Cavalier (APA 37) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 81 text:

20 december l953 04 to 08 0745 moored to oy c-5, yokosuka ko, yOk0SUkU, honshu, iapan. during the holidays to follow, many Wl10 had the bug to travel, iourrteyed to tokyo to visit the fourth largest city in the world. in the sprawling area that com- prises tokyo, lay the imperi- face with its high stone wall and wide moat with its stagnet, green water, the diet building, housing the governmental assembly of tt, iapan, the dai ichi building, which was once the headquar- ters of general mac- ,Q arthur, the imperial Q - n A hotel and hibiya park, am only to mention a few. . .,J was a mixture of old style open air shops and mJodern buildings that house mitsubishi and mitskoshi- 'wig name companies in iapanese industry. also in sharp contrast were the kabuki theatres where the ancient class- ical kabuki dramas were performed and the new tv studio with its rca equipment. tokyo, in spite of its wide area,

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,...:':E' ,JI--7 jjj 13 december 1953 8 to 12 11 fed off chigasaki beach, honshu, iapan. the shores of chigasaki beach had become quite familiar .to most of us by now. up early in the morning would be our motto for the next aay or so. rising from behind a thick layer of low fog that hung on the hoirzon the following day, the sun revealed, the bright ,pink form of mt. fuiiyama as it stood covered with snow in the distance. in hoisting out boats, hoisting out cargo, debarking troops- the operation proceeded as usual, and after a full day it was secured. this would be the last operation until 1954. 15 december 1953 12 to 16 1321 underway for kobe, honshu, iapan. everything was loaded up and the hatches were battened d wn. going to kobe was happily anticipated because it was a new port for some and good liberty for the old timers. 16 december 1953 08 ,zo 12 1154 moored alongside berth 6, kobe, honshu, iapan. the port of kobe looked much like yokohama except for the long, high ridge of mountains that formed a backbone for the city. on the modern concrete warehotgses the name mitsubishi stood out in prominence, a name important to industry in iapan. now rebuilt, there was little evidehce of the destruction of war in which kobe was 61 per cent demolished. ,-I 18 december 1953 evidence of the destruction of war in in which kobe was 61 per cent demolished. 08 to 12 0900 underway for yokosuka, h0I1Sl'lU, IGPCI1- pulling away from the pier, having d'i'sQjoi9geH 5our cargo, we steamed out past the breakwdter and back towards yokosuka, '35-N ., v.,

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oturu 1 , l l 4 1 w f CY was closely knit by a complex system of inter-urban trains and trolleys. streets were busy with heavy traffic, which to side as the cabby spurted pedestrians. after meeting them at the set of wooden chopsticks to drove on the left hand side. riding in a cab you were likely to be thrown from side dow. 'the streets coming to screaching halts and starts, riding his horn as he dodges on christmas day we entertained a group of iapanese school children from yokosuka. fleet landing with an m boat and bringing them aboard, each child-was given a use instead of our awkward silverware. with their trays filled they sat down at the american-style tables and benches-something quite different from their customary short-legged tables around which they sat on pillows. the ' ster-parents proceeded to slice up the ham on their trays into Hchopstick-sized pieces. keeping a parental eye on the family we were kept busy filling cups and keeping our guests out of mischief. with dinner over the gifh.-were passed out rand many smiles and looks of wide-eyed happiness registered across their small faces. time flew and it was soon the hour of departure, and the lively bunch was bundled into warm clothing ready to leave- but not before a small chubby girl had given her thank you speech. 78 .f-ff git'