Quincy (CA 71) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 73 text:

4.-fr ' ,,,,.- 1 . L-X --fn Guard buildings of typical oriental architecture line the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace grounds. Union depot at Tokyo, though only a shell, is still in use. 69 The Yokosuka residential district suffered severely from bombs and resultant fires started in lightly-built frame houses. American Marines guard the entrance to the Administration Building of the Yokosuka Naval Yard.

Page 72 text:

The Buddha at Kamakura was viewed by thousands of American servicemen. LIBERTY IIV JAPAN After 75 days aboard-liberty! Liberty in the Qrieni ! Liberty in Japan!! The strange sights and customs which only two months before had been mere mental images plucked from books and magazines were at last to be seen in reality. Liberty was first granted in Yokcsuka. There the small frame houses and pagoda structures that are typif cal of Japan lined the dirty streets. The interior of the houses were divided into tiny rooms practically barren of furniture. Beds were nonfexistentg the soft reed mats which covered the floor sulficed for both mattress and springs. For this reason everyone took off his shoes before entering the houses, for who would walk across a bed with his shoes on? Midway between Yokosuka and Tokyo-when riding on the Tokyo Express -was the shrine city of Kamaf kura. At one end of the city was the Shinto Shrine, and at the other end was the Buddha which Buddhists have been visiting for several centuries. Kamakura lay nestled in the hills, unscathed by the ravages of total war. Then on to Tokyo and Yokohama, the industrial cities of Japan. There isn't much to be said for Yoko' hama, for there wasn't much there. The devastation wrought by America's air might was only too clear. The once proud, modern city of Yokohama was reduced to rubble. The same could be said for Tokyo, however, the damage there was not quite as extensive. The Emf peroris Palace, the diet building, hospitals, church shrines and other nonfmilitary targets had been left unf harmed-a tribute to the marksmanship of American bombers. The Shinto Shrine at Kamakura was a popular ' scene in Japan. The Pagoda-type building, typical of Japan, is in the Imperial Palace grounds across the moat. The long boat rides to Tokyo and Yokohama, the afternoons spent in the beer gardens, the oriental sights, and the friendliness of the Japs amply summarize the liberties spent ashore in Japan.

Page 74 text:

The Fleet Post OHice Boat landing at Yokosuka Naval Base. A Jap tug framed by Yard's giant cranes. LCVP'S tied up at the fleet landing at the Yokosuka Naval Base. Logs float down the canals of Yokohama. 70