Washburn (AKA 108) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 17 text:

Q QHOIZT 9270129 or gapmz UNTIL COMMODORE PERRY arrived in Japan in 1853, japan was almost entirely unknown to the VVest. The Tokugawa shoguns, who had ruled Japan for 200 years, favored a policy of isolation so strict that only a few Dutch trading vessels were permitted to stop at a port in Kyushu. Bottled up in their small islands and oppressed by the top- heavy military system which kept the shoguns in power, the people were discontented. As the cities grew in size, general unrest increased. W'hen a powerful merchant and banking class developed, the very existence of the feudal system was threatened. One effect of Perry's arrival was to bring internal Japanese differences to a head. After his visit, the Japanese, realizing that they could no longer remain isolated from a world deter! mined to intrude, were forced to make vital decisions about the method of life they would follow. In 1867. while these issues were still being debated. the last-foreign emperor died, the shogun abdicated, and Emperor Meiji came to the throne. This man. known as the enlightened was responsible for a modernization of Japan's antique social and economic structures. NVestern scientists. mechanics, engineers and educational administrators were invited to Japan. Mass education started and thousands of Japanese students went overseas to learn foreign ways. TWELVE YEARS after the Meiji reformation began, the caste system had been abolished. land reforms were initiated, a national currency was created. the army and navy were modern- ized, and religious freedom was established. These great advan- tages were to some extent offset by the powerful position assumed by the military. Neither the Japanese Diet nor the cabinet in any way controlled the military, which was second only to the emperor in power. Thus, in creating reforms, the Meiji master- minds failed to provide for safegxards against abuse of power. This omission permitted the growth of a militaristic machine which in the end, wrecked the entire nation. Another mistake was to bind reform structures together by a revival of Shinto. This doctrine taught Japanese that they had a divine mission, which called them to give inferior races the benefit of their rule. The emperor himself was considered divine. I Japan tested her new military forces in 1894 in a war with China originating with a dispute over Korea. Japan won the war, and by the terms of a peace treaty, China was forced to give up Taiwan, part of Manchuria, and to pay a large indemnity to Japan, among other concessions. Because of conflicting interests in Manchuria, Japan went to war with Russia in 1904. Again Japan was the victor. A treaty signed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1905, gave the Japanese control of Korea, part of the island of Sakhalin, special privileges in Manchuria, and many other strategic prizes. DURING WORLD XVAR ONE, Japan sided with the allies against Germany. This gave the island empire control of former German possessions in the Pacific Ocean, besides additional ad- vantages in China. By 1930, Japan, a world power, had not only highly developed military forces, but a large and industrious empire. Foreign tarrifs however, had created a difficult selling problem for a tremendous industrial output. Businessmen at first desired to solve this problem by peaceful negotiation. Military leaders pressed to solve it by grabbing more colonies. This they did by starting a war in Manchuria in 1931. The campaign proved so profitable that many civilians, including the industrialists, accepted the military's aggressive ideas. By 1937 thought control authorities and secret police were effectively stopping any remain- ing opposition toward militaristic aims. These conditions all constituted a prelude to World War Two. During this confiict Japan lost everything she had taken by force, but as a result, the Japanese nation gained a new grasp on democratic ways of life. TODAY JAPAN has a constitution placing sovereighty in the people. It makes it possible for directly elected representatives to control the government, including the armed forces. The country now has the benefit of a revised school system, authority over which is in the hands of locally elected boards of education. State Shinto was banned, public education classess extended from six to nine years. Women have the right to vote. Farm reforms make it possible for farmers to buy land on easy terms. All of these improvements and many others have combined to make Japan one of the free world's strongest allies in the cold war with communism. Because militarily the nation is not strong enough for self- defense, American troops and naval units are stationed in Japan to assist in the task of safe-guarding the democracy so essential to freedom and human dignity.

Page 16 text:

