Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

Peter-san - You asked me about the caves in Atsugi and what I did there. Atsugi was one of the main Japanese air bases that we took over at the end of WWII. There were caves there and practically everywhere else but I was never inside the caves in Atsugi. Yokohama had caves under the bluff above Motomachi street that had people living in them in 53-54 but I stayed away from them. There was a cave down the hill below where I lived that ran under our yard but it was partially caved-in so I didn't go in it.
I did explore some caves on Army bases when I was a dependant. The Army had free buses running between all the major bases that dependant kids could ride and some of the bases had caves that were accessible. They were cut into the rock and were well constructed but very dark and creepy. The ceilings were home to thousands of big centipedes and bats and other creatures. From a twelve-year-old perspective they were great places to explore. I now marvel that I survived my time in Yokohama as a dependant.
When I was stationed at Atsugi in 64-65 I was an avionics technician assigned to Marine Air Group Eleven, (MAG-11) and was initially in charge of the section that repaired the APQ-94 fire control radar and Mk-101 computer system on the F-8 aircraft. I was also put in charge of maintaining the DPM-7 test equipment in our Sparrow Missile shop. When we started getting ready to deploy to Vietnam I switched to the APQ-72 fire control radar and APA-157 missile control system for the F-4 aircraft because we weren't taking the F-8s.
Dave-san

Dave-san - it seems you have many skills, technical, legal, and probably much else. The military was lucky to have you. You seem to have an interesting life and an active sharp mind. And thanks again for explaining google. I just looked up our NYC building - it is there, as is our whole neighborhood, with the sidewalk scaffolding that was put up last spring when they were doing "pointing" of our brickwork, so I know exactly when those pictures were taken. I guess they must update these photos from time to time, otherwise this would not be timely, especially in the US, where we love to tear down buildings when they no longer serve our needs.

I recall there were three or four hand-dug caves in the hillside of Area 2 housing in Yokohama and three more not too far from our house in the Sannotani neighborhood. These were great places to play with my Japanese buddies. One of the caves was a big U shaped dig, with two entrances.
An American kid got hurt in one of the Area 2 caves and there was a campaign to have them sealed up with cement. One small cave was only big enough for two or three people and required us to crawl in via a very low entry.
Not far from our house was a large cave that had plywood over the entry with a small stove pipe leading to a heater inside. A Japanese family lived in the cave and sent their kids off to school in sharp black school uniforms every day.

Funny - I don't remember any caves anywhere - but maybe it's a guy thing! But I was just thinking about the oil reserves the Japanese stored in Karuizawa during the war near where foreigners lived - wonder if those were kept underground, or in caves, since I don't remember ever seeing this oil in this rather small place. We heard later on that the Allies knew about the foreign refugees, which is why the area wasn't bombed, but they also knew about the oil.

The Japanese seemed good at digging caves. There was a cave complex called Taya caves near Kamakura as I recall. The caves were dug by Buddhist monks and were multi layered. One room, looked like the inside of a Japanese bell. The tour guide, was very careful to see that we did not get separated from the tour as you could get lost. Another time we were in Shimoda and took a walk to a beach, and had to pass through a tunnel and caves to get to it. I stopped and looked out at the view from the caves to the beach, what a lovely view until I realized that the openings afforded a perfect field of fire for defending an invasion landing. brought it home.
Regarding Steffis' observation. I wonder how the allied forces were aware of targets [ or the targets to avoid] in the pacific war. It would seem to me that unlike Europe where resistance networks could funnel information out, getting intelligence from inside Japan would be very hard. I suspect there is a book on this somewhere... silly me.. Dave san will give us 10 links before the day is out. I've changed my mind. Don't want Dave to work for me.. I want to work for him! I come free.. when do I start !

