#Sasebo Naval Base

[lonestarbattleship]

The incomplete Japanese Aircraft Carrier Kasagi (笠置, Mount Kasagi) anchored at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan. She is listening to the starboard.

Date: September 25, 1945

Colorized by Irootoko Jr: link

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Japan's 1968 commemorated the hundredth anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, the "return" of governance from the Tokugawa shogunate, which inaugurated a modern, centralized state and located a supposedly primordial institutional authority in a "restored" imperial rule. The calendar year opened with an event highlighting a rather different source of transcendent authority, with the imminent arrival of the nuclear-powered (and likely nuclear-armed) USS Enterprise to US Fleet Activities Sasebo naval base in Nagasaki Prefecture, en route to Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf. Activists assembled from across the country to oppose its arrival, and they faced thousands of massed riot police likewise mobilized from throughout the nation. The visit was years in the making, part of a plan to desensitize the Japanese people to nuclear-powered ships in advance of the anticipated reversion of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty with American military basing rights intact, as well as continuing Vietnam War missions. The plan was for "conditioning the Japanese to military nuclear matters." This primary, though disavowed, mission relied upon the fiction of the Japanese government's "three nuclear principles"-neither to manufacture, nor to possess, nor to permit the introduction [mochikomi] of nuclear weapons-which dissimulated the regular transit of nuclear armaments as per the secret agreements appended to the United States-Japan Security Treaty (Anpo) in 1960.

The arrival came in the wake of major protest events at Haneda Airport, where activists seeking to block Prime Minister Sato Eisaku's departure for Saigon forcibly clashed with police on October 9, 1967, the "First Haneda Incident." Again, on November 12, in the "Second Haneda Incident" activists opposed Prime Minister Sato's departure (to the United States to meet with President Lyndon B. Johnson) and were met with massed security police - some 5,000 in the vicinity of the airport alone. While a range of groups protested these trips for their participation in the Vietnam War, press coverage focused on the actions of the Sanpa Zengakuren (Three-Faction Alliance, or Sanpa), a recent coalition of three radical student groups within the Zengakuren: the All-Japan Federation of Students' Self-Governing Associations. Sanpa was united in a commitment to direct action against the quiescent majority Minsei Zengakuren, an affiliate of the equally quiescent Japan Communist Party (JCP). The First Haneda Incident inaugurated the new policy of Sanpa members to don helmets and use staves and rocks to fight riot police (who were armed, as perusal, with meter-long truncheons, duralumin shields, visored helmets, tear-gas guns, water cannons, and armored vehicles).

While violence was nothing new in post-World War II protest in Japan, events at Haneda commenced the use of violence in order to prevent the exercise of declared state policy-thereby foregrounding the issue of force and its legitimacy in confrontations between protesters and the state. Mainstream press reaction to both Haneda events was dominated, however, by negative appraisals of student "violence" and featured few serious attempts to consider the substantive issues involved. Writing underground in the group's newspaper, Zenshin, Honda Nobuyoshi, the leader of the Chukaku sect (one of the three Sanpa groups), complained:

The organs of the bourgeois press and their official critics... obscured [our] focus - "oppose the Vietnam war, obstruct the visit" - with the so-called problem of violence, castigating the Zengakuren struggle as a "violent demonstration" and "armed demonstration," while simultaneously maneuvering to conceal and defend the fundamental problem of state violence... On October 8, Zengakuren had its right to demonstrate stripped from it: wasn't it police headquarters and the public safety commission whose suppression through outrageous violence ensured that Zengakuren would be unable to exercise its right even to a one-meter-long march without forcibly breaking through the riot police's obstructing line? And isn't it police headquarters and the public safety commission that for seven years since Anpo have mobilized the well-armed riot police against Zengakuren's unarmed demonstrations, inflicting bloody oppression by blows, kicks, and arrests, causing near-fatal injuries for dozens? For one, the right to be armed and to strike, kick, and arrest; for the other, in order to declare an anti-war intent, the right to be struck, kicked, and arrested - only this is permitted. If this isn't state violence, what is? But on October 8, police headquarters and the public safety commission usurped the right even to be hit, kicked, and arrested.

Delighted by such dismissals of protest actions as irrational, criminal, or worse, the government green-lit an even harsher stance to be taken against demonstrators in advance of the USS Enterprise's arrival in Sasebo. The Japanese and American governments both likewise were SSN visits since 1964 to routinize such events; both countries had sanguine about the perceived success of their program of successive witnessed decreasing protester numbers and press coverage, and they looked forward to a successful visit to take their program of nuclear desensitization to the next level.

The visit, together with the anticipated deployment of state violence against protesters, was thus intended to facilitate closer coordination between the US and Japanese governments in their synchronized strategic posture and support for American cold and hot wars. Likewise both governments looked ahead to the renewal of the United States-Japan Security Treaty in 1970 and hoped to curtail, overawe, and delegitimize likely sources of protest. Yet all of these plans for an edifying spectacle risked backfiring impressively, particularly in the event of a "fluke," either by a deserter from the ship revealing its actual nuclear armaments or by the accidental creation of a martyr among the protesters."

With such concerns in mind, police paid attention to members of the then-small anti-war "Peace in Vietnam!" Citizens' Committee, Beheiren. The group's pamphlets appealed to American soldiers to consider resistance at all levels, from letter writing and symbolic desertion - which they had memorably facilitated in the fall, assisting the departure of the "Intrepid Four" sailors from the USS Intrepid, including their escape from service and from Japan through their semi-independent JATEC (Japan Technical Committee for Assistance to Anti-War US Deserters) group. Beheiren had also been frequently visited by seventy-three-year-old Yui Chunoshin, a longtime peace activist and Esperanto advocate who set himself on fire outside of the prime minister's residence the night before the Second Haneda Incident.

