Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

Thank you for being so direct and sharing the facts of your life with us. We're happy you joined our "thread" of online friends and look forward to many more interesting communications with you. Except for Peter and I, who got together and met each other with our respective spouses when he took a business trip here to NYC and have since become friends, everyone else is a mysterious person online, but we have all gotten to know and like each other quite a lot, which is interesting since all the rest of us haven't met. This is turning out to be an interesting 21st century experience. Anyway, welcome!

Does Steffi have a way with words ..or what ! I couldn't agree more. Went to the web site..What a beautiful site !
Who ever does this for you gets a second helping. We hope that you can join us for conversation, sharing of ideas, reflections of our lives in Japan and current issues. We sometimes engage in good natured fun and serious attempts at kidding around. For me, this has been a wonderful journey, recalling past times and especially meeting new friends. As Steffi has said we have met in New York City and contuine to corrospond by email almost daily. Each of has our own little micro-intrests and excentricities. [wally is going to jump on that I know] There is another frequest visitor that we should not forget. Kaoru-san lives in Yokohama and and is our link to current happenings there and Japanese culture generally. Kaoru-sans father was a policeman and was Ericks "guardian angel"when he was a boy in Yokohama. Steffi and I with our respective spouces may be getting together perhaps this summer when my wife and I travel to Stockbridge to visit Eden Hill as we do several times a year. I was in Yokohama from 1967 to 1969 in the US Army as a food inspector. Glad you are with us.

We love having you here in this forum! I was an Army Medic in Japan 1967-68, and was assigned to the 106th Army General Hospital, a 1,000 bed hospital in Yokohama in direct support of Vietnam, and I lived off-post in a ten-story civilian apartment house in Hakuraku, with several other U.S. Army personnel. Off duty, I was a beer and wine taster. My nineteen-month tour in Japan was the highlight of my life. You've heard from Peter-san. He was a U.S. Army food inspector in Yokohama, which is one of the best jobs you can have in the Army. He used to have to take porterhouse steaks and lobsters home and make his wife cook them, and then they were forced to eat them to make sure they met minimum government standards. The military can be so cruel. If you have any questions about what Japan was like in the 1960s don't hesitate to ask someone and let me know, as I was drunk during that period. Just kidding! I would love to answer any questions you might have about the perspectives of a young man from the rural Midwest who was pulled out of college by the Army and dumped in Japan during the Vietnam War. Believe me, it was very exciting times. Steffi and Eric have some very interesting and beautiful stories about their childhoods in Japan, that I love hearing, and I know you will too!

Today there is news about a Texas guy who has a comic book collection dating back to 1939. At age 78, he is auctioning these and expects to get $500,000 for the bunch. He has the Marvel #1 issue and several other "first editions," if comic books could be said to have first editions...
There was a Japanese bookstore just up the street in Sannotani that had a never ending supply of old comic books, to the amazement of us kids. No matter how many of these old jewels we bought (for ten Yen) more would appear in a few days.
They were always in perfect condition and often from the 1940s and early 1950s and featured Capt. Marvel, Superman, Batman & Robin and dozens of one issue mysteries. Another series was 'Classics Illustrated." The great books of literature were boiled down to color panels in 20 pages. I faked my way through classroom discussions of "Les Miserables," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," and "20,000 Leagues under the Sea," among others having read the Illistrated version only.
A buddy, Chris, and I concluded there must have been something otherworldly involved in the comic book supply; like maybe there was a Comic Book Angel (Chis was Catholic) who collected these old comics and saved them just for us.
I had a big metal trunk full of comics by 1961, hidden under my bed and when the day came to pack everything for the ship to California, my mother through them all out. Gad! I didn't find out about this until we were back in the states and a big truck delivered our household goods to our house in Iowa.
I can only assume the Comic Book Angel, was still looking after the collection after I left.

Thank you so much for the very warm welcome. I don't know that I'll have much to contribute about Japan, having been only 7 when we left, but I love, love, love reading your stories.

I have a question, though -- when we walked down the hill and into a Japanese town, was that actually Yokohama? I've always thought that my mother let my brother and me go there alone, but that seems very unlikely and since she's gone, there's no way to verify. My brother doesn't remember high school, never mind what he did when he was 5!

And then where was the zoo in relation to Negishi Heights? It seemed like we went there all the time, between my parents, Sumiko (the maid) and my first grade class.

I'll try to remember to dig out some of my mother's letters home and type in her description of Yokohama as it was then.