What I remember hearing as a child was that the International Red Cross was aware that there were refugees of all kinds in Karuizawa, which is how the Allies knew. And in fact, that was where the Japanese authorities expected all or most refugees to wait out the war. So it wasn't a secret. So the Allies refrained from bombing the area. Then, the Japanese decided it would be a great place to keep their oil, which the Allies also found out (don't know how), whereupon the Allies reconsidered their decision, but then the war ended and it never happened. I can't vouch that that is the total story, but that's what we'd been told.

A very happy Father's Day to all the Dads on this post - have a great day.

Hello,
Is there anyone posting here that is currently in the Yokosuka area?

Steffi-san - Thank you for the Father's Day greeting. I had lunch with one of my daughters and my two stepsons who live nearby. I was not able to get together with my son who is presently living in Manhattan or my other two daughters who live in Boston and New Jersey. I'm hoping to get everyone together at the beach this summer.
You have mentioned spending WWII in Karuizawa as a foreign refugee before moving to Yokohama in 1945 and then immigrating to the US in 1948. I would love to hear your story.
I don't have any insight as to why the Allies did not go after the oil reserves located there but I suspect it was as you say, because it was known that many foreign refugees were living there.
I have noticed that the bombing tended to avoid facilities that would be needed during the occupation. The piers in Yokohama, the naval base at Yokosuka, the air base at Atsugi to name a few places that could have been destroyed but weren't. Oil reserves may have been more valuable as war prizes than targets.
Dave-san

First,thanks for your insight to NAS Atsugi and your job there. I wonder what an F-4 was like to fly?
Any way, a buddy of mine who was also a food inspector got the really tough duty of inspecting the Kirin Factory in Kawasaki. Us "doggies" get all the breaks. He said that he believed that the factory was spared as the pending occupation forces didn't want to distroy there future potential beer supply. Don't know if thats true or not. OK the Yokohama docks.. where I worked. In my "research" I found a picture of the bombing of 29 May 1945 [ my birthday] weird hun? any way the photo shows [ not that exactly] a real pounding of center pier all kinds of 500 lb hits. I wonder how much control the B 29's had over the ability to hit or miss targets. We somewhat take for granted the pin point precision that we have now. My guess is that it was pretty much of a random drop. Hope you are well. My wife is in the DC area this mid week, if you run into her buy her a beer for me eh ? She's the cute blond with the huge IQ.

In answer to your questions about my stay in Japan - I had actually posted a couple of lengthy summaries of my life there when I first joined this post - that was around July 26 of last year, which you can find on page 41 - so I won't repeat them here. I had been interested to read people mention places and schools I knew, and so joined in. And again, I have to thank you for finding the sites which pinpoint where I actually was. I guess to a certain extent we're all trying to find things out, or remember things and places we experienced.
I don't usually comment about the weather - but has anyone else besides Peter had the coolest, wettest, most erratic spring weather? Even NYC parks are turning bright green and jungle-like, and everything is growing like crazy. Of course in the Berkshires, where we summer, our gardening friends complain about everything being swept away and drowned - except the rhubarb, which grows like a weed - maybe it is a weed. Dave-san - sounds like you have a large family - glad you had a pleasant Father's Day. My husband Ron and I have two grown sons between us, but we do have close friendships with several additional young people who add to our feeling of having some kind of larger family.

I've been reading early posts, and someone asked about the early use of the Yo-Hi building at the beach. I attended Yo-Hi 1952-54. There were ramps (rather than stairs) that went up and down the center of the three-story building. We were told that the reason for the ramps was that it was originally a hospital that needed ramps for the gurneys.

The building was constructed in 1935 as the Japan Girls Commercial College.

It was acquired by the US 8th Army in 1946 to be part of the military dependents school system in Japan.

the first class began in september, 1947 with 165 students and ten teachers.

I remember the ramp walkways in the mid section of the YO-HI building but also recall us little kids were not allowed to use them. There was a narrow staircase on our side (the elementary side) of the building that was reserved for us.
The ramps were for 8th or 9th grade and above...