.- .- is A ...I I I A , 0 '5v', - H , -.N ' 1,3 4. In , ' 5'- ..- ' , I - - . .. 4 Pei ' .- - . rr , 43532 'ff , .-,A ' C., Lf' . 4. 0 ,N . h' -' , , -g,,,.f,,.-. -, ' 4 1 , ' L :ff fif-. , 5- . - I A, . 1 ,. . - ,QI fl 1 A ..- .gf -fa ,I A,.,ff 55 5' ,- - 1., A D X I. , . 'J,. 'Ai' 2 ' if , . - - me 5 , , W Q X . .4 . 3 A 4 1 81 2 f , A - , ' 1 Q. if , . 1 -J? ,. 9 H,-V AA . K . - 51 . y. ,V 1 no., X 1. - f' ' we- X - . V , wt. , K. V A we' ,V f' 1 f 1 ,W , J, 'wt I iw ' r.! f h v ' P .. , '..p it L . .1 , ' 'ff 111' ' , ,V ,. W. V .M , ..lr2,og-5759-,S u-J.. X I ,S lg - ' ,, W' ' 46'-' 1 , A ' ' , ' ' 1 in A X fy' ,vi A ' ff! F - . ,K RMP' 'K' , , 4'-j V '41 --ivf' 1 ,A ' , 'A' ' 459' an- J' ' .xii 4-?'Ur+f 1'- ,iL?f' aiu- fx ' lg 7 - 1 .' . ' '-' ,jf - .--.-L ' A, ' S' 1' 1 ,, f , 1,41 H sq' f gf- - if ggqlimh. 15 . 'V . , -. . -, . -..' ., .f ' ,par - , . ..!.,, 1 , A -. A ,- - ,rw , , , . , - r . . . ,, , W . . , Q '45 . .r af ' fp -+ , ' Lf e -- M, 'A'-I' - '- ' f- 's ' ' L ,., , -H1 ,f f ' 4' ' L -rf -vs- .-x- , .11 J, V- li -W . . , T vpp- , - VNQHM 1 , 1 1 ..4',x!,T'nQ .l A Z f - . rv,-A'-VU S- n 9.3. t,.,,-.- Nw ,vs -.- : .r W, W 22 f T,-1 f , 'af ' , ,, 5 ' . l' H . L' 9 QA 'A-L' . an ,Q f ' .. w gg, ,' , M B3 - A ' 'Q . 1 '2'.e:fi1.a, . f . A '+ 1 .'. . . 'v ,I -.. - ,-.. ' 9-: -Q... 1,4 I' K ,V-rZ..' ,I 'QM -- vu .N , ' H I -JS L .V 5 . tus., 1 Q 'lL.. fT ':I.g.-- -'1' - W 'm', 'j-,,f!A 1f...'?,4 ...' gl '2 'P7-'f'I7x -.. W LQ nf. Q m ::'i-qlizii X S4fl ::W-'1!Jff.'-' Tv'-5 ' ' 211.1 fgrj'T'. 1y4'5 ,, 5'?i'.l4if. N A ., - 55. LM U ' rj if 54f ,,1fg 3?1s-. , 'ffiiwf'-1 ,W ' , 4, 1 '-1 v fx r 'I v ' , 7 A ' ,gif-...-r W ,FQ A .yi , .' .lf-L Lx, ' 1 wi MLM ' Lg, . , up 'Qng' -A: . ' .., . , 'f r1. ' H Q 4 A 5 -, , A,-X 2 . . --f- ' . f w . - I f' V 5 ' A . 5- V , .1 1 is -X . 4 J-K 1 K N , . 1 Rr U ' . 1 , Q v W, A L K, ws,-, . ,H . xkftx ,U :VK . . D ,y .. . u 's..,,- 3 'I . nas. M-'. . . I -r X1 Q.. .rs CDO .- is .r, 1 I nhl Q it IPO' 4 , YM

Page 18 text:

'Sf Q , I ., .L ., -' I ...v-'EZ- 1 xl' V 565520 Sasebo was the first lapanese port we visited. After 12 days at sea we came to The Land of the Rising Sun , many of us for us for the first time. Sasebo was to be our home for two weeks and all of us were anxious to discover what it was like, especially those of us who had never been to lapan before. Sasebo is located on the north-western tip of KYUSHU, a major island on the southern end of the lapanese chain. It guards the important narrows between Korea and Japan, known to us as the CHOSEN and TSUSHIMA straights, which separate the lapan Sea from the East China Sea. The harbor is shaped like a huge clover leaf and the bay, which extends way inland, is formed by a sea valley and shaped by surrounding hills and sharp mountains. From a naval standpoint it is an outstanding base and it is the southern most naval base in lapan for the defense of Asia, China and Korea. Historically, Sasebo has served as a catch basin for the overflow of commerce from the industries of Nagasaki and the encompassing manufac- turing complex. Since being used as a naval port, Sasebo has grown to considerable size with over 200,000 inhabitants. Today it is the home for one of our two major U. S. Naval bases in lapan and also the home for one of lapan's four naval bases. In the past few years, particularly since the Korean War, considerable industrial development has taken place, solely for the construc- tion and maintenance of lapanese vessels. The world's largest battleship, the Q' Yamato and the Musashi another Japanese battleship, were both built in Sasebo during the Second 14