I've always thought that I'd like to go back, but I know that it's absolutely nothing like what I remember.

Great to hear from you all again. SrCath, I can't answer your questions about where you were when you walked around - but I also remember wandering all around Yokohama, going down the hill from the Bluff to all the stores, and to the pool, and elsewhere - until my Mom was advised by the Amer Red Cross ladies for whom she worked that maybe that wasn't such a great idea. But Japan was so child-friendly that nothing bad ever happened to me and I felt totally at ease wherever I went. I was also pretty young - under age 10. Hope your experiences there were equally enjoyable and fun, no matter where you were - maybe someone else can answer that part - I'm weak on places/names.

When I lived in Yokohama in 53 - 54 I was eleven or twelve and had the run of the town. That is surprising considering I was living in a country we had been at war with less than ten years before. There was no crime against Americans that I am aware of. That is also surprising considering that we were rich by Japanese standards at a time when Japan had not yet recovered from WW II.
There were three large Army housing areas; Area 1 (Bayside, near Honmoku), Area 2 (inland from Area 1 where the PX complex and high school were located, near Honmoku), and Area X (at the racetrack, Negishi). There was also a fourth area scattered throughout the "Bluff" along Yamate-Cho. These were groups of Army dependant housing units mixed in among everything else. I was lucky to live in this area because I was among the Japanese as soon as I left my house. There were only three buildings where I lived, each containing four units. There was no fence or gate separating us from our neighbors and no permanent security presence. Today that area is Yamate Italian Hill Garden.
The Army maintained a very good bus system that ran between and through the various housing areas and bases. Additionally there were cheap streetcars and buses and trains to take you anywhere you wanted to go. A little bit of allowance went a long way for an American kid in Yokohama. I had friends that lived near me and we went all over. Motomachi, Chinatown, Isezaki, the zoo, the Olympic Pool, various parks, and trips to nearby towns and bases. All this when our parents thought we were hanging out down by the PX or at the Neetnac Club in Area 2. Where did you go? Nowhere special. What did you do? Nothing. If they only knew. The only time I remember being told to stay home was May Day. I was told not to go to the Japanese swimming pool but we did anyway and didn't catch anything.
SR Catherine - Go to the map of Yokohama.
http://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/naka/english/wardoffice/...
It may take awhile to load the first time, especially if you are on dial-up.
Adjust to 50%. Look at 6 O'clock for Negishdai (big green area). That was Area X and later Negishi. Now look at 9 O'clock for Nogeyama (green). That is the zoo.
Dave-san

Wally in his post says I had the best job in the army, he was right about that, a friend of mine is Italian and we had a "what did you do..? kind of talk once. he was in the Italian army for one year.. now he had a tough job ..was a bartender..
And well, no we werent able to
take home steak and lobster. They were pretty fussy about Goverment property Once I mailed a letter home using an envelope.. ONE goverment
envelope! I got called down for it. I figured if they owned me then an envelope was no big deal. We did have authorized testing called organoleptic. Basically we tried food before it was sent out to the troops..like Wally, it usually was ok. If anyone got sick first it was us. Happened a few times. Its nice to know that your not as valueable as a guinea pig. Me and Mr. Sal-Manilla got to be aquainted. Don't let them tell you that egg salad can't go bad ! We blamed it on the Navy. was always there fault.
SrCath.. you may be thinking of Nogeyama Zoo. Pretty grim zoo in the 60's Better now I hear. Would have been a long walk from the "base".

Peter-san,
Thanks for the information. I always suspected that military food was inspected by people who would get sick because they couldn't tell good food from bad food.
Dave-san

Nogeyama Zoo was very nice in the '80's. I visited there with a Japanese friend and her toddler-aged daughter. Had a wonderful day; have pictures in my "Japan Picture Albums", but no computer scanner to post them on the internet (sorry).

Thanks for the complement, comes from one who really has taste.
From your posts I think that you lived near my old house. From Motomachi cross the bridge on the canal [ no longet there] ok half way accross the bridge look to the left [ marines know left from right eh ?] anyway there is my old apartment, Now go to page 48 of this thread click on the link at the top and find Yokohama docks and see if it looks familiar? To the rest of us.. sorry for the repete this ones for Dave.
Hope all are well. I'm fine and now can complain about the heat ! OOps I'll leave that for Dave, DC in the summer. No thanks. Saw an island I might like to buy in Maine, Port Clyde wonderful!! 5 mil .. next year.

