<Begin Segment 22>

TI: Okay. So you mentioned after I think it's five years in D.C., you then went back, or you went to Japan.

MH: Yes.

TI: And why, why Japan?

MH: I had been, I had always been drawn to Japan. I was very impressed with how Japan had pulled itself out of where it was after the war. And I was also, I think, Life magazine at that time had a bunch of colored pictures on, of the houses, of the interior of houses in Japan. And it appealed to me tremendously, the simplicity of the homes and the beauty of the arrangements. And all the way around, I felt drawn to Japan. So when, I never dreamed that I'd be able to go there, but the opportunity came, I was asked to join one of the units out there in Japan. And so I very gladly accepted, and went off to Japan.

TI: And so tell me what you found when you got to Japan. What was it like?

MH: I landed at Haneda, which was the airport, not this horrible monstrosity that's the airport now, Narita. [Laughs] But landed in Haneda, which was much more friendly a place to land. And as soon as I had landed there, I was met by an associate and driven into Tokyo. I felt as if I had come home. I just felt immediately at home there.

TI: So was this a different feeling, because you had spent quite a bit of time in China, was this a different feeling than when you were in China?

MH: Entirely different. I never felt at home in China.

TI: And so talk about that a little bit, the differences between China and Japan and that feeling, since you lived in both places. Coming in, I'm curious how you would characterize it.

MH: I always felt alien in China. I didn't feel that, that I was associated with it in any way. And I didn't take, I didn't take to it. I loved seeing places like Shanghai and Beijing and going to Nanking and going up the mountains to Kuling, all of those were wonderful for me. But I was more an observer and a visitor than someone at all involved with China.

TI: But then when you went to Japan, it felt very...

MH: Immediately. Immediately at home. [Laughs]

TI: Oh, that's interesting. That really is.

MH: And I know that one of the first places, well, the only, that first shop I was taken to there was Takumi, which was the folk craft shop in Tokyo. And I had been warned about when you start, when you get to Japan, you're going to buy all kinds of things, that you're eager to buy all these things, and so you should be careful about it. Because about six months later, you'd realize that all the stuff you bought was really rather touristy junk, and you wanted to get the quality material. So I was extremely cautious when I went to Takumi this first time, and I bought a beautiful ceramic vase which I still, I still think qualifies as "quality." [Laughs]

TI: It's probably because you have a good eye, you probably know what quality looks like. So this isn't that much longer after the war. And probably about the time the Occupation is ending or had ended.

MH: Had ended.

TI: What was Japan like just in terms of economically? When you look around, had it recovered quite a bit by then?

MH: Well, there were signs everywhere, you know. When you rode on the train, there were soldiers, soldiers with, without a leg or whatever, and still dressed in white. I was billeted in the Dai Iti Hotel, which was a mixed billet. In other words, it was both men and women there. And it was a fairly short distance from the Imperial Hotel, so I would walk over there and go through the Imperial Hotel and the neighborhood. Also, Takumis wasn't too far from them. But I noticed, I remember particularly I had taken out a phonograph to, for my, all my records that I, the many, many records that I had, classical music. And it wasn't working. So I was trying to find a place to get it repaired, and not too far from the Dai Iti Hotel was this little shop which was an electric shop. And the name of it was Forgive and Forget Swan. And that, to me, was a signal of what the Japanese were, how they were accepting of what had happened to them, and were trying to get past that.

TI: I'm curious, during this time period, were there very many other American women stationed or working or living in Tokyo?

MH: Yes, there was one, there was a women's billet which was called the Old Kaijo, which was strictly for women. And luckily, I was of sufficient rank to get into the one which was mixed men and women.

TI: Well, so explain, so most of the American women in Japan, what kind of roles or jobs did they have?

MH: Well, they had jobs with the military or with the embassy, is what I remember.

TI: And I'm curious, how did the Japanese view or treat American women?

MH: Very politely, very politely. I never... the only rude comments I ever got in Japan were from American soldiers, but nothing, nothing from the Japanese. Always courteous and polite.

TI: Did you have much opportunities during this first tour to interact with Japanese women?

MH: No, not during the first tour.

TI: And why was that? Because it was just Japanese men?

MH: No, because my headquarters were in, the headquarters where I worked, I should say, was Pershing Heights, which was the then military headquarters. And so I went from my billet to the headquarters at Pershing Heights by bus every day, I mean, by military bus, not by... and then back to my billet. So I really didn't get out to, except in shops, get out to see.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2008 Densho. All Rights Reserved.