Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

Wow thats a blast. and white turtlenecks, Steffi thank your friend for me. Lets see what she comes up with. I don't have high expectations what with the clarity and all. More later if I can. Off to Key West tomorrow.

I stumbled across this forum and found all of your posts very fascinating. I grew up in Yokohama and went to school from nursery school all the way through high school. Graduated in 1970 from Yo-hi (Nile C. Kinnick).

I was amazed at what some of you remembered, stuff that I had forgotten and still can't recall. For example, Cowbell? The name sounds so familiar but I can't place it. This is driving me nuts... Give me some landmarks nearby where this Cowbell was located; better yet, near what train station?

Hi Torigoe. I can't help you with the cowbell. Was it a club? With 10,000 bars in Yokohama hard to know them all, unless your Wally san. You were there a very long time, please feel free to share your thoughts /story with us. I was there from 67-69 and my wife taught school at the lighthouse school. I was in the USArmy and was a food inspector. I hope you have found YoHi devils.net a web site for Yokohama/Yokosuka school students. Glad you have found us.. go devils!

The Cowbell was located on the top floor of a building across from Isesaki-Cho. It was a large club, had a band, and there was dancing. I think it opened in 1968. Peter, have a nice trip to Key West, we'll leave the light on for you.

OK lets look at this. The cowbell was located between the Zebra Club and the peanuts Bar on Isezaki-cho. Wally you do our generation proud. You DO know every bar in Yokohama. There is a board game in this, or a video game. Anyone know PHP or PLESK my wife needs a programer. Can't use me, I can hardly link, now getting better, thanks to Steffi. Hey going to Berkshires this weekend? My advice, stay in the city, is 36 degrees here. Tomorrow.. 80 yea. have an extra room, any takers? Schooner Wharf Bar.. here I come..

No, Peter. We've now happily locked up our Berkshire house for the winter and will not return till maybe May, with the mountain laurel and daffodils. Meantime, we saw "Madame Butterfly" at the Met last night - I realize this isn't an opera crowd - but this is slightly related to this site: according to the story, she was a Nagasaki geisha in early 1900's Japan, when it was one of the only ports open to foreigners, who meets and "marries" an American navy officer. The sadness of the story comes from the fact that she views this as a permanent arrangement, while he goes back to the US and marries for real this time. I'll not tell you how it ends - just so as not to spoil the ending!
Anyway, have a great time in Florida - great time to go.

I went to nursery school and kindergarten at the Lighthouse...I remember being so scared to go everyday since I hardly spoke any English...I used to run into the bathroom and cry my eyes out.. The teacher's aide, who spoke Japanese to help with kids like me, had her hands full with me..

Nope, still can't recall exactly where that place could've been. Zebra Club was in Yamashita Park and Peanut Club was at the far end of Isezaki-cho. Could Cowbell have been near Chinatown?

Who says we are not an opera Crowd ? Wally once sang an aria called Prayer to the Porcelin Goddess. Were cultured.. like yeast in Beer. The Butterfly concept was still active when I was there as I have said. It took me a moment to realize that the nice little man in Chinatown was not trying to sell me a pet insect. Was there a movie based on this or was that Teahouse of the August Moon? John Wayne? I wonder how many other romances happened like the one in Madame Butterfly. Too many I venture. Actually I would perfer February to go south. This is the time that we have. I'll have my laptop there so I can report on the status of the palm trees. Wireless connections permiting. Its been iffy. I am starting to envy the cultural oppertunities in New York City. Hard to find things to do when the bugs stop buzzing the porch light.

According to the resident expert on Yokohama Bars in the 60's, Wally reports that the cowbell was " accross from Isezaki-cho". Would this put it near Sakurigcho [sp] station? As I recall when one went out of Isezakicho at the main [east] entrance, accross the street was a shop that had sex stuff in it [never went in] and next to that a large building that was a "swedish massage parlor". How would I remember that? No comment. I guy in my outfit gave me his "collection" of matchbooks of about a hundred bars in Yokohama. I had no room for them so I gave them away also. Wish I had them now. The names and printing were priceless, almost as good as my spelling.

What do you mean we're not an opera crowd? I'm a big Grand Old Opry fan!