Peter-san
I looked for your apartment house on Google Earth. If I've identified the correct building it is approximately 500 meters from where I lived in 1954. My old house was gone in 65.
Your building in the picture has an overhang in front that appears to match a building in that area on Google Earth. The canal is still there with an elevated freeway above and not nearly as many boats and barges as were there in 1954.
I'm was glad to hear you got poisoned by military chow too. The difference was the food I got poisoned by had been approved by military inspectors, probably Navy, although Marine Corps cooks might have had something to do with it too. That's why I always preferred to eat out in town when I could. I never got poisoned in town. Or if I did I could blame it on too much beer.
Dave-san

Dave san. The building that once was my old apartment I can't see on google earth but will look at it more closely on live.maps.com.
The Navy did not inspect the food, at procurement. The two branches that did that was the Army and the Air Force. But once it left our hands it was anyones game. I ate out on "the economy" quite a lot, in fact when I lived in that apartment we bought groceries and cooked and all that until we realized that it was actually cheaper to eat out than cook. So for the few times that we stayed home we were on the town a lot. We would go to a small Japanese restaurant .. you know the ones with five tables, and naturally we cound,'t read the menu so we would take the waitress back outside to the display window that had realistic looking plastic replicas of the dishes. I would point to the one we wanted and indicate 2. Was easier than trying to order seprately, I sure you and the others here know all about this method.
We made many good Japanese friends who we would go out with and they would order or try and explain what was being offered...Andrew Zimmer eat your heart out. Only rarely did we get something thatjust didn't make it at all. This one sushi place in Yokohama... Wheeew.. I'm glad they liked it.. low tide and pretty goopy.. looked like the Montauk Monster. [ which is a raccoon by the way.. my humble opinion] Food inspection was sureel in a way because we all know what was going on and everyone made a conceted effort to ignore it, and just do our jobs. Once I volunteered to inspect the eggs, I liked doing that, lots of eye-hand stuff.. they didn't tell me that there was 30 thousand dozen.! Now we didn't inspect the entire lot there was a "sample size" that had to be looked at as a representative of the entire lot. Even with that the job was huge. I was in a darkened room for about three months. There went the summer of 68. Funny.. got no tan that year, and the Japanese secretary thought my skin was so nice.. and pale ! And no this was not a come on. I was wondering why pale skin was so nice until I saw a picture of a geisha..some cultural thing not quite sure what that was all about.
I did a little BBQ with some people once and the Japanese were very interested as to why the man would cook at the grill. Explaned it to them.. guys cook out ect..They didn't understand why we did that perhaps Kaoru could shed some light on this. Its like they almost wanted us to just stop it as it was setting a bad precident for them in some way. Lots more food stories.. for later

At this time I would like to wish all of us a happy Memorial Day, and I for one stop and reflect on those that gave their lives so that we could now enjoy the fruits of liberty that it seems so many now do not cherish. I read reciently the casualty figures of all combatants and civilians killed in World War 2 alone. I'm not sure that what I read was right, can someone help me on this. One Hundred Million. God Bless Us, that humanity will find a way to prevent this from happening again.
To you all...

Along the lines of Peter's eloquent Memorial Day salute to the brave Allied military, specifically as related to WW2, I would like to add that we would all be living in a different world if they hadn't conquered, and many of us would have been dead. I would also like to say that I was just 6 when this war ended, and remember the general Japanese trepidation about the coming occupation, but I seem to remember that this was soon dispelled by the behavior of the incoming troops. I'm sure there were problems I wasn't aware of, but especially in contrast to how other conquering troops acted in other places, the US were the best, as I'm sure they continue to be today. I have only good memories about this period of my life.

As for numbers killed, I think I read somewhere it was over 73 million world wide. But these numbers are always very iffy since they may or may not include the indirect casualties, those that died as a result of wartime conditions, famine, disease, lack of care, forced relocations, etc. So in fact the 100 million figure that Peter sites may be pretty close to accurate. Also, most of these deaths were civilian, and that is often forgotten when people complain about civilian deaths in current battles, like in the middle east - that civilian deaths are part and parcel of wartime activity.

Army chow--let me say this about that. I was a starving student at the university when I got drafted, and I gained twenty pounds in basic training. I am not ashamed to admit that I love S.O.S. The mess hall at Kishine Barracks was the best in the Army. The mess officer told me they spent over $400 K a year which was a lot of money in those days. We had steak, Australian rock lobsters and pizza every week, and they served four meals a day to accommodate the hospital shifts. Nobody ever got sick in our mess hall--not on the food anyway. I remember guys used to fight to get a steak with "approved by P. Saunders" stamped on it.