Sanpa mobilized with an eye to Sasebo becoming a "Third Haneda" and possibly finally breaking through to trigger mass opposition to Japan's participation in the Vietnam War. A broad set of other protest groups likewise mobilized, including rightists (estimated by police at around 46,000) in support of the visit, but press attention was overwhelmingly drawn to the "newsworthy" attractiveness of anticipated battles between police and the expected 2,000-3,000 Sanpa members. As the American embassy recounted, on January 17, two days before the Enterprise's arrival, as hundreds of reporters and cameramen looked on, about 375 plastic-helmeted, stave-carrying and rock-throwing [Sanpa] students charged about four times as many riot policemen at a bridge directly in front of the US naval base. After taking the first student thrust, the police responded with their own billy club charge, supported by tear gas and water cannons. The peak of the clash coincided perfectly with the noon television news and millions of television viewers were permitted to see the full force of the police counteroffensive by direct television relay.

Such heroic exercises in symbolic opposition drew rapt press and public attention, with unanticipated results.

The stunning effect of direct television coverage combined with a popular press thrilled to market such dramatic imagery set the stage for a major reversal in the perceived legitimacy of state force in support of its policies. Hurling concussion grenades and liberally spraying eye-irritant water cannons, the police, over the next several days, enacted something akin to a police riot before the assembled live cameras, reporters, and some 10,000 citizens of Sasebo; officers were captured in acts of indiscriminately dramatic violence. Group beatings of unresisting protesters in hospital courtyards received iconic photographic coverage; likewise, early accounts of citizens and reporters falling victim to unprovoked and coordinated police attacks worked to reverse public perceptions of the legitimacy of such state force-and drew attention to precisely the issues the government had hoped to police with this orchestrated event. The danger of such entanglements was driven further home by the Enterprise's diversion after Sasebo to respond to the January 23 seizure of the vessel Pueblo during its naval and NSA surveillance activities off the coast of North Korea - events that threatened the outbreak of a second Korean War involving Japan directly, even as they recalled Japan's colonial legacy and support for the prior war. The January 30 launch of the Tet Offensive added further doubts and concerns, discrediting American claims about the scope and progress of the war and, by extension, the supportive stance of the Japanese government.

The subsequently named "Enterprise Incident" effected a watershed in the possibilities for political subjectivation and action. On the one hand, fearful of a subsequent incident of repression igniting precisely the kinds of conflagration dreamed of by Sanpa and the like, the government reversed its prior repressive stance and directed the riot police to a new and severely restrained posture. On the other, new attention now converged on the meaning of these confrontations. After years of waning public interest - and occasional summary state violence in the absence of that interest - the media now excitedly covered each subsequent protest in hopes of catching similar spectacular confrontations. Public polls, media discussions, and US embassy assessments alike confirmed new attention to strategic and security treaty issues, as well as to their connections to both state actions and daily life in Japan. But even more broadly, the transformation in perception by which protester concerns became reasonable, and police action (and the state policies it supported) violent and illegitimate, in turn prompted a wave of political subjectivations. Illegitimate violence at home echoed not-so-distant illegitimate violence, especially the Vietnam War - and attentiveness disclosed abundant direct connections between the two.

Moved by such concerns, so-called "ordinary people," "typical students," "citizens," the "nonpolitical" all found cause to engage in activism and sought new forms adequate to their understandings of the moment. They particularly swelled the ranks of antihierarchical organizations such as Beheiren, which offered a flexible, horizontal coalition (any group could call itself Beheiren if it adopted the three principles of peace in Vietnam, Vietnam for the Vietnamese, and opposition to the Japanese government's complicity in the Vietnam War), with each group responsible for its own policies and for communicating across this network. Ordinary people also formed the basis for the explosive spread of the nonsectarian All-Campus Joint Struggle League, or Zenkyōtō. These latter groups, emerging mid-1968 from the developing University of Tokyo and Nihon University conflicts, proliferated across hundreds of university campuses to create more than sixty-seven campus seizures or lockouts by year's end (and 127 in 1969). It was Zenkyōtō that made dissensus into their very motto, calling for their own self-negation [jiko hitei] as elite students within a hierarchical and compromised educational system that itself required complete disassembly [daigaku kaitai, "dismantle the university!"] to end its furtherance of domination.

In short, "1968," in the sense of a global moment, truly begins in this space of restrained policing and daily eventfulness, of diminished state legitimacy and intensified concern to the wrongs such legitimacy previously concealed, both near and far. This politics inaugurates new engagments, with novel perceptions and personal reflections that bring forth new actions and collective identifications. It is at this level that we should consider questions of comparability, of how such politics becomes thinkable, and of the proper approach to address the nature of this politics.

- William Marotti, "The Perception of Violence, the Violence of Perception, and the Origins of Japan's 1968," in Gavin Walker, ed., The Red Years: Theory, Politics and Aesthetics in the Japanese ‘68. London and New York: Verso, 2020. p. 57-65.

[chloeunit6]

Japan urbanisation

Urbanisation is often a very recent phenomenon. Before the 16th century, only the capital cities of Nara, Kyōto, and Kamakura existed as significant towns. Most of ancient Japan's province capitals, or koku-fu, were administrative centres with official homes rather than established towns. After the late 16th century, powerful temples and feudal lords began to construct cities by assembling merchants and craftsmen near their headquarters. Feudal lords established jōka-machi (castle towns) to dominate transit routes and surrounding territories, leading to the development of major Japanese cities such as Tokyo.

