U.S. House 714
Tokyo, Japan
August, 1948Dear Miss Turner,
In early December '47, the children and I received travel orders for a January sailing. So instead of my usual Christmas card writing, I spent all my time scurrying around getting everything ready that I had been told by letter I would need for my stay in Japan. Just after Christmas, I was asked whether we would like to sail on one of two boats leaving New York. I answered in the affirmative and our January priority got us a place on the first boat, leaving New York February 26. All of my household goods as well as our car and hold baggage came on the boat with us. Within four weeks after our arrival we had in our possession everything that I brought along.
The E.B.Alexander is one of the larger troop transports. It carried on this trip about 500 dependents of which 150 were children under 5 years old and another 150 were between 6 and 18; and 200 troops. Our food was good and plentiful. Phyllis and I shared a cabin on B deck with another little girl and her mother, Billy and John were down on D deck in a boy's dormitory. All the stairs we had to climb gave us plenty of exercise. The only fault I have to find with our accomodations was a lack of laundry facilities which made the washing of stockings, socks and underwear for four a problem.
Our whole trip was mostly smooth and sunny. We left in the rain and had wind that night, but the sun shone in the morning. Our worst weather was a hard rain and wind storm on the last day out from Japan. Neither Phyllis nor I were seasick at any time. The boys each lost one meal apiece in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras. Probably the uncertainty of being so far away from me on a strange ship was 90% responsible for their stomach upsets.
From New York the boat sailed south into the Caribbean Sea and the hottest part of our trip. Just once I thought I saw a shark fin. But we did see several schools of porpoise playing their jumping game in the water. During our first and second days on the Pacific Ocean, we passed through many schools of small, dark colored flying fish. I was told that if we had one on deck, it would appear dark blue. With us practically all the way from New York to Yokahama, there were birds. Even on the broad Pacific the strong-winged sea-going species followed or perhaps I should say found our ship.
Sometime during the small hours of the morning of March 3, we reached Colon at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal where the sun rises over the land and sinks into the ocean at night. It took us the better part of the day to go through the canal. Everything about the locks works so smoothly and precisely that in a short time your ship has risen 85 feet above sea level in its watery elevator and sails quietly out into Gatun Lake. This is a fresh water, tropical lake inhabited by alligators, crocodiles and poisonous snakes; with palms and heavy undergrowth of large ferns down to the water's edge. As Gatun Lake narrows, you come close enough to the banks to distinguish the bright colors of blossoms on trees and shrubs. The high cliffs above you in the Culebra Cut are aweinspiring. [sic] All of us are thankful that we had the privelege [sic] of going through this great man-made water way. At Balboa, the Pacific end of the canal, we docked over night at an armypier. [sic] We could not leave the pier. Instead a special P.X. was set up on the dock and stocked with cold Coco [sic] Cola and souveniers.
Early in the morning a haze surrounding everything gives the countryside a beautifull [sic], soft green sheen. Something that amazed me was the complete absence of either flies or mosquitoes at Balboa. I understand that it is the result of constant DDT dusting from airplanes. We saw one in action that morning before our ship left the Panama Canal Zone.
From Panama we went directly to Honolulu. This was the longest lap of our journey. Due to the large number of babies and small children who can be very careless with fresh water, we had water rationing for most of this stretch, i.e. water for washing was limited but not the drinking water in the bubblers.
On one or two nights of this part of our trip the water was rough enough when other conditions were favorable so that each wave crest was phosphorescent. You could see the bright bands, like white caps, away into the distance.
We had 24 hours in Honolulu. That gave me time to take the children out to Wikiki [sic] Beach to watch the surfriders and paddle in the water. Two big outrigger canoes were launched while we were there and went out to ride in on the surf. Those two canoes fascinated the boys. Later for a souvenier, John got a small replica of an outrigger canoe and Billy picked out a book of legends of old Hawaii. Then we had dinner at a nice outdoor place before going back to the ship. The next morning I took time to do a little shopping and replenish my supply of paper and pencils for activities on board ship.
Although the sun shines everyday and even almost all the time, there is an intermitant procession of rain showers moving across the island. This results in frequent beautiful rainbows. As we left Honolulu in the afternoon of March 17, a rainbow arched from hill to hill across the main valley of the city to bid us goodbye. The children were delighted with the island and wanted to know if we couldn't come back there to live when we leave Japan. It certainly is beautiful and except for no snow an ideal place to live.
