Midway (CVA 41) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 114 text:

Yokosuka with its ' ' thieve ' s alley ' ' , was

Page 113 text:

The Japanese child is a source of never-ending entertainment to the foreigner. To the Japanese, children are hopes. A member of the present modern generation in Japan has built his country from ruin to power. Now it ' s up to his children to con- tinue building. From meager wages and bad working con- ditions, the Japanese have built until their standard of living is the highest in all Asia. But in true Japanese tradition, they are not satisfied. They look forward to the 38-hour week with fringe benefits just as eagerly as citizens of the U. S. did ten years ago (and some still do today) It is this heritage that the young Nip- pon inherits. In the meantime, they think not of what is past, nor what is to come, but they enjoy the present. Whether we liked them or not, we will remember the Japanese women. From the painted ones in the alleys, to the strikingly beautiful (in the true Western sense of the word) models, the spectrum of Japanese women is just as wide as that of the American product. The difference comes in the role that their civilization has willed. In the U. S. the woman is pampered and waited on from birth by men. In the East, the philosophy is exactly the opposite. 97

Page 115 text:

: our first Japanese port . . . Our first and last port in Japan was Yol osuka. James Micliener once wrote, It was the greatest liberty port in the world. It had more variety than Marseilles, more beauty than Valparaiso ... Its drinks were better than Lisbon ' s. And there were far more pretty girls than in Tahiti. It was Yokosuka, known throughout the fleets of the world as Ya-koss-ka . . . Whether he was under the influence of Asahi when he wrote this passage into The Bridges of Toko-Ri, or whether it was all quite true in 1951, is not for us to say. We might not have as glowing an opinion today, but it was a fine port, one of the best in the Orient.