The port towns, like as Hakata and Sakai, were next in prominence and had more ups and downs than the castle towns. Furthermore, several religious towns, like as Ise and Izumo, rose to significant sizes throughout time. During the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867), tranquil conditions led to unprecedented countrywide pilgrimages, resulting in the growth of temple and shrine cities like Kyōto and Nara. Dusk in central Yokohama, Japan. The late 19th century saw the establishment of international ports at Kōbe, Yokohama, Niigata, Hakodate, and Nagasaki, as well as naval bases in Yokosuka, Kure, and Sasebo, leading to widespread urbanisation. With industrialization came fast expansion in Japanese cities, and certain industrial towns (such as Yawata, Niihama, Kawasaki, and Amagasaki) were established in response to economic boom. The majority of old castle towns, particularly those on the country's Pacific coast, have grown directly or indirectly as a result of industrialization. Raw minerals and electricity resources in Hokkaido and southern Kyushu have attracted a small number of industrial units, which are solely responsible for the survival of cities like Tomakomai, Muroran, Nobeoka, and Minamata. The late 19th century saw the establishment of international ports at Kōbe, Yokohama, Niigata, Hakodate, and Nagasaki, as well as naval bases in Yokosuka, Kure, and Sasebo, leading to widespread urbanisation. With industrialization came fast expansion in Japanese cities, and certain industrial towns (such as Yawata, Niihama, Kawasaki, and Amagasaki) were established in response to economic boom. The majority of old castle towns, particularly those on the country's Pacific coast, have grown directly or indirectly as a result of industrialization. Raw minerals and electricity resources in Hokkaido and southern Kyushu have attracted a small number of industrial units, which are solely responsible for the survival of cities like Tomakomai, Muroran, Nobeoka, and Minamata.

Japanese cities are a confused combination of old and new, East and West. Mixed land use, including agricultural activity, coexists with the most modernised business centres and industrial establishments, and the fragmented, patchwork pattern of land ownership poses a formidable challenge in ever-expanding cities of skyscrapers, subways, and underground plazas. Other severe issues include a lack of adequate housing, increased usage of automobiles, congested public transit systems, a lack of open space for leisure, environmental degradation, and the continual threat of earthquakes and floods.

Havard referencing:

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannic. (1998). Japan urbanisation. [Online]. britannica. Last Updated: 27 October 2023. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Japan/Religion [Accessed 23 February 2024].

[japantourguide]

211129-N-OG286-2016 by U.S. Pacific Fleet Via Flickr: SASEBO, Japan (Nov. 29, 2021) Emory S. Land-class submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40) arrives in Sasebo, Japan. Frank Cable is on patrol conducting expeditionary maintenance and logistics in support of national security in U.S. 7th Fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Henry X. Liu)

[usafphantom2]

Ronnie Bell Following

Mitsubishi F-1

Japanese pilots with local women on the shore of one of the Pacific Islands, in the background is a Mitsubishi F1M Pete. This aircraft was used extensively on board cruisers and battleships, as well as shore bases throughout the war for reconnaissance and patrols.

The Mitsubishi F1M 'Pete' was designed as an observation float plane, but saw service as an impromptu fighter, diver bomber and patrol aircraft. The F1M had a rather long development period. It was produced in response to a 10-Shi specification of 1934 for a catapult launched short-range observation sea plane, which was to replace the Nakajima E8N1 on units of the Japanese fleet. Aichi, Kawanishi and Mitsubishi were each asked to produce a design. Aichi responded with the AB-13 and Mitsubishi with their Ka-17, designed by Joji Hattori.

The Ka-17 was a biplane, with a single large central float and stabilising floats at the end of the lower wing. The prototype was powered by the 820hp Nakajima Hikari 1 nine-cylinder radial engine. It had an aerodynamically clean fuselage and a minimum number of struts and wing bracing, and was thus rather faster than the Aichi aircraft. The Ka-17 was the basis of four F1M1 prototypes, each with the same engine, overall design and elliptical wings. Unfortunately the F1M1 also suffered from poor directional stability in flight, and was prone to 'porpoise' when on the water.

These problems were solved in the F1M2. This used a more powerful 875hp Mitsubishi Zuisei 13 fourteen-cylinder radial engine, which required a longer cowling. The elliptical wings of the F1M1 were replaced with straight edged wings and the dihedral on the wings was increased, improving stability. The vertical fin and rudder was made larger. This version was much better, and was accepted for service. Mitsubishi built 524 aircraft, and the Dai Nijuichi Kaigun Kokusho (21st Naval Air Arsenal) at Sasebo produced 590, for a total of 1,124 aircraft were built.

Via Flickr

[antoine-roquentin]

In the aftermath of World War II, America’s Cold War leaders had a clear understanding that their global power, like Britain’s before it, would depend on control over Eurasia. For the previous 400 years, every would-be global hegemon had struggled to dominate that vast land mass. In the sixteenth century, Portugal had dotted continental coastlines with 50 fortified ports (feitorias) stretching from Lisbon to the Straits of Malacca (which connect the Indian Ocean to the Pacific), just as, in the late nineteenth century, Great Britain would rule the waves through naval bastions that stretched from Scapa Flow, Scotland, to Singapore.

While Portugal’s strategy, as recorded in royal decrees, was focused on controlling maritime choke points, Britain benefitted from the systematic study of geopolitics by the geographer Sir Halford Mackinder, who argued that the key to global power was control over Eurasia and, more broadly, a tri-continental “world island” comprised of Asia, Europe, and Africa. As strong as those empires were in their day, no imperial power fully perfected its global reach by capturing both axial ends of Eurasia — until America came on the scene.

During its first decade as the globe’s great hegemon at the close of World War II, Washington quite self-consciously set out to build an apparatus of awesome military power that would allow it to dominate the sprawling Eurasian land mass. With each passing decade, layer upon layer of weaponry and an ever-growing network of military bastions were combined to “contain” communism behind a 5,000-mile Iron Curtain that arched across Eurasia, from the Berlin Wall to the Demilitarized Zone near Seoul, South Korea.

Through its post-World War II occupation of the defeated Axis powers, Germany and Japan, Washington seized military bases, large and small, at both ends of Eurasia. In Japan, for example, its military would occupy approximately 100 installations from Misawa air base in the far north to Sasebo naval base in the south.

Soon after, as Washington reeled from the twin shocks of a communist victory in China and the start of the Korean war in June 1950, the National Security Council adopted NSC-68, a memorandum making it clear that control of Eurasia would be the key to its global power struggle against communism. “Soviet efforts are now directed toward the domination of the Eurasian land mass,” read that foundational document. The U.S., it insisted, must expand its military yet again “to deter, if possible, Soviet expansion, and to defeat, if necessary, aggressive Soviet or Soviet-directed actions.”

