Clarence K Bronson (DD 668) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 50 text:

' ' S ysium Our first port of call in Japan was Yokosuka, and our stay there was happily extended to last over two weeks as a result of a poll taken by the crew (and bad tubes in 3 boiler). Yokosuka has grown from the gutted Jap- anese Naval Base of 1945 to a large city sup- porting the United States Naval activity there. There is a well-equipped shipyard and a mod- ern shore base there now, and nearby is Atsugi Naval Air Station. It is the home port of many of the carriers and other heavies in the Seventh Fleet. OiH ' rather tentative gestures of friendship were so well received that we soon felt quite at home in our first really foreign port. It was not long before we could answer Arrigato with Doi itasimasita and Takuran Dollars soon became reekoshi yen if you spent too much time shopping. Soon the scholars could almost count to five— ichi, ni, sans . . . but with good reason, because our hearts were com- pletely won by the personification of Baby- san, literally Miss Baby. She is pert, slender, blackhaired and piquant, and she is as charm- ing in skirt and sweater as she is in kimono and obi. She started by asking us, What ship meester? , and she soon became our ichi-bon girl friend. But if we ever called and the girl friend said, Oh! She go movie, it ' s all same- same in any language, friend, that ' s the brush- off. We met Babysan in every port, and in every port she grew more attractive. We toured Yokohama, the most important seaport in Japan and the national showplace, Mt. Fujiyama, then, to Kamakura, site of the oldest stone Buddha in Japan. Tokyo was only an hour ' s train ride away, and we found it to be a fascinating city. We went to the theater, saw the impressive parks and our first pagoda, and shopped in the busy colorful Guiza district. But the engineers had not gotten the word, and we soon had four good boilers again and were off to Task Force 77. No longer novices in the art of Japanese- American interrelations, while at sea we prac- ticed the Japanese coal-dance and hummed the haunting Kau-kau Musame and the lovely harmonies of China Night. The lovely Japanese kimono was designed to accentuate the delicacy and slenderness that is considered the criterion of beauty in Japan. Although the modern age has reduced the popularity of the classic style, the Japanese women still walk with a mincing step, tlie graceful folds of the kimono undisturbed. 46