Bremerton (CA 130) - Naval Cruise Book

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JAPAN Yokosuka: whaT a Tamiliar name now To us On The BREMERTCN. NoT'Too long ago iT was The sTrange name oT a sTrange place Tar away. BuT The evenTs oT The lasT several monThs have made all The diTTerence. A Trip To WesTPac is a Trip To Korea-and police acTion. BuT occasionally There is Time Tor whaT we call upkeep, Tha'T's where Yokosuka comes in. Since we've been in The PaciTic, Yokosuka has Tor all pracTical purposes become our home porT. We came here TirsT on our way To Korea, and we've been back several Times since Then. We've been To oTher porTs oT course, like Sasebo, Pusan, and Keelung, buT iT's here aT Yokosuka ThaT we've seen mosT oT The OrienT and had our besT liberTies. ForTunaTely,Japan is a world away Trom Korea and The war. We've all been impressed wiTh Japan and 'her modern ciTies. JusT a Tewimiles norTh oT Yokosuka is Yokohama, and Tokyo, The Third largesT ciTy in The world. ln Tokyo we've Tound abouT every- Thing ThaT can be Tound in The big ciTies back home, wiTh an OrienTal Tlavor added. We've Tound Tokyo To be a cosmopoliTan ciTy wiTh ThaT OrienTal Tlavor plus The mosT neon signs we've seen ouTside The U.S.A. and some oT The world's TinesT hoTels. One oT Them, The Imperial I-loTel, was builT by Frank Lloyd WrighT, The American -archiTecTg iT liTerally-TloaTs on oil, being earThguake prooT, and is considered by some experTs To be The mosT beauTiTul and well consTrucTed hoTel in The world. SighT-seeing and shopping have kepT us busy during The day and The nighT liTe-well., we won'T' TorgeT ThaT Tor a long Time. Some oT us Tried To go Through The Imperial Palace, buT iT seems ThaT They haven'T opened ThaT To TourisTs yeT.H

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Page 39 text:

Yokohama is an imporTanT indusTriaI ciTy, buT I suppose The biggesT aTTracTion Tor us has been The Yokohama PX. You can buy anyThing There, I imagine, buT a baTh-beTTer noT go inTo ThaTI X 4 'The place ThaT appealed mosT To us is probably Kamakura, a beach resorT Town, near Yokosuka. I-Iere we've Tound The picTuresgue beauTy oT Japan ThaT you read abouT and see on posT cards. I-Iere we've seen one oT The mosT Tamous shrines in The counTry, DaibuTsu, The giganTic bronze Buddha ThaT's over seven hundred years old. They were pIeasanT, Those hours in Kamakura, enioying The Tine beach, The Tood, guainT shops, and The beauTiTuI scenery-Japanese women are surprisingly beauTiTuI.. , I Yokosuka is like Sasebo, in ThaT iTs principal indusTry seems To be The U.S. Navy. I guess we Teel preTTy much aT home here now, as if we've visiTed every curio shop and have ,eaTen and drank Nippon beer in every ioinT in Town. We've Taken walks and rides Through The counTryside, seeing and smelling The Tarms ThaT The Japanese keep like we keep our TronT lawns back home. GeTTing back To The ship we exchange sTories abouT whaT we've seen and done. BuT you can'T believe Them alll A Tew guys have even said ThaT They climbed MounT Fuiiyama. IT really isn'T very Tar Trom here, however, and on a clear day you can see' iT Trom The ship. 'I-here's an old Japanese proverb ThaT I-Ie who Tails To climb Fuji in his IiTeTime is a Tool, he who climbs iT Twice is a bigger Tool. iWeII, we didn'T see anybody climb iT, buT--we do have an advenTurous crew on The Brem. Well, as already said: a Trip To WesTPac is a Trip To Korea, and ThaT's noT good. BuT when The war is over in Korea and we begin TorgeTTing abouT iT, as happens in all wars, we cerTainIy won'T TorgeT Japan. IT is ichi Ioan. I