime after we leave. We may return at the end of the month if possible.
All for now - best to you all - Steffi

Out timing might be off this time. My wife Janet and I are thingking we will go to Stockbridge this thursday. Just for a day trip. Fooey.. I thought if you and Ron were there you might join us at the Red Lion in the late afternoon. Looks like that is not in the cards. Later this month we will be going to Key West for a week on "business". When I was in Japan there was little talk of the two bombings. I think we all tried hard to keep it light I have read much on the project but this may not be the place to get into it. Hope you are well . Peter Saunders

So sorry to have missed you - and by just a few days. We might get back to Stockbridge at the end of this month, but so far our plans are uncertain. Have a good time - and try having some of the Red Lion's great soup - New Engl clam chowder is terrific, or butternut squash soup, made with apple cider, is delicious. Weather has been warm and dry - hope that continues for you.
Best regards - Steffi

Steffi, I will try their soup if we go out. I make my butternut squash soup with maple syrup and and nutmeg. Sorry you bailed out of the Berkshires we would have liked that. Persoanlly I think now is a better peak than even last week. New Hampshire seacoast is a blaze perhaps the most vibrant I have seen in a long while, and mild too in the low 70's. Truly beyond outstanding. I was interested in the play that you saw, a bit of a strange name though. Oppenheimer informed the governer of New Mexico that there was a chance that the whole state would go up on that fateful morning. I have been as close to Trinity Site as the public is generally allowed except for the annual rememberence program. The passage of the Dead is an appropiate name for the place its pretty desolate. I lived in Rosewll NM for a year after I got out of the Army. That is another story. Many years ago as a little boy I went the Museum of Natural History in New York City. I have been thinking for some time now that I would like to see it again. Janet has been prompting me to consider an apple trip. Normally I,m not crazy about big cities but seeing that museum is tempting. She no doubt has some shopping trip or other neferious intention in mind. As long as its not opera. In Japan I went to the Kabuki theatre in Tokyo. Also saw a noh drama and bunraku or" puppet" theatre. These are no mear puppets. The staging is incredable and almost beyond belief. The Kabuki was just marvelious. They only perform a few of the many acts as the whole play could take all day or two! Foreigners get a synopsis to follow the complicated plot, which is often very conviluted as characters can be killed off and come back as spirits in human form. As acts 1,2,3,8,21, ect get presented to you it is a challenge, but a wonderful one. I was truly blessed to experience all that I did in Japan. In reading some other parts of the Japan guide forum I feel a little badly for people planning a 10 day trip to Japan. Albeit better than no trip at all one couldn't begin to see Japan in 7 or 10 days. While I traveled a lot and did a tremendous ammount of cultural exploration while in Japan, on the day I left I was more perplexed by what I still didn't know than all I had learned. Right now I am re-reading a book on Japanese mythology. How wondeful. I a Kappa fan.. look that one up.

Peter,

Please try this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_(folklore)

Sorry,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Child

Yup you got it! The river child that is full of fun, is polite and loves cucumbers. And is a bit of a prankster.

Read more on the Kappa, does some pretty nasty things, not sure I'm such a fan now. Thanks.. by..? Not going to Stockbridge today after all. Too much to do here.

peter - It sounds like you got a lot out of your stint in Japan and learned a lot about their culture. Regarding Japanese theater - it is sometimes incorporated into western theater and opera. The current "Madama Butterfly" production at the Met was designed by a Japanese woman - can't remember her name - with unbelivable kimonos, brightly colorful sets, Japanese-style dancing, and a bunraku puppet playing the role of a 3-year old boy. The Japanese have such a great visual awareness and appreciation - art and design are a part of every child's upbringing. I remember spending much time with flowers, and making origami animals, and doing a lot of drawing and painting early in my life. I don't have much knowledge of kabuki - only a vague sense of what it's like. Have you seen any classic Japanese films? They're really beautiful in a strange kind of way. My son is talking of spending some time in Japan next year - we'll see. He just came back from 3 months in Europe and is ready to broaden his knowledge of the world, I guess. Sorry you'll miss out on getting to Stockbridge - luckily things don't change there, so it'll be there for next time. Take care, Steffi

Steffi I recall that as I entered the US Army I was asked to give my preference as to where I would like to serve. Curiously I thought I would like to see Germany and naturally they sent me to Japan. I did not know at the time how lucky I was. My wife at that time was involved in theater arts and was an education major at college. This led us into the wonderful world of Japanese theater and beyond. I worked for the army but in my time off we got very into the culture. I realized then as I do now that I had the best of both worlds. We had the military infrastructer to fall back on and the Japanese community to live in. Even though I did not make much money the exchange rate was favorable to us so we were able to do a great deal. Also as a married couple we were able to do things that my single army buddies had problems with as there world of girls and bars was not one that i could be involved with. It is hard for me to envision the hardships that you and your family endured at that time in Japan. As a young child perhaps you were not completely aware of all of this as you are now. I realize that these were very tough times for the Japanese and being foreigners there and then must have added a dimension that would have made it even more difficult as your mother would have been competing for scarse resources. Perhaps I'm wrong.
i have seen some Japanese films but honestly not that many as they are hard to get here. recently there was a movie called Letters from Iwo Jima directed by Clint Eastwood that I thought was very well done. I enjoyed the Japanese language version even more that the english subtitled one even though my Japanese language skills are very poor. We did a lot but there was so much more that we could have done and learned, but no regrets. We were very fortunate. I hope your sone gets the chance to go to Japan. You might find some help for him in this Japan Guide forum. It seems to cover a lot of subjects. I had done no research at all prior to my stay there. I wish I had. It would have given me a running start to my experience. There is so much to see and do, my god, I'm not sure now where I would start. We missed Stockbridge this time but as it turned out it was rainyany way. It is only about two hours from here. I sense you are involved in the arts, how wonderful. We saw a complete Bunruku play with, at one scene about 30 puppets on stage at one time. Simply amazing knowing that each puppet has three handlers. There were even puppet horses on stage. For now..