As the Pentagon’s budget quadrupled from $13.5 billion to $48.2 billion in the early 1950s in pursuit of that strategic mission, Washington quickly built a chain of 500 military installations ringing that landmass, from the massive Ramstein air base in West Germany to vast, sprawling naval bases at Subic Bay in the Philippines and Yokosuka, Japan.

Such bases were the visible manifestation of a chain of mutual defense pacts organized across the breadth of Eurasia, from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Europe to a security treaty, ANZUS, involving Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. in the South Pacific. Along the strategic island chain facing Asia known as the Pacific littoral, Washington quickly cemented its position through bilateral defense pacts with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Australia.

Along the Iron Curtain running through the heart of Europe, 25 active-duty NATO divisions faced 150 Soviet-led Warsaw Pact divisions, both backed by armadas of artillery, tanks, strategic bombers, and nuclear-armed missiles. To patrol the Eurasian continent’s sprawling coastline, Washington mobilized massive naval armadas stiffened by nuclear-armed submarines and aircraft carriers — the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean and the massive 7th Fleet in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.

For the next 40 years, Washington’s secret Cold War weapon, the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, fought its largest and longest covert wars around the rim of Eurasia. Probing relentlessly for vulnerabilities of any sort in the Sino-Soviet bloc, the CIA mounted a series of small invasions of Tibet and southwest China in the early 1950s; fought a secret war in Laos, mobilizing a 30,000-strong militia of local Hmong villagers during the 1960s; and launched a massive, multibillion dollar covert war against the Red Army in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

During those same four decades, America’s only hot wars were similarly fought at the edge of Eurasia, seeking to contain the expansion of Communist China. On the Korean Peninsula from 1950 to 1953, almost 40,000 Americans (and untold numbers of Koreans) died in Washington’s effort to block the advance of North Korean and Chinese forces across the 38th parallel. In Southeast Asia from 1962 to 1975, some 58,000 American troops (and millions of Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians) died in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the expansion of communists south of the 17th parallel that divided North and South Vietnam.

By the time the Soviet Union imploded in 1990 (just as China was turning into a Communist Party-run capitalist power), the U.S. military had become a global behemoth standing astride the Eurasian continent with more than 700 overseas bases, an air force of 1,763 jet fighters, more than 1,000 ballistic missiles, and a navy of nearly 600 ships, including 15 nuclear carrier battle groups — all linked together by a global system of satellites for communication, navigation, and espionage.

Despite its name, the Global War on Terror after 2001 was actually fought, like the Cold War before it, at the edge of Eurasia. Apart from the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Air Force and CIA had, within a decade, ringed the southern rim of that landmass with a network of 60 bases for its growing arsenal of Reaper and Predator drones, stretching all the way from the Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily to Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. And yet, in that series of failed, never-ending conflicts, the old military formula for “containing,” constraining, and dominating Eurasia was visibly failing. The Global War on Terror proved, in some sense, a long-drawn-out version of Britain’s imperial Suez disaster.

[greatworldwar2]

• Battle of Milne Bay

The Battle of Milne Bay, also known as the Battle of Rabi by the Japanese, was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II.

Milne Bay is a sheltered 97-square-mile (250 km2) bay at the eastern tip of the Territory of Papua (now part of Papua New Guinea). It is 22 miles (35 km) long and 10 miles (16 km) wide, and is deep enough for large ships to enter. The coastal area is flat with good aerial approaches, and therefore suitable for airstrips, although it is intercut by many tributaries of rivers and mangrove swamps. The first troops arrived at Milne Bay from Port Moresby in the Dutch KPM ships Karsik and Bontekoe, escorted by the sloop HMAS Warrego and the corvette HMAS Ballarat on June 25th. The troops included two and a half companies and a machine gun platoon from the 55th Infantry Battalion of the 14th Infantry Brigade, the 9th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery with eight Bofors 40 mm guns, a platoon of the US 101st Coast Artillery Battalion. On July 11th, troops of the 7th Infantry Brigade, under the command of Brigadier John Field, began arriving to bolster the garrison. The brigade consisted of three Militia battalions from Queensland, the 9th, 25th and 61st Infantry Battalions.

Japanese aircraft soon discovered the Allied presence at Milne Bay, which was appreciated as a clear threat to Japanese plans for another seaborne advance on Port Moresby, which was to start with a landing at Samarai Island in the China Strait, not far from Milne Bay. On July 31st the commander of the Japanese XVII Army, Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake, requested that Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa's 8th Fleet capture the new Allied base at Milne Bay instead. Under the misconception that the airfields were defended by only two or three companies of Australian infantry (300–600 men), the initial Japanese assault force consisted of only about 1,250 personnel. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was unwilling to conduct the operation as it feared that landing barges sent to the area would be attacked by Allied aircraft. As a result, the assault force was drawn from the Japanese naval infantry, known as Kaigun Rikusentai (Special Naval Landing Forces). led by Commander Masajiro Hayashi, were scheduled to land on the east coast near a point identified by the Japanese as "Rabi", along with 197 men from the 5th Sasebo SNLF, led by Lieutenant Fujikawa.

Following the battle, the chief of staff of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki, assessed that the landing force was not of a high calibre as it contained many 30- to 35-year-old soldiers who were not fully fit and had "inferior fighting spirit". The Japanese enjoyed some initial advantage in the form of possessing two Type-95 light tanks. After an initial attack, however, these tanks became marooned in the mud and abandoned. They also had control of the sea during the night, allowing reinforcement and later evacuation. Over the course of the 23th and 24th of August, aircraft carried out preparatory bombing around the airfield at Rabi. The main Japanese invasion force left Rabaul on August 24th, under Matsuyama's command.

on August 24th, reports of the second Japanese convoy, consisting of seven barges, which had sailed from Buna carrying the force that would land at Taupota were also received at this time. In response to this sighting, after the initially poor weather had cleared, 12 RAAF Kittyhawks were scrambled at midday. The barges were spotted beached near Goodenough Island where the 350 troops of the 5th Sasebo SNLF, led by Commander Tsukioka, had gone ashore to rest. The Australian pilots then proceeded to strafe the barges and, over the course of two hours, destroyed them all. After the initial sighting, the main invasion force, consisting of the heavy naval screening force and the two transports, remained elusive until the morning of August 25th. In an effort to intercept it, US B-17s were dispatched, although they were unable to complete their mission as bad weather closed in. By dawn of August 26th, advancing west along the coast with armoured support, the Japanese had reached the main inland. Japanese force moved through the jungle at the edge of the coastal track, and was headed by two light tanks. Although they lacked anti-armour weapons, the Australians were able to turn back the Japanese attack.At this stage, the Japanese suffered a serious setback when their base area was heavily attacked at daylight by RAAF Kittyhawks and other Allied aircraft.