We arrived in Japan early Easter Sunday morning. On the way into dock at Yokohama, I had my first and so far, only glimpse of Fuji San. Mount Fuji is always given the title of respect, Fuji San, which translates as Mr. Fuji. After the E.B.Alexander docked, Bill came on board to see hwere we had been living for the past month. Then with four porters to carry our luggage, we debarked. Two sedans had been provided to drive us about 25 miles from Yokohama to the suburb of Tokyo on which we live.
Bill had been able to draw a house, located about 12 miles west toward the mountains from the center of Tokyo, about 5 days before we arrived. It is a stucco house with a terrace and small seond floor balcony that make it south European in style. Downstairs there are large (about 20ft. x 30ft.) living room with a working fireplace, dining room, kitchen, long hall divided into front and back sections, a Japanese servant's room and a Japanese bath and washroom. Upstairs there is a western bathroom which I understand was installed by the occupation forces, with tiled tub and shower; a master bedroom in which we have a double and a single bed; a big studio room that the 2 boys use; a smaller room for Phyllis; a combination den and guest room (we can have this extra bed because there are 2 single beds that belong with the house and are in addition to what we are authorized to draw from the warehouse); and a Japanese servant's room. Except for the two servant's rooms there is no tatami and from the looks of the parquet floors there never has been tatami on them. Tatami is a tightly woven grass-like floor covering used in all Japanese style homes. It is slightly soft and springy and never walked on with outdoor shoes.
The grass plot in our yard is larger than that required for a badmintin [sic] court. It is bordered by flowering trees and shrubs so that ever since I arrived there has been something blossoming. Here they are in approximate order of blooming: plum; early single cherry; a large (4 or 5ft. bush) variety of daphne; daffodils; a chinese lilac; early azalea; single red, and red and white, camelias; butterfly bush; the large azalea with flowers 2 inches to 3 inches across; magnolia both white and purplish red; double pink and bouble [sic] white camelias; late azaleas (the hedge in front of the house is also late azalea but is trimmed so that it does not bloom profusely as the individual bushes do); pomegranite [sic]; something that looks as though it were going to be an hydranga [sic] but after the outer circle of flowers comes out the center opens up blue and feathery; a red rose bush (not doing very well); single dahlias that must have lived in the ground all winter; several kinds of iris and day lillies [sic]; single gardenia or jasmine; phlox; a pink Rose of Sharon that is such a tall tree that it was impossible to pick any blossoms; and a monkey sliding down tree that I believe is the last plant in the yard except chrysanthemums that can blossom. Oh yes, I have left out a yellow shrub whose name I don't know but it has both double and single varieties blooming at the same time that the beauty bush and bridal wreath (2 more that I omitted) come along.
To shop for food, I must go either to the commissary at Washington Heights, an army housing project about 8 miles from us, or I must go all the way into Tokyo center to the commissary there. Each item of food is perhaps a penny or so less than in the states. But because we do have people (some are the Japanese Bill has met through his work) in to dinner fairly often and because I plan to have generous left-overs for our Japanese servants to eat, our food bill is higher than it used to be in the states. Theoretically the Japanese servants are expected to feed themselves on their food ration. But it is not a large ration and in order to get the work that I want, it is necessary to provide extra food. We are not able to buy fresh milk except by prescription. Nor are there many fresh vegetables. But we do have a good variety in both canned and fresh frozen vegetables. We can get eggs, oranges and a sterilized cream in 2 grades, table and whipping, that is a very good tasting product. But I haven't seen a bananna [sic] since we left New York in February. Cigarettes (far more than Bill and I can use even with generous gifts ot the Japanese), gum, some candy bars, soap, shampoo (there was none in the PX for more than a month), and certain items of clothing for adults such as stockings, suits, dresses and coats are rationed. The PX in Tokyo is fairly well stocked with the necessary items of clothing for boys and girls. Then every once in a while something is out of stock and you run into a problem like this. Somehow we have lost several pairs of Billy's socks and I cannot replace them. Billy and John are going to have to share John's socks until the PX receives another lot.
Japanese roads are a great mixture of very good and very bad, wide and verry [sic] narrow. In the cities there are a few wide well paved highways. Then there are a great many miles of average width roads that are in need of repair, some with great deep chuck-holes that can ruin tires. When you get away from the big cities, many of the paved roads become dirt or gravel. And if you leave a main highway, your road is sure to be dirt, bumpy so that the car gradually shakes to pieces, and narrow from just wide enough to pass a car down to too narrow for our auto although some of the small Japanese cars can navigate them. To reach our house we must leave the main highway and travel on narrow dirt roads for about 3 miles. I have become so used to driving on narrow ways that the other day I parked the car with so little room to spare that I almost could not get out of the car. Driving on the left side of the road is not so difficult as I had anticipated. But when walking, it still takes an effort of will to make me look to the right before crossing a street.
