Eiko-chan
After a tour of duty aboard the USS Robert L Wilson in the Atlantic, I received orders to report to the USS Duncan in the Pacific.
This meant I had to find my own way from Norfolk, VA, to San Diego, California, and my new ship. My orders stated that I could have a two-week delay in reporting, so I made a side trip to Sunnyvale, California, to visit family.
Upon reporting to NavStaSanDiego, I transferred to a troop ship for a slow trip to Japan.
I found that whenever Duncan was in port, I had free time to visit and explore the local sites.
Many evenings, I would visit hostess clubs and listen to music from the fifties and sixties. When visiting a club, girls who work for the club would do their "buy me drink" routine.
Most clubs were home bases for specific ships and would cater to the ship's crew when it was in port. (Shades of "Brandy" by 'Looking Glass') The club would put banners and flags outside the bar when that ship was in port. It was best not to visit any ship's bar unless you were a crew member.
Like I said in the article about the USS Duncan:
- I visited many Hostess clubs along Dobuita Street outside the Main Gate. A little exploration showed that the clubs right outside the gate usually charged a LOT more for drinks, entertainment, and "entertainment" than those one or two miles up the road.
The closer to the gate, the higher the probability of seeing fights and/or getting rolled. The ones near the gate seemed inhabited by young sailors whose life task was to drink a few beers and pretend to be drunk. That was not my scene.
I usually walked (or caught a pedicab) to visit one of the clubs a little further from the Main Gate. I picked a few that had a high "sanity score" and spent the evening slowly sipping on a Tom Collins. I would listen to music and talk back and forth in English and Japanese.
One evening, I met Eiko-chan at one of these clubs. After a few weeks of this, she invited me to a Japanese-style dinner at her home. A few days later, she invited me for an o-furo (bath) in her uchi (home). One thing led to another, and she invited me to live with her when Duncan was in port. The rules were quite simple. We had a very close relationship, but we were not monogamous.
We also played Master/slave games. Because of our pasts, it was easy for both of us.
When "Duncan" was in port, we attended Noh plays and Geisha entertainment and visited the local public o-furo baths. (I still remember some of the little children's stories she used to help me with my Japanese language lessons.) We shopped at the local stores and the farmers market. Eiko and I attended many local festivals, like the Obon-odori celebrations. (It is funny, but I still enjoy these activities sixty years later and a continent away.) We went to Japanese movies in Yokosuka and English movies aboard the naval base. It was almost an authentic lifestyle.
- Also see the Wikipedia page [ Obon#Bon_Odori ]
Eiko was a Nichi Ren Bhuddist. I attended services with her. After a few months, I was asked to be "port han," a "lay leader" in Buddhism. When the Main Temple at Taisekiji heard of a Gaijin (an American/Westerner) Port Han, I was invited to visit (and later study at) the Taisekiji Temple at Mount Fuji.
I helped translate various pamphlets from Japanese to English. A Buddhist monk living in a body shaped like a bowling ball took me under his wing and taught me the Story of The Stones.
While in Japan, I had been writing to The Roberts family about my return to the States. They were convinced that I would be returning home with a "Japanese War Bride."
They were surprised when I did not.
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