I've had the good fortune to have lived in Japan on three separate occasions and on Okinawa two separate times. You may have noticed that I do not refer to Okinawa as Japan, that is because at the time I lived there, it was not part of Japan. Okinawa did not become a Japanese prefecture (for the second time) until 1972 and I lived on that island on both occasions before the reversion to Japan took place.
I first lived in Tokyo, Japan from early 1950s until mid to late 1950s. Then I moved to Okinawa in 1957, but returned to Tokyo in 1959, only to go back to Okinawa once more and live there until early 1960s. I returned to Okinawa in mid 1960s and left in the late 1960s. I returned to live in Tokyo for the final time in the late 1970s. Although I have been back to both Tokyo and Okinawa for a visit, I have not lived in either place since those earlier years.
Living in Japan in the early 1950s under the auspices of the U.S. government (military or civilian) meant that you lived either on a military base or housing area or in a private rental on the economy. In Tokyo that meant the Washington Heights Housing Area in Yoyogi, next to Meiji Park, or in Grant Heights closer to where Narimasu High School was located. There were no military "bases" per se in Tokyo metropolitan area, except for a small army installation known as Hardy Barracks and Camp Drake. On the outskirts of Tokyo there was Camp Zama with appropriate housing for dependents, and Tachikawa Air Base, Yokota Air Base, and Johnson Air Base. Navy had Yokohama and of course the large Yokosuka Naval Base. Of course, there were other smaller installations here and there, but for all practical purposes, for the military, those were it!
We lived in a private rental, because civilian employees of the government rarely, if ever lived in housing areas such as Washington Heights and Grant Heights. It was different for those civilians who worked on large bases like Zama and Yokota that had its own housing. But for those civilian employees working in Tokyo, private rentals were the only option. So, we lived on Kasumi-cho in Azabu, a very nice area with pretty nice houses for the times.
There was a definite advantage to living in private rentals. It allowed for daily contact with local population and encouraged quicker learning of local ways. Even as a child I noticed a difference. In Washington Heights, a huge U.S. military housing complex, life was more or less like it was in America. In fact, the minute you stepped into Washington Heights, you felt as if you were in America. All street were named after some streets in hometown USA. It was a microcosm of small town life in America! Washington Heights had its own BX and commissary, churches, movie theaters, officer's club, everything you might expect in a typical American small town. It was entirely possible to live for months on end without having any contact with the Japanese other than the maids and employees at the club, BX, commissary, etc. This life style certainly did not encourage learning more about local ways and life. I noticed immediately that the kids who lived in private rentals seem to be able to get around much better, make themselves understood in their limited Japanese! Although there was a financial gap between the Americans and the Japanese in those days, it wasn't quite as great as one might think. In the neighborhood where I lived, most Japanese were pretty well off by the standards of the day, so being an American did not necessarily make you stand out.
Japan in the early to mid 1950s was a marvelous, exciting place for a kid to grow up. It was absolutely safe, no fear whatsoever of some weirdo doing bad things to kids! All kids, be they foreign or Japanese, were essentially coddled by the grown ups. Kids could wander around Tokyo or even venture outside the city on trains or buses without fear of having something terrible happening.
Kodomo, Japanese for child or children has a special meaning. It just doesn't just mean a child or someone young, it literally signifies someone special, and that is how Japanese treat children. It is not surprising that until recently, according to Japanese law, anyone under 14 could commit murder and not spend a day in jail!
Living on the economy, as I did, within a year I noticed that, whereas I could communicate in Japanese fairly well by that time, my friends who lived in Washington Heights could not. Whenever we were outside in Harajuku (Harjuku was just outside of the main gate of Washington Heights) or Shibuya, wandering around, I was always the one doing all the talking in negotiating a purchase or ordering food. It was the kids who lived in private rentals who introduced the other kids to the wonderful world of inexpensive Japanese food....udon, soba, and that all time favorite with American kids, oyakudon, katsudon, and yakisoba! Ramen had not yet caught on at that time.
It was a marvelous time for me, a great adventure. I was in 5th grade through 8th Grade at Yoyogi Elementary School during that time. Yoyogi Elementary School was located in Washington Heights and I used to walk to school from my house in Azabu every day. I could have taken a bus, but it was more fun to walk, since I could look at all the interesting things in stores on the way!
At the end of my 8th Grade year we moved to Okinawa and for the first time I experienced what my friends who lived in Washington Heights experienced. Actually, my experience was more extreme, since I lived in a rather isolated installation on Okinawa, away from everything.
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