Twice we have driven into the mountains west of us. In about an hour we can be on roads that twist around hills, through tunnels and over bridges spanning deep gulleys with a rushing brook at the bottom. To one used to the rolling landscape of New England, these heavily wooded hills are unbelievably steep, as the jagged peaks of the Rockies are above their timber line. Because each bit of land, even as small as 10ft. x 5ft., that can be terraced to hold a crop of rice, wheat or beans is used for farming, the houses themselves are built against steep hillsides and seem in constant danger of sliding down into the brooks. We have hiked a little here and picnicked with a beautiful view of mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes spread out before us.
The children entered school, in the same grades as in Arlington, the week after we docked. The school bus picked them up at the door of our house at 7:45 A.M. School began at 9:00 A.M. Because the Yoyogi Elementary School is located in Washington Heights near the commissary, the children had lunch at school. At 2:00 P.M. Phyllis was through for the day so she had an hour of play on the playground before the rest of the school got out at 3:00 P.M. The bus then brought them home and deposited them on the doorstep at about 4:00 P.M. Billy was up to grade in everything and got along fine. John and Phyllis were both behind in arithmetic due to the teaching method in Arlington that does not start real arithmetic until the second grade. But with a summer school month of concentrated number work, Phyllis has caught up with her class. John has had more trouble. The change in teaching method had apparently confused him so much that he even retrogressed for a while. The month of summer school, however, has enabled him to go on with his class. The children liked their school. It gave them a definite routine for the day and a variety in companionship. There are several American families near us but only one with children near our children's ages.
I have eaten a meal in several Japanese homes. It usually begins with green tea served before you come into the room where dinner is to be served. The meal starts with fish soup and raw sliced fish (they use only firm, sweet-fleshed fish) dipped in soya sauce called "sashimi". Then you progress to a variety of things, usually 3 of the following: broiled fish (often swordfish), boiled abalone, egg timbale with mushrooms, lotus root, bamboo shoots and other vegetables in it, a little ham, lobster, or "shrimp tempura" which is shrimp dipped in batter and fried in deep fat. Occasionally the shrimp is accompanied by many kinds of vegetables done in the same manner. In which case shrimp and vegetables comprise this whole course and it is also called "tempura". It is the best Japanese style food I have so far tasted.
The Japanese home is very simple. The farmer's house that you see by the side of the road is a small edition of the rich man's home. Probably both are heated in the same way by "hibachi", a wide mouthed pottery jar containing sand and a charcoal fire, in each room. The main difference is in the number of rooms and the quality and quantity of furnishings such as lacquer trays and bowls, china tea things, decorated chests and screens, and the many, many cushions used when sitting on the floor. Also, in addition to the definitely Japanese style part of his house, the wealthy man or he who has traveled in Europe or America will have one or two rooms furnished with chairs and tables as in our homes. The decoration of a Japanese room is usually limited to the flower arrangement standing in front of a hanging picture in an alcove with a slightly raised floor, the "tokonoma".
Billy went to Camp Seisen Ryo for 10 days in July at Kiyosata, Yamanashi Prefecture, in the Japan Alps. It is an Episcopal Church Camp. The buildings were erected before the war as a gift to be used by the Brotherhood of St. Andrews for a youth hostel. Now it is used by various groups connected with the Episcopal Church and the Brotherhood of St. Andrews for conferences and recreation. The guest book showed that it had been in use for at least one week end in every month during the past year. It is beautifully situated with a wonderful view out across the valley to mountains from big glass windows in the main lodge. The children slept in five small cabins. Although the sun is hot, the nights were cool and good for sleeping.