Between parties, I tried to take in as much Japanese culture as I could. I went to a couple of Kabuki plays in Tokyo. I remember the lion man coming out to the end of the runway and making one of his eyes go up and the other one down. It kind of reminded me of a politician! Also, I saw some great movies: Rashoman and Seven Samurai. Years later I saw Ran, by Kurosawa. Peter, if you haven't seen these three movies, I recommend that you do. Also, there is a novel I think with the title "Hokaido Road," written by an American from Illinois, that is excellent. I loaned my copy to a Japanese-American friend, Bob Ito, who never returned it. (Bob, if you are out there, I want that book back!) I cannot remember the name of the author.

My favorite "Japanese movie" is James Clavells Shogun. it was done as a TV mini series and is rich and deep. Many years ago I saw Woman in the Dunes. I believe that was a Kurasawa movie. It was a very strange tale.

Wally, Perhaps the book you mentioned is actually Tokaido Road. I searched the internet for Hokaido Road, but found nothing; so I gave up on it for a few hours. When I went back online, it dawned on me "Hokaido"......maybe "Tokaido". There is book titled "Tokaido Road" by Lucia St. Clair Robson. Here is a link you can check, or look up the title and author in Wikipedia: www.luciastclairrobson.com/TokaidoRoad.htm Hope this helps in case you want to get another copy of the book.

My first Kabuki experience was in Tokyo with my mom and our maid, Masako, who came along to help explain the story line. I was seated at the end of the row, next to the "runway" where actors sometimes entered the play. I wasn't expecting it, but a samurai on horseback came galloping down, less than 6 inches from my elbow and scared me nearly to death. Masako laughed for weeks about how I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Years earlier, when we lived in Sagami, our fourplex residence was within walking distance of a Japanese movie theater and on summer afternoons, I would walk over and buy a ticket for less than a dime to watch Tonosama slash-em-up samurai movies. One story I can't forget was about the "Lady of Ofuna" and lots of samurai archers and a big fire. I'd like to find that film and see it again.

I remember the town of Ofuna was on the way to Kamakura. From the train station you could see a very large statue of Kawannon or the goddess of mercy. This was not the Lady of Ofuna that you memtion Eric. As I remember just a few weeeks before I left we decidid to get off at Ofuna and look around. What a lovely country town and not that far from Yokohama. As we were "stocking up " on things that we wanted to take home, we happened upon a shop that sold Japanese paper lanterns. We bought several including one huge one that later we learned said chicken yaki-tori. Then it made sence as to why the merchant was so inquisative as to if we really wanted to buy it. It was for a commercial lantern. We had no idea what it said but we loved it for the writing alone. It was september and we sat on the edge of an embankment watching the rice harvest, and reflecting on our three years in Japan. Ofuna was a wonderful village but I would guess that it may all be built up now. I am not sure of this but i believe I learned that there was a POW camp in Ofuna during the war. Before we left we traveled around picking up things that we wanted to take home. By the time the movers came our little apartment was so full of stuff that we couldn't get around. I collected about 15 yukatas over my stay and I have since worn them all out. I can just picture Eric at that Kubuki play what a hoot. I assume that was a real live horse. Now it seems that the samuri-ninga thing is all the rage. Eric was ahead of his time. No subtitles either. I went to several Japanese movies but I found it too frustrating to try and understand the plot in Japanese. At the Kubuki-za we were given a pamphlet in english to help explain the plot. During the intermissions we scrambled to find out what had happened and what was next. I admitt that I got lost trying to follow who was who especially when they were killed and came back as a ghost. I loved the stageing and the attendants that would move scenery in plain view but the audience was not supposed to notice them. very neat. In early days only men were allowed to be actors, even playing the female roles. I don't know when that policy changed. I would have loved to walk on the Tokkiado highway. perhaps I did and didn't know it. lined with ginko trees if I'm not mistaken.

Has anyone been to Karuisawa? I spent about a year there as a child, at which time it was a simple lovely village, if memory serves. It was high up in the mountains, very cold in winter, lots of snow, with a view of Fuji. I read that now it's a very posh resort, a favorite place for the royal family, and containing a huge shopping mall. Karuisawa was where foreigners were sent to escape the bombings during ww2. This apparently was known to the Allies, who therefore didn't bomb the area, and the International Red Cross. Near the end of the war, it also became a place where oil was stored, so things became hairy.

I got the spelling wrong - sorry. It has a Z - Karuizawa.