Dave, did you get poisoned in Vietnam or Japan? Vietnam was a whole different ballgame. The food in the mess halls wasn't prepared nearly as good as in Japan, and we never got steak and lobster. There was a team of U.S. advisors located on a South Vietnamese post near my post, consisting of a major, a warrant officer and a master sergeant, and they invited me to dinner a couple of times and we always had steak and lobster. I mentioned that we never got steak and lobster in our mess hall, and the sergeant said that our mess sergeant was probably selling it on the black market. The only time we had steak was when the Sergeant Major of the Army was visiting.

In Japan, the food in the NCO Club, Zebra Club, etc. was excellent, and came from the same sources as food for the mess halls. I don't know of anyone who got sick on food. We were told not to eat food from the street vendors, but I probably ate a ton of yakitori, while walking, or stumbling around Isezaki-Cho, and never got sick--again--not on food anyway.

Steffi, you mentioned that the trepidation of the Japanese people over the occupation was dispelled by the behavior of the American troops--that must have been before Peter and I arrived.

I hate to criticize the Marine Corps, as the fighting spirit and abilities of marines outclasses the other branches of service, I have personally seen it in action at the Red Shoes Bar in Chinatown, Yokohama, when I was in my reserved seat under a table near the door. But, let me tell you, your living accommodations are not on a par with the Army, and an Air Force barracks is like a Hilton Hotel compared to a marine barracks. When I was a contracting officer in Okinawa I had construction contracts at Kadena Air Base, Camp Butler (Marines) and Torii Station (Army). Kadena had great mess halls and Torii Station was even better, but I never really wanted to eat at the Camp Butler mess hall.

A Kadena barracks had one man to a room, Torii Station had two men to a room, and Camp Butler had forty men to a room. So, I am guessing that marine mess halls get whatever food is left over after the Air Force, Army and Navy get their pick. So, it is no wonder you got poisoned.

What is the reasoning behind the way marines have to live? Is it to keep them on edge, and in fighting trim? Whenever there is a national emergency they always send the marines first.

I can't improve on the on the Memorial Day observations of Peter and Steffi. We owe a debt we can never repay to those who sacrificed their lives during our many wars. Nothing we may do on Memorial Day can ever begin to repay that debt.
I belong to all the major veteran's organizations but usually avoid their Memorial Day ceremonies and parades. I see much of the ceremony as grand-standing and self-promotion. I will go to the Vietnam Memorial, the Wall, tomorrow to honor the people I went to war with and perhaps to see a few friends from long ago. I will also reflect on the sacrifices of some of my less lucky brothers-in-arms. Looking back on the past forty-some years, considering the good life I've had and the children I've raised, I can better appreciate what the people who did not return sacrificed.
When you are young you go to war because it is expected if you are from the segments of the population that traditionally fight wars. It is a duty. You do not try to avoid it. Whether you return is largely a matter of luck. I will add that that is true no matter which side you are on. Soldiers on both sides serve largely for honorable reasons. It is the governments and political leaders who are evil, not the soldiers.
I am descended from proud people in Pennsylvania who have answered the call ever since the American Revolution. The original Horn ancestor, who immigrated from Germany, was in Washington's army through most of the American revolution. One of my great-great-great grandfathers, a Scot-Irish immigrant, served in the defense of Baltimore as a member of the Pennsylvania Militia during the War of 1812. Two of my great-great grandfathers were in the Union Army during the Civil War. Most of my older relatives served in WW II or Korea. Vietnam was my turn. Several years ago I had occasion to drive through several small towns near the area I am from and saw flags and yellow ribbons everywhere honoring local guard units that were returning from the Middle East. That is the local tradition. I've never seen that around here.
Some people in western Pennsylvania today still resent the invasions of Pennsylvania from the south during the Civil War and the earlier Whiskey Rebellion. My grandparents did not trust anyone from south of the Mason-Dixon Line and yet now I live in Virginia and three of my children were born here. Go figure.
For any of you reading this forum who don't understand the military culture, the ribbing about food inspections and other things is a sign of mutual respect among guys with common experiences. Don't take any of it seriously. We don't.
I was privileged to live in Yokohama at a young age and return later. Our common experiences in Yokohama and the wonderful Japanese people we knew there are the reason why all of us who are posting on this forum do so. I would like to thank the Japanese people who welcomed us and made our time in Yokohama such great memory. That is another debt I can never repay.
Dave-san