As a result of the attack, a number of Japanese troops were killed, while a large quantity of supplies was destroyed, as were a number of the landing barges which were beached. The Japanese did not have any air cover as the fighters, which were to patrol over Milne Bay were shot down by Allied fighters shortly after they took off and other aircraft were halted by poor weather. Nevertheless, the Japanese were still pressing on the Australian Battalion's positions throughout the day. The muddy ground meant that the Australians were unable to move anti-tank guns into position; however, as a stop-gap measure quantities of sticky bombs and anti-tank mines were moved up to the forward units. Australians launched a minor attack upon the Japanese forward positions which were located about 600 yards (550 m) away, pushing the Japanese back a further 200 yards (180 m).

Following continued fighting on the 25th, for the next two days there was a lull in the fighting. During this time, the Australians consolidated their defences. The 61st Infantry Battalion, despite being seriously depleted from the previous fighting, were ordered back to the airfield. Later that night the Japanese began forming up along the track at the eastern end of the airstrip by the sea, and at 3:00 am on August 31st they launched their attack. The first Japanese attack was repelled by heavy machine gun and mortar fire from Australian and American troops. A further two banzai charges were attempted only to meet the same fate, with heavy Japanese casualties, including the Japanese commander. after the survivors of the attack had reformed, he led them north of the airstrip in an attempt to outflank the Allied positions on Stephen's Ridge near the airfield. After running into a platoon of Australians who engaged them with Bren light machine guns, the Japanese withdrew just before dawn. Japanese troops who survived this attack were shocked by the heavy firepower the Allied forces had been able to deploy, and the assault force was left in a state of disarray.

On the morning September 1st, the Allied Infantry Battalions went on the offensive, while a force of seven Kittyhawks attacked the Japanese headquarters. By this time, the Japanese had abandoned the objective of reaching the airfields and instead sought only to hold off the Australians long enough to be evacuated. This information was not known by the Allies, however, who were in fact expecting the Japanese to undertake further offensive action. With the Japanese position at Milne Bay close to collapse, on September 2nd, a sent a radio message was sent to the headquarters of the 8th Fleet, "We shall defend our position to our deaths." After further fighting between remaining Japanese forces and Allied forces advancing on their position, The remaining Japanese troops were evacuated by two barges and the light cruiser Tenryū rescued them two days later. Finding themselves heavily outnumbered, lacking supplies and suffering heavy casualties, the Japanese withdrew their forces, with fighting coming to an end on September 7th, 1942. The battle is often described as the first major battle of the war in the Pacific in which Allied troops decisively defeated Japanese land forces.

[dabistits]

This was 1968, a significant year for Japan’s student movement that coincided with the impending renewal of the U.S.-Japan Mutual Cooperation and Security Treaty, whose amendment in 1960 triggered the first wave of the decade’s social protests, leading to the death of a female undergraduate student of the University of Tokyo during police clashes, and eventually the resignation of Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, grandfather of current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

It was also a time that saw uprisings raging around the world, including the civil-rights movement and anti-Vietnam War protests in the United States, the Cultural Revolution in China, massive demonstrations by students and workers in France and Germany, and Czechoslovakia’s failed Prague Spring.

Protests in Japan in 1968 were far more coordinated and larger in scale compared to a decade earlier, beginning with a demonstration against the arrival of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise, which was due to visit a U.S. naval base in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, in mid-January before heading to Vietnam.

Leftist student organization Zengakuren, an entity formed by groups with varying degrees of radicalism, as well as other peace organizations and political parties assembled to the small town to protest the port call. Fueling the move was the so-called Haneda incidents of the year before — ferocious student demonstrations against Prime Minister Eisaku Sato’s visit to Japan’s Asian neighbors and the United States that stirred the anger of those viewing the move as the government’s collusion with Washington and its policy in Vietnam.

Conservatives viewed the Enterprise’s visit as crucial to Japan’s defense in a volatile region, while others saw the move as the government’s blind support of U.S. strategy in East Asia. Beginning on Jan. 17, these sentiments exploded at Sasebo, as student protesters clashed with police armed with batons and tear gas outside the U.S. naval base. The struggle soon became lopsided, with men in uniform viciously battering defenseless students and raising widespread criticism of police brutality.

[nicholassabalos]

America in the East China Sea....

EAST CHINA SEA (January 11, 2020) -- An F-35B Lightning II prepares to land on the flight deck of United States Navy amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6).

              F-35B Lightning II in a vertical landing configuration

Notice in the photos up top how the strong downward thrust of the almost-hovering fighter jet stirs up a quite a sea spray even from a significant altitude....on its way into a vertical landing on the ship’s flight deck.

USS America (LHA 6) and the roughly 2,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel onboard is conducting routine training operations while forward-deployed (semi-permanently) to the Far East.

The ship just arrived at it’s new homeport at the U.S. Naval Base in Sasebo, Japan in recent weeks....located roughly 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Fukuoka on the map below....

....and is already operating on the front lines of United States foreign policy.

The ship can carry up to nine F-35Bs at any given time....along with MV-22 Ospreys and a large variety of helicopters.

Yes, USS America (LHA 6) is operating fairly close to the Chinese mainland....as well as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

                                          F-35B Lightning II in flight

                                         _________________________

>>CLICK the top three photos for much larger images....