Bill and I and a dozen other parents left on Saturday morning to visit camp and come home with the children on Monday. We had our meals at the camp but slept at a Japanese inn. We entered the inn through sliding glass panels that were the front door and found ourselves in a concrete-floored ante room. At the back of this room was a wooden floor raised above the concrete about a foot and a half. Before stepping onto this beautifully polished surface (somebody told me that a soy bean oil is used to keep this high gloss), we took off our shoes and put them in a cabinet provided for that purpose. A steep stairway set against the back wall went up to the guest rooms. By opening panels 6 small rooms could become 3 large rooms. Here on a tatami covered floor we sat on cushions around a low table in the early evening. When we went to bed, the table was set out in the hall and "futon" were spread on the floor for sleeping purposes. In my opinion it takes 2 of them to make a comfortable bed. Kitchen, toilet facilities and bath were on the first floor. The kitchen was directly behind the stair wall. It was as clean as you would wish. If you wanted to see your food cooked, all you had to do was come in, sit down, and watch. The center of the room was occupied by a charcoal burning stove that looked more like a box than a stove. The innkeeper squatted in front of this when he started the fire and did any cooking. We used it mainly as a place to dry wet shoes and clothing. When traveling in Japan, you are always advised to use only treated water. So even in as clean a place as this was, we dropped halizone tablets into our full water jugs 30 minutes before drinking.
The last 2 days before we arrived in Kiyosata there had been bad rain storms in the late afternoon and early evening. Here in Tokyo on Friday we had a regular cloudburst. You can imagine how water soaked the dirt roads were and what a job a couple of jeeps did on them Saturday night taking people the 2 miles uphill from the inn to the camp. Then it rained hard again Saturday evening and on Sunday at about 5:00 P.M., the heavens just opened up!!! I have never seen it rain so hard. In no time at all there were torrents coming down the hill, on past the lodge, some ont he raod and soem going cross country. It kept up for about 3 1/2 hours. When it was bed time for the children at about 8:30 P.M., Bill went along with Billy and a couple of his pals to see that they got to the cabin. One light weight boy, hanging on his arm, had his feet pullled out from under him as he stepped into a torrent where there should have been nothing but solid road. The road that had been in bad shape anyway just became impassable for other than foot traffic. That night after the rain stopped 4 of us wended our way down the hill. With the aid of a flashlight, we kept to the high center of the road where the going was pretty good. We took supplies for breakfast with us. The rest of the parents stayed at the lodge and slept on the floor. When we arrived at the inn, we ordered a hot bath. The tub was about 4 x 4 x 3 feet deep. The heater was in the next room. Hot water piped directly into the tub could not be turned either off or on. Bill and I had our first bath. You soap yourself while standing besdie the tub and then dip water out with a small wooden bucket to rinse yourself off before stepping into the tub to soak.Our water was comfortable although we could feel a stream of hot coming in, but the other couple who had secon bath found the water too hot to get into it. In the morning our breakfast was served in our room on a big tray placed on a low round table while we sat on cushions on the floor.
Monday morning was not as clear and nice as Sunday had been. We had a good hike early Sunday afternoon. The abundance of wild flowers impressed me, particularly because so many were like those we grow in our gardens in the states such as columbine, hydrangea, Japanese iris and lemon daylilies.
As we were considering the problem of how to get the remainder of the baggage down to the train from camp by 10:00 A.M., we learned that the train track bed was washed out a short way down the track from Kiyosata and could not be repaired before Tuesday or Wednesday. In order to get us out that day (supplies had been planend to last through Monday noon only), an engine would be sent after our special cars from the other direction but it wouldn't get there until late afternoon. Well it arrived about 6:00 P.M. Going back over the same tracks we came up on would have been about a 6 hour ride. Returning the round about way we had to go brought us into Tokyo at about 6:00 A.M. Billy slept in the baggage rack and so did one other boy. But the rest of us; men, women and children; slept in our seats. And they weren't comfortable tip back seats either. But we survived very well. The girls in charge of food scraped together some emergency rations of graham crackers, peanut butter, shoestring potatoes, tomato juice, marshmallows, nuts and raisons. [sic] The children all had had a wonderful 10 days. The young people who were responsible for organizing this outing deserve congratulations for a fine job. Having a railroad washout was just another exciting part of their good time.
Home has seemed comfortable but prosaic since then.
This letter is meant to take the place of the Christmas card that I did not write last year.
My mother sent me a clipping about the 75th anniversary meeting fo the Mount Holyoke Club of New Haven, last fall. I wish I could have gotten down to New Haven to hear you speak.
In spite of the heading on this letter our mailing address is through an army post office. Mail to me comes as follows:
c/o Mr. W.C.Herrington
Chief of Fisheries
NRS, GHQ, SCAP
APO 500
c/o Pm., San Francisco
Calif.There is a Mount Holyoke group in Yokohama. I have not gone to a meeting as yet. The only get together that I know about was announced in the "Stars and Stripes" on the same day as the meeting. I could not go on such short notice. However I do hope to be able to go to whatever they have this fall.
Best wishes for your continued good health.
Sincerely,
Florice King Herrington