Our spring weather here in the Pacific Northwest (specifically northwest Washington state) has been cooler than usual, also. Those who have vegetable gardens had to wait longer than usual to plant, or plant seedpots inside and put the seedlings outside when the weather would permit. It will be interesting to see what Summer and Fall weather is like, and if the gardeners get vegetables. It will also be interesting to see if the fruit trees produce much fruit this year.

Happy summer everyone!

What summer ? its in the 60's here and still raining like March.. no complaints.. its over 100 elsewere. Had a beautiful day yesterday.. maybe the only one we'll have. At least I get to save on air conditioner costs.
Janet came back fro DC. Very stickey there eh Dave ?

What a small world! In earlier posts Steff said she lived on the Bluff, and Dave Horne said he lived at 8-599 on the Bluff. From 1952-54, my family lived a stone's throw away at 8-506, Bluff Road. My father was an officer in the Navy, assigned to MSTS at the port. Living on the Bluff, we had a spectacular view of the lovely bay on one side and the town and harbor of Yokohama on the other side.  In 1952, from our bird's eye view, much of Yokohama seemed an endless gray field of wartime rubble and ashes; now on Google the sleek, in-your-face skyscrapers dominate the view. I went to Google maps, street view, and magically took a walk along Bluff Road (now Yamate-cho). Almost everything has changed after more than fifty years.  Where our house once stood, there is now a tennis court, but I could identify the site because of an old remaining street-side wall and a large old cedar tree at the corner of what once was a beautifully landscaped property. A nearby Catholic Church is still there, and somewhere in that area are the the steep steps that led down the hill to Motomachi Street where we shopped; ancient Motomachi now looks more like a Japanese version of Rodeo Drive. In 1952, my parents were happy to be walking distance from the Bluff Yo-Hi, but that was the year that Yo-Hi moved to the beach location, so we rode the bus to school. I was a sophomore and junior there, and a cheerleader for the Yo-Hi Devils. Those were wonderful times, and I've enjoyed reading about the experiences of everyone else contributing to this forum.

Delighted to welcome you to this site, Barbara. I'm sure you'll be reading posts from others who were in Yokohama just when you were there, and possibly even went to your school, or lived near you.
I also remember Yokohama as a place largely of wartime rubble - I remember sheets of tin fashioned into houses - but obviously things really got hopping very quickly after we left. The Japanese are an industrious people, to say the least.
Does the military still use quanset huts? I think these were made of metal as well. Hope everyone's well - have a good July 4 holiday!

Peter, I have read a number of your postings here. I too was a Food Inspector in Yokohama from the late 80's to early 90's. Center Pier was still operating at that time but is gone now. About the only thing other than the pier itself that remains in the area are the old customs inspection warehouses that are known as Red Brick Warehouses. They are now full of shops and eating establishments. I think it was you that mentioned that they survived WWII. That's not all they survived. Perhaps more miraculously, they survived the Great Kanto Earthquake of the 1920's as well.

I mostly worked at the milk plant myself. If you want to do a Google Earth of it, it was located practically next to a train station called Kanagawa Shimachi. (Shimmachi? perhaps) It's probably one station past Higashi Kanagawa and yes, towards North Pier.

I still live in Japan and some months ago, got on a notstalgia trip myself and took a little trip out that way. Even I hardly could find the place. The milk plant is completely gone. At the time I was there, it had been turned in to a park but it was already undergoing changes. I think the guard said they were in the process of building a school at the site. I will check back in to this forum again soon. It is the middle of the night here and I have to go to work in a few hours...

By the way, do you remember the Japanese supervisor's name at the plant from your days there? Any Japanese or American staff or managers? It is quite possible that we knew some of the same people.

Did you know a man named Mr. Johnson that was really in to the VFW (or at least in his later years he was)? He lived in Honmoku?

Really interesting to see all the history people are sharing here.

I got a chuckle when I read that Peter used to drink chocolate milk on the roof of the milk plant every morning. When I was there, the second floor was supposedly condemned. I have to say I always wanted to go up there, but never did. I really wish I had gone up there now... there was something spooky about it though. Perhaps because it was off limits. :)