>>Photos: Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jonathan Berlier, USN

[judgemark45]

Japan-based USS New Orleans LPD 18 was commissioned 13 years ago today. Previously homeported in San Diego, the amphibious transport dock ship joined U.S. 7th Fleet's forward-deployed naval forces in December and operates from Sasebo.

[aoibaratraveler]

A Look Back At My Time in Japan! Chapter 2

Welllllll it looks like it’s been a while since I last posted again...but I have an excuse! I was preparing for a pretty big interview and getting ready to make a trip back to Canada. Maybe you’ve heard of the JET programme and maybe you haven’t but I had an interview for that earlier this month and so it took up a lot of my headspace, I’ll be posting more about it once I hear my results in a month or so but I hope to not have too much of a gap anymore in between posts! Also, a mutual friend of both mine and the bf is coming to stay this weekend from Germany so I’m very excited about that and will hopefully have chapter 3 up afterward.

I said before that this will probably be a 4 part blog but you know I really just have so much to say on my experience and can hopefully provide some insight to any people looking to go on exchange to Japan in the future! Or go on exchange in general since my UK exchange story will be coming after this one! So much happened though that this may just end up being a 6 parter xD, ahh it really would have been great if I wrote what happened at the time. Well, I hope you enjoy reading about Japan through my eyes! I’ve also decided to go with naming these chapters since unlike my UK road trip blog, I’m writing this 4 years after the fact so it feels more like I’m telling a story than giving a week by week account on what I experienced. Anyway, last change to my blog! Promise!

Without further ado!

First Month on Exchange: April

I forgot to mention! At the end of chapter 1 was when I arrived in Nagasaki for the first time and earlier in the day before my homestay mother arrived to pick me up, all of the exchange students were made to sit a placement exam to determine their level of Japanese and which class they were to be placed into. Since I had barely slept the night prior and wasn’t really reviewing my textbooks until the last minute, I was only placed in Japanese 3 (they work up from 1) which was good enough for the level that I was at, at the time but if I had reviewed like I had wanted to instead of being lazy then I might have made it to Japanese level 4...but well, we’ll never know and I’m really just giving myself a hard time since I take learning languages, especially Japanese, and being a linguist super seriously. I’m a major procrastinator so of course, I put off reviewing until the last moment but I should be proud of myself for getting there and I made some really good friends that I’m still in touch with from being placed in Japanese 3. 

The day after arriving was a whirlwind! I felt like I could tackle anything and was so full of energy! I took my homestay mother up on her offer to drive me to the opening ceremony that was the day after I arrived in Nagasaki which was meant to welcome all the new exchange students and the first-year Japanese students. It was a rainy day but I was full of anticipation. I wore my best outfit that I had brought along with me and had high hopes. It was a really interesting experience as we never do opening ceremonies or anything of the sort for new university students in Canada. There are normally just fairs and maybe freebies up for grabs. My homestay mother only stayed for a small part of it and then left but it was short enough anyway so I didn’t mind. We were then shipped off to the university campus as the ceremony wasn’t actually at the school and then made to attend a sort of self-introduction and general information class where we each said a little something about ourselves and were able to ask any questions about what our life was going to be like for the next four months. I quickly seemed to grab the attention of a small Vietnamese-American who we’ll call TC. She was very bright and friendly and immediately asked if we could be friends because I said that I love to travel in my self-introduction and I seemed interesting whereas no one else did (probably should have taken this as a slight red flag but I felt flattered so whatever). We pretty quickly buddied up and spent a lot of time together thereafter. 

The next day was a Saturday and from the looks of my Google timeline, I mostly just walked around and explored my new neighbourhood the whole time and got to know my homestay family. Although Saturday morning was special because my homestay family took me up to Tateyama to go have a picnic next to the cherry blossoms since they were still in season. Tateyama has a “mountain” in the name but it’s really just a hill that was situated behind my homestay family’s apartment and it took about 30 minutes to walk up. I tried some kakigori (shaved ice) and played with the coolest little Shiba Inu. It was a lovely little morning and I got to experience the happy atmosphere of my neighborhood while we all took in the cherry blossoms. 

I was lucky enough to be placed in the centre of Nagasaki city while most other homestays were in the countryside, closer to the school. I wouldn’t have minded that since I adore the countryside of Japan and being placed in the city meant that I was an hour away from the university. My first official week in Nagasaki was jam-packed even though I hadn’t actually started my classes yet! Even though we had already attended our opening ceremony for the semester and the school year the previous Friday, classes, for the exchange students at least, weren’t scheduled to start until the second week of April and our first week was just for us to mostly do whatever we wanted! TC and I decided to spend our Monday making a day trip to the next prefecture which was Saga. We didn’t really have any idea what we wanted to do there exactly but I had recently purchased a JR Youth 18 ticket which is somewhat similar to a JR pass and anyone can buy it, not just tourists, and you can only go on local JR trains, so no bullet trains or high-speed trains. It costs about the equivalent of $120 and is good for any 5 non-consecutive days with unlimited trips on those days. We had looked up a bunch of cool things that were in Saga prefecture but would take a really long time to get to and weren’t anywhere near the actual city so we decided just to spend a day in Saga city...although we didn’t really have any choice. You see, I’m speaking to you in hindsight knowing full well how a lot of things work now...especially the JR Youth 18 ticket. I only briefly had an idea of it when I purchased it because L’s sister told me about it when I was living in Tokyo. So when TC and I embarked on our journey to explore Saga, we boarded a bullet train from Nagasaki station. We were about an hour into our trip when a conductor came by to check our ticket and notified us that we were very mistaken but he was super kind and understood that we didn’t know we had done something wrong and let us know what our next step should be. We told him where we wanted to go so he wrote out a detailed guide with all the stations we’d need to get on and get off at (after getting off the bullet train at the next stop) with all of the times. It was really helpful and I really appreciated it but what was supposed to be only an hour-long trip to the next prefecture turned into 4 and a half hours...I felt really bad because TC had left it to me since she couldn’t speak Japanese and voiced her displeasure at it all. It wasn’t a great start to the week but I think if I were on my own and the same thing was to happen then I honestly wouldn’t have minded. When we got off the bullet train we were in a really small town in the middle of nowhere that was super quiet with nothing around, it was actually really cool. We explored that area for about an hour while we waited for the next local train. There was a big river flowing through the city, an old shrine on top of a hill, and a bunch of little, colourful wind turbines lined up one after the other leading from the station to the river.  It was lovely. That stop had the longest wait for a train, the next few stops had trains coming one after the other, but we had just missed one by being on the bullet train. After a long journey, we finally made it to Saga city but it was super quiet and no one was around, maybe because it was a Monday? It was really nice though, there was something really serene about being in a city with one main street and no one around except for a few elderly people walking about. We didn’t end up staying for long but I knew from living in Tokyo for a month that government buildings of any Japanese city are usually free for people to go up to, to the top floor and get a view of the entire city so that’s what we did and it was really nice because again, no one else was there and it was just us. Afterward, we took some photos with the cherry blossoms and headed back to Nagasaki.