I, too, am so grateful for our military -- all branches of it. And I really don't understand the people who aren't. For six years I took care of a woman whom I dearly loved, but on the subject of the military, there was no reasoning with her.
The only time we lived on base was in Yokohama, but in Connecticut (by then we were Coast Guard) we lived in a submarine neighborhood, shortly after the Thresher went down. Even though we were almost all transients, there was a solidarity there, even between the services, that you just don't find elsewhere. Or at least I didn't. Until I moved here, anyway.
On the subject of food, my mother shopped exclusively at the commisary except for dried fish for our cat. Dad would eat "on the economy" but once my mother understood what the fertilizer was, there was no way she was going to eat locally grown food. And having grown up on a dairy farm, she couldn't stand the milk at the commisary, so we drank only chocolate milk. It was quite a shock to come back to the states and drink only plain!
Anyhow, thank you to all who served our country. And to the long and proud tradition of our military services.
God bless you all!

Sr Cath in the story about her mother not wanting to eat local vegetables is refering to the practice of night soil. If people don't know.. night soil as it was called is human ferterlizer from "outhouses". it is indelicate for me to go into a lot of detail but I will tell you that checking for night soil use and its attendant contanimation was something that we were most vigilant about and were very well aware that a bad batch of vegetables would bring down an army. Remember how an Army travels ? How we would check for the presence of night soil I will leave you to guess.. will tell you this, we had no little hand held testing devices.. it was 5 sences all the way. I was assigned the task of checking a lot of dried hot peppers destined for Korea, big lot, like 20 burlap bags. The peppers seemed ok [ a kid from new england had never seen hot peppers ]but the bags had "mud" stains on them. The vendor also acted suspicious. I took a sample and "tested" it. As a result, I rejected the intire lot and they had to re-bag all of the hot peppers [ chili] not a fun job for them. I still remember calling over a couple of my food inspector buddies to get an opinion. So there we were huddled in conference. " Hmmmm.. looks like ****.. Smells like **** one guy asked " whoes inspection is this" ? I Looked at him.." its mine.. they all walked away..
I also worked at the Meadow Gold Milk plant near Kawasaki. This was a private contractor and I was the veterinary liason. SrCath was right, the milk was not that great, it was re-constituted from powder. Then they started using coconut oil to add to the mix..after that it tasted pretty good. The plant was spotless but the neighborhood was the pits. Lori said once that she toured the milk plant with a school group. Sure would love to see some photos of that.. I don't think the goverment would want photos of that place to be published. pretty grim outside.

On Memorial Day lets all remember that Uncle Sam was a food inspector.. war of 1812? Thats where the "US" on the rations derives from.. at least thats what they told us. Maybe they were trying to make us feel better..??.. nahhh. Duty, Honor, Burlap Bags..
Hope you enjoyed my memorial Day true story.
I'm glad Wally or Dave never got sick. they BOTH owe me a beer.

Like Dave said, we veterans of the different branches love to rib each other. Every Memorial Day we put up an "Avenue of Flags" in the city cemetery, over three hundred large flags flying on tall metal polls. The display is very inspiring--that old Stars and Stripes is the most beautiful flag ever conceived. About seventy of us veterans, wives, children, and others got together last Friday afternoon to put them up. Us old vets and some young ones, from the Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, getting together to get the job done, like we always have, while on active duty and now in our twilight years. Seeing us attach the flags to the poles and raising them looked like mini-Iwo Jima's. Talk about ribbing, you should have heard us. It was like the Red Shoes Bar in Yokohama, without the fisticuffs. And, also without the bar maids. And, without the Kirin Beer.

All of us have lost relatives, friends, and ancestors in the many wars we have been involved in, so this is a letter to us on this Memorial Day. (I paraphrased the following letter from Abraham Lincoln to a Mrs. Bixby):

Executive Mansion
Washington

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement that you are the recipient of the benefits of freedom from soldiers who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the knowledge of an act so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from asking you to say a prayer for these heroes on this Memorial Day, and I also pray that our Heavenly Father may leave you with the solemn pride in knowing that there are Americans who consider the republic worthy enough to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln

I just want to add that you all - Dave, Peter, Wally, Sr Cath and everyone - are a special group of people. Your posts have been moving and inspiring - as well as amusing and informative. I hope we keep this communication going for a long long while. And I do hope you are all having a good day - it is glorious here in Stockbridge, Mass. Many flags flying, quiet, the towns in the area subdued.