Although I started my sophomore year at Kubasaki, we moved back to Tokyo so I spent the rest of the year at Narimasu in 1959. Tokyo had changed somewhat during my two year absence. I left Tokyo in the Spring of 1957 as an 8th Grader, finished the 8th Grade at the old Kubasaki in a Quonset hut, and began my high school at the newer location. Kubasaki had moved to Naha Wheel area. Two old barracks buildings were converted to classrooms with the administration office, school library, and cafeteria on the ground floor of the first building, with that corrugated steel (oversized Quonset) building outside as the school gym! So, between part of 8th Grade and beginning of 10th Grade, I had spent 2 years on Okinawa before returning to Tokyo.
Our second time in Tokyo we once again lived in a private rental. This time the house was located in Aoyama, actually not far from our old house in Kasumi-cho in Azabu. We were only about a five to ten minute walk from our old house! As I said earlier, Tokyo had changed, but it had more to do with my perspective than actual physical change. Naturally there were new buildings, new stores, etc. But I was no longer seeing Tokyo as a pre-teen, but rather as a teenager. During my earlier days in Tokyo, although my friends and I appreciated the inexpensive meals at small Japanese eateries, we ate at those places when we couldn't afford the pricier food at military run snack bars. A hamburger and a coke cost almost twice as much as a bowl of katsudon or a plate of yakisoba! Movies at the military theaters cost 25 cents, and a small bag of popcorn 5 cents. In Tokyo area there were many movie theaters like the Ernie Pyle Theaters (the big and little theater) at the old Takarazuka theater building downtown. There was also a small movie theater in Hardy Barracks in Roppongi, as well as one in Washington Heights and couple of other locations. Between all of those marvelous small Japanese shops laden with goodies (toys and gadgets) and movie theaters, for pre-teen boys there was more than enough to do.
For teenagers, there were Teen Clubs at places like Washington Heights, located on the side of the building that housed the Officer's Club. But for teens who lived in private rentals, Roppongi became a popular place for hanging out. Roppongi had become a trendy hangout for young people by 1959. In 1954, a former G.I. with New York mob connections opened the first authentic Pizzaria in Japan. Nicola's Pizza House was located at the edge of Roppongi with an Azabu address, but everyone simply considered the place as being in Roppongi. Earlier, in 1950, another ex-G.I. opened the very first hamburger joint outside of military snack bars, the place immediately became a hit and was called The Hamburger Inn, not a very original name! But aside from those places run by former G.I.s, there were other popular hangouts for American teenagers. Sicilia's Italian restaurant located in Roppongi was very popular. It was a tiny place by American standards with a small, almost unnoticeable entry. You had to negotiate down a steep stairway in to a cave-like, dark interior. But Sicilia's had excellent Italian food, especially their spaghetti marinara was outstanding!
Teens who lived in private rentals tended to form groups and hang out. Many lived in private rentals near Roppongi, so it was quite natural that they would hang out there. The American Embassy personnel lived (then as now) either in private rentals or in what is called the Mitsui Compound, a large piece of land on which three apartment buildings were located to house families (today the compound consists of three apartment buildings surrounded by townhouses). The artificial exchange rate of 360 yen to a dollar made the dollar go far. So, a teen with only 5 to 10 dollars worth of yen in the pocket could have a pretty good time!
To compete with burgers in military snack bars, The Hamburger Inn served exceptionally tasty burgers at a very cheap price. Nicola's pizza were some of the best I've tasted anywhere. Interestingly, the pizzas in Okinawa's old Pizza House located in Oyama tasted almost exactly the same! More on that later. There was no shortage of inexpensive but excellent food in Tokyo. To teenagers, that was heaven! Everyone knows how teenagers eat! One of the newer eating areas in Tokyo was called Sukiyabashi Food Center. This place was located underground in Nishi-Ginza, near Shinbashi. The food center was a row of small restaurants which were smaller versions of the same restaurants above ground - all well known restaurants. Food was excellent and very inexpensive. The very same dish above ground would cost almost twice the price! The restaurants were able to sell food cheaper because of the low overhead - the rental spaces underground were cheap!
A marvelous place Tokyo.....I have some of the most pleasant memories of Tokyo from that era.
Before the start of my junior year, we returned to Okinawa and to Camp Chinen. I was back in Kubasaki for my junior year at the same campus in Naha Wheel area. Once again I resumed my roaming around the countryside outside of Camp Chinen during hunting season. But, I also started to take the Okinawan bus from Oyakibaru bus stop just outside the Camp Chinen main gate, in front of the fire house. The bus ride was long and during the hot months, uncomfortable. But, it was cheap and it got me to Naha from where I could catch a cab to Machinato Teen Club or other locations. However, I spent an awful lot of time simply hanging around Naha with my good friend Tomo. We found places where food was good and cheap. It wasn't quite like it was in Tokyo, but it was good enough. Rai Rai Ken on Kokusai Dori offered very good ramen. It was the cheapest dish on the menu and before ramen became such a popular dish. The good old Pizza House in Oyama surprisingly served pizza that tasted almost exactly like the ones in Nicola's in Tokyo. A&W hadn't yet opened, so there weren't may places outside of Pizza House where American teens could hang out. Interestingly, there were some tiny places that served burgers and other American fast food type stuff, but these places were little known and didn't seem to last long. There were burger and hot dog joints in Koza, where vast majority of customers were G.I.s, but teenagers for the most part did not hang out there. There may have been some from Kadena who went to Koza, but not many.
Like Tokyo, Okinawa too was changing, not as fast, but still changing. It was still, relatively speaking, a very innocent and life style that was almost pastoral. Many claimed that the time between the early 1960s and the early 1970s, before reversion to Japan, was the "Golden Era" of Okinawa. Despite the heavy dependence on U.S. military, Okinawans were relatively well off, stress free. They were much better off than they were before the war under Japanese rule. This was the opinion of many Okinawans, not an invention of some Americans. Of course today many will disagree. Be that as it may, life on Okinawa was good for most.
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