The Cowbell overlooked a big intersection and entrance to Isezaki-Cho with its tall sign, and the Peanut Club was not far away. Cowbell would have been the English name for the club, and there may have been a different Japanese name. Waiters and waitresses wore outfits that looked more Swiss Alps than American Western.

So Steffi is thinking.. these Yahoos are hopeless. And Torigoe is thinking.. what have I gotten into. Why did I not know about this cowbell? I must have passed this a dozen times. Don't give up on us Steffi you'll learn us.

Okay, okay, I take it back. This is getting to be a raucous crowd! And I love the Grand Ole Opry, too. Howwwdeee? I remember watching the old lady with the price tags on her dresses on tv. So funny. Actually "Butterfly" was based on a Belasco play, and caused a terrific riot on opening night because of the nasty portrayal of the ugly American, I guess. They did it here with bunrucku puppets and terrific Japanese kimono costumes and direction that preserved an Asian feel, like having all the ladies walk with little pidgeon-toed steps as happens with kimonos and gehtas. I think you should all drop what you're doing and come to NYC to see it - forget Florida!

Were you living in New York City in 1961? I was a student at the Art Students League for a few months, trying to make it as a cartoonist, but never did. I met Andy Warhol but didn't know who he was. Also met Al Schwartz, who wrote Superman comic books, and his brother Burt Schwartz, a sculpter (both were survivors of German Nazi prison camps). My apartment mates Lenny and Steve made sure that I was immersed in NY culture; i.e., museums, Broadway shows, Carnegie Hall (Leonard Berstein), and of course New York City Opera where I saw La Boheme, and actually enjoyed it.

Back in about 1970, I was dating a girl from my home town who had decided to attend Rutgers for a year.
She suggested driving into NYC to see a play and I discovered that Bob And Ray were doing one show nightly at a small venue. She and I and a couple others who had never heard of Bob and Ray went to the show. I laughed until I had tears.
I grew up listening to old B&R skits on FEN every morning. It was a blast for me but left everybody else wondering about my sense of humor.

There is such a thing as a NYC sense of humor. I once went to see a Woody Allen movie in Pittsfield, Massachusetts - don't remember which one - sometime in the early '70's and wound up laughing so hard I could barely breathe, but surrounded by quiet people who heard nothing funny. They must really have thought we were weird, or on something.
And yes, I was sort of living in NYC in the early '60's. I had my first job out of school in East Greenbush, NY working 3 days a week, and spending the other 4 in NYC until I got a job closer to home, which was NYC. It seems like a long time ago, with lots of stuff happening in the country, some good, and some bad. The NY arts scene you were part of, Wally, was really exciting. Leonard Bernstein had some plays on Broadway that were amazing, like "Candide", for example - I really miss him a lot - there is no one in classical music these days who is a bridge to popular forms of music the way he was - he was such a genius, he could do it all. He was also a special person - working for justice and fairness in this world.
And wow - Bob and Ray - what a memory you have, Eric - amazing! I am struck by how you remember so much - all the details of school in Japan - names of teachers, street and place names, all the minutia of your Dad's career, etc - you were just a kid, just as I was, but I for one remember very little except for the really personal stuff, while you have the makings of a book, I think.

To "jog" your (and others') memory, the lady with the price tags on her dresses (actually on her hats) was Minnie Pearl. I also remember seeing her on TV when I was a little girl. She was a hoot! Check out Wikipedia for info, and YouTube for videos (there are several).

Thanks for the nice compliment. I've turned out a couple of short stories and have been rolling a Christmastime story around in my head for a couple of years. It'd be a children's book kind of story.
I copped the elusive BA in Journalism in '72 and worked as a reporter for the first eight years after college so I know how to write a 'grabber' intro.
Maybe when I retire.

Thanks - you're right, of course. Minnie Pearl. What a character. I did just look at her on you-tube - all those funny appealing shows with so many other talented people. What has happened to tv now?
Also, I read with interest your story about your life in Japan - thanks for sharing that with us. Did you learn to speak Japanese, and do you remember it now? In fact, does anyone have any great suggestions for how to re-learn it?
Also, we have something in common - I also worked in schools with special education kids as a psychologist for over 30 years. Kids and the hours were great for a young Mom, but paperwork got over the top as the years went by. When I started, this was a brand new field. Now my husband and I are both retired.