The next day I decided to use my JR Youth 18 ticket again to go to Sasebo which is in Nagasaki prefecture so it wouldn’t be that long of a trip but TC didn’t want to have any more long train rides for a while so I went on my own. Sasebo is well known in the prefecture by people and is a recommended spot from locals because it’s where the American naval base is and has a different vibe to it compared to other prefectures. It is also famous for the “Sasebo burger” which is essentially just a normal-sized burger to us Westerners but was designed for the surge in marines that were living in Sasebo after World War II and became a hit to all visitors thereafter. I really just spent an afternoon walking around and admiring the area because, yes, it didn’t quite feel like the rest of Japan, but not exactly like America either. You’d have to see for yourself. I mostly wanted to visit Sasebo because there was meant to be an abandoned theme park nearby and I love that sort of stuff but unfortunately I would have needed a car to get there. The train ride in and out is what made it really special. It was absolutely gorgeous because the trip went along the coast and it was such a beautiful day, I honestly wish I had videotaped it. 

The following couple of days I visited my university and more thoroughly explored the inner and outer parts of Nagasaki city, especially the biggest shrine in the area and what made that part of the city so popular, Suwajinja/ Suwa Shrine. “It is located in the northern part of the city, on the slopes of Mount Tamazono-san, and features a 277-step stone staircase leading up the mountain to the various buildings that comprise the shrine. Suwa shrine was established as a way of stopping and reversing the conversion to Christianity that was taking place in Nagasaki. In modern times it remains an important and successful center of the community.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suwa_Shrine_(Nagasaki)

I also got a job! It was the funniest thing actually. A day or so prior, I was walking with my homestay mother through town to help her go grocery shopping and I saw a little building that had an English school in it and was intrigued. Later, that night I looked the school up and decided to send them an email expressing my interest in working there part-time and if they had any open spots. I immediately got a response from the owner and he said I could come by the next day for a chat. I did just that and apparently, as I arrived, little did I know, a guy that the owner had just spent two weeks training and getting ready for the after spring break rush of students decided to quit at the last minute and do a runner. So to sum it up, after a pleasant but short conversation, I was hired on the spot. I was told to come by the next day for some quick training prep, as I had never taught English before, so that I could start the following week. He clearly needed someone after the other guy had bailed out though.

Finally, on Friday and the end of my first week in Nagasaki, all of the exchange students were taken for an overnight trip to the mountain and hot springs town of Unzen! It took us about 7 and a half hours to get there but we left early in the morning and arrived mid-afternoon so there was still plenty of time for us to do stuff. We were to stay in a traditional hotel next to a natural hot springs and several geysers. It was such a cool and mysterious area to explore with my exchange mates and TC, especially at night after soaking in the hot springs (which let me tell you was awkward considering it was my first time being naked in front of other people, other girls, but still). The air was misty because of the sulfur, smelled like rotten eggs, but that didn’t stop us from walking around in our hotel yukatas. We stayed up for a large portion of the night, took in the atmosphere and just basically partied. The next day we hiked Mount Unzen and it was awesome, the view was glorious. It was also just a really nice bonding experience and a better way for us all to get to know each other. After our hike, we were taken to the small town of Obama which wasn’t named after the former U.S. president but did have a statue of him. It was also a seaside town and was popular for its free public hot spring foot baths which we indulged in after having a delicious nabe lunch. It was an unforgettable overnight trip and did its job of helping all the exchange students get to know each other better (more detail here and below).

The following week consisted of more city exploration, settling in, my first shifts at the English school, some administrative university stuff like signing up for classes the old school way with pen and paper - gotta love Japan - and actually attending classes. It may seem a bit mundane but I enjoyed every minute of it. Oh I forgot to mention, another reason why Nagasaki is so cool to explore and why I never get tired of it is there is a big Portuguese and Dutch influence mixed in with the Japanese aesthetic because those were the first countries that Japan opened up trade to on the port of Nagasaki between the 16th and 19th centuries. To add to that, there are also several hidden Christian sites that are also UNESCO World Heritage sites around the area because when Christianity first appeared with the Dutch and the Portuguese, it was outlawed and forbidden.

