Denver (CL 58) - Naval Cruise Book

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Barry, Tuhhs, Willson, LcBIaiic Honey Dipper Street Car — WaUayama Style Cemetery turned Commercial Young Belles of WaUanoura Pastoral {38}

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JAPAN ON the 21st of September, 1945, the Sixth Army transports steamed into Wakanoura Wan and began unloading troops into landing barges. Soon there was a mov- ing line of LCI ' s, LST ' s, and other small craft dumping the fully equipped soldiers onto the beach by the Wakayama steel mills. The soldiers, ever alert for Jap trickery, quickly formed their units and cautiously began moving inland to secure their beach- head . ' hile this tense drama, the armed in- vasion of the Japanese home island, was being enacted, the Dim ' cr ' . ' i first regular liberty party was calmly disembarking onto the concrete ]etty a short distance away in Waka- noura, Our invaders, instead of being armed with rifles and machine guns, swarmed ashore well equipped with cameras and a craving for souvenirs. The Japs were at first a trifle bewildered, uncommunicative, and patronizing; however, when they became aware that the American sailor was more interested in souvenir hunt- ing than in the destruction of their homes and property, their attitude rapidly changed. This change was most noted in the price of their goods as the cost began to rise. What at first cost but a yen or two soon required ten or twenty yen as they discovered the gullibility of the Americans. The small fishing village of Wakanoura became a huge business enterprise. Hundreds of street- front stores and counters sprang up over- night, well stocked with typical Japanese warrior dolls, chopsticks, trays, pottery, picture scrolls, kimonos, and sheer silk. Some few who were a little more adept at scavenging and had more capital were able to pick up Samurai knives and swords. It was not an uncommon sight to see a Dtiiivr sailor standing perplexedly in front of a wizened little Jap trying to convert yen to dollars and cents to see whether he was get- ting gypped or not. It didn ' t take long for the bartering bargains to become mere pur- chases. This of course took most of the glamour out of the buying spree, but so goes the trend of economics. Some of the more adventurous roamed the back streets looking for bargains of one type or another. Most of them found what they were looking for. Those who walked as far as Kainan or Wakayama found evidence of what a few of our B-29 ' s can do — crumpled walls, flattened buildings, and cities burned to the ground. No matter how ciiligent the liberty parties were in looking for beautiful kimonos or swords, they still were not able to match the souvenirs brought back by the Di;ni ' cr ' .s permanent shore patrol. These men, living right in the village of Wakanoura, soon had the local natives and police force acquainted with the fact that they weren ' t kidding when they spoke. That permanent shore patrol gained more fear and respect from the natives than any other group of Americans, and they capitalized upon it quite well. More than one declared he would not mind staying on in the Japanese area if he could have that type of duty all the time. With the exception of the Manila affray, liberty in the Wakayma-Wakanoura area was 37

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the sole taste of civilization for Dciiiir sailors in the entire Pacific ■war. Because of this they went in as veritable tourists trying to remember as much as they could to retell back home. The oxen-drawn carts — the hordes of Jap children crowding around a bewildered sailor with chewing gum or chocolato to trade — the dinky street car with Japs hanging all over the outside — the minute teacups — the strange dress worn by the women, with the obi tied in a large bow behind — the uniformed children marching to school with their little name tags includ- ing school, address, and blood type — the miniature size of the toddling babies in the streets — the mat floors and strange beds in the flimsy paper houses — the monumental religious shrines along all the roads — the queer harnesses used to carry the babies on their mothers ' backs even while the young- sters slept — the toothy grins in the ugly, sore-covered faces — and the ever-present hand w aving in front of their faces to signify no — all became stock parts of the tall tales passed on to open-mouthed wives and sweethearts. .. . -«. , - :rt.¥i.-rf . ' ;,:--- ...y L 5 Ji M . i 1 wm ■ ' WHBll. 4 ■Irft . F Lt f- f ■jwi ' r wTv h 1 f 1 5 kK i ■ rW«« Tii ' o BojT, Joe? Piggy Back Manual Labor {39}