In the next couple of weeks, I went strawberry picking with my homestay family which was spectacular! They had a family friend who owned a strawberry farm and we were allowed to pick an unlimited number of delicious, fresh strawberries. I’m telling you we picked enough strawberries to last us for the next few weeks and I got a strawberry coma from the amount that I ate. It was great. After strawberry picking, my homestay family took me to a restaurant nearby the farm where all the ingredients were locally sourced. A few days after that, I spent the day with a few of my new friends as well as TC and we went to the Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium and, boy, was that cool. We saw so many species of Penguin with all sorts of personalities. There was something that put a bit of a hamper in our day and that had to do with a guy who my friend so eloquently nicknamed as “kimoi” (Japanese for gross). I suppose it all started a  day or so before my friends and I decided to meet up for the aquarium. I was sitting in the lounge at uni waiting for some people when a Japanese guy approached me and wanted to chat and obviously that was no problem so I obliged because I’m always down to make new friends. He  seemed nice and friendly enough but we slowly moved from small talk to him mentioning a girl that I am now friends with but at the time didn’t know so well even though we were in the same class. He began talking shit about her and how mean she was to him and….how he wanted to kill her...I was like whoa ok no need for that, I’m sure it was a misunderstanding and I tried to cheer him up and his mood did end up getting better and then he just started complimenting me and saying how nice I was and I honestly didn’t know how to take what was happening. I honestly should have taken it more seriously but it was really just a passing conversation that I had with him since we were the only ones in the lounge and he seemed to be friends with a few other people that I had befriended. It was very strange though especially since Japanese people aren’t known to speak ill of others. Anyway, someone from the group of people I met had invited him to hang out with us at the aquarium and I was ok with it at first but...it turns out that he took our small talk that happened by chance as a sign that I liked him??? And wanted to date him?? He assumed that this whole day at the aquarium was our date and I somehow turned into his girlfriend and the other people that were there were just...third, fourth, fifth, and sixth wheels….It was bizarre and I was thoroughly creeped out. He was clearly unstable. The whole time at the aquarium he was trying to find a chance to be alone with me and get the other guys to leave but I kept making sure we were always with everyone and finally one of my guy friends took one for the team and said he’ll distract him by insisting he wants to hang out with him somewhere else while the rest of us headed back to the city. We ended the day by having a much needed calming visit to the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture and spent a couple of hours learning about our new home. 

Then, on the 27th of April, my birthday, I was pleasantly surprised by a home celebration planned by my homestay mother. She got me a little Sailor Moon figure since I mentioned how much I love the character Sailor Moon, ordered chiraishi bowls for all of us which is essentially sashimi over rice, and some cake. I was absolutely delighted. It was a fantastic day if I do say so myself especially since earlier in the day when I was in class my new friends had all bought me snacks and wished me happy birthday. I was further spoiled after work the next day by my boss taking me and my coworkers out for an izakaya dinner, obviously I don’t drink but the food at izakayas are always sooooo good. It was definitely one of my more favourite birthdays, I was 22 and having the time of my life.

I decided to end off April and spend Golden Week, which is a week at the end of April and beginning of May filled with national holidays and is thus called “Golden Week” by making a trip to Busan, South Korea with TC. She found a deal for us to take a 3-hour ferry from Fukuoka to Busan and stay in a Couchsurfing place (which was to be my first of many). I soon learned from this trip that even though TC claimed to be travel savvy, she doesn’t really do her research very well. But I’ll get to that in a bit. We embarked on our journey from Nagasaki station by highway bus (which was the cheapest option) to Fukuoka to take our ferry. When we arrived, we quickly got lost. South Korea, well Busan, isn’t quite as easy to figure out as Japan but that’s mostly because neither of us spoke Korean. We spent a while trying to find wifi and our host’s place. We were excited to be able to explore the city of Busan at any rate and spoke to a few locals along our way who could speak a little English. When we finally found and arrived at our host’s place. We found out that our host didn’t have a bed or a blanket or anything for us to sleep on, just literally the hardwood floor of his kitchen in a small one-bedroom apartment. I mean I was grateful to have shelter, I was, but damn. TC complained that the couple of other times that she used Couchsurfing she always had her own room and bed and didn’t know why this happened but being that I now have lots of experience in Couchsurfing, I can tell you that TC was either lying or that she must have had luck of the draw with her previous Couchsurfing trips and just requested to stay with the first person that popped up in Busan. Normally, when you look on Couchsurfing you can tell what the host is offering, where you get your own room or a shared room, how much privacy you get and pictures of the place but this guy must have had nothing up on his profile otherwise I don’t see how TC would have requested to stay with him...actually I still don’t see why she requested to stay with him. I never stay with someone if they have no references, pictures, or if it’s a shared space. It was such an uncomfortable 6 days because I really was not prepared to be sleeping on a hardwood floor with no cover but the clothes from my bag. The host was really nice though and he could speak English well so that was a plus. I mostly blame TC for most likely not actually reading his profile because then I could have prepared myself.

We spent our first full day in Busan and the last day of April at the Gamcheon Culture Village which is considered the “Asian Santorini” for its colourful landscape. TC had arranged for us to meet up with another couchsurfing host and his guest. One of whom was a Vietnamese ex-pat and an American from Connecticut that had been spending the past few months traveling around Asia. He was really cool and open-minded, we both connected with the two guys really quickly and had a blast exploring the village, trying street food and heading to downtown Busan. The American guy, Z, reminded me that travel shouldn’t be about seeing as much as possible but just absorbing where you are and taking in everything as opposed to getting so much done but never actually experiencing it. We walked for ages and thoroughly investigated every nook and cranny of this intriguing village. We also hiked up to the top and took an amazing view of all of the colourful buildings and artwork. I ate a loooot of street food that day and honestly each thing was under a dollar, it was great! Two things stood out to me from my street food adventure and that was Beondegi which is silkworm pupae; bitter but not overly gross and hotteok; my absolute favourite thing that I tried even though I’m not really much of a sweet tooth. It was a deliciously sweet, caramelly thick pancake with peanuts. One of the reasons why I love Busan so much is that the food is so cheap and delicious so I really did eat a lot of it….Since we hit it off with these two other couch surfers, we decided to meet up with them a few more times before leaving Busan. Later that night when we got back to our host’s apartment, we were invited to have fried chicken with him and his friend--an absolute must-have if you’re ever in Korea.

[tundrafoot]

An ‘Actual’ Guide to Western Kyushu Pt. 2

So my first (or technically second) guide was about Kyushu as a whole, and I’m so glad folks found it useful! 

This time around, I wanted to focus on my home prefecture, Nagasaki! So put on your reading caps and let’s がんばらんば！

What’s Nagasaki at a glance?

Hills.

Water.

Islands.

That’s about it.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

But in all seriousness, Nagasaki (translating to long cape in English) is a prefecture filled with beautiful hills, sparkling sea, and plenty of islands. Although I don’t use Nagasaki’s airport often, the first time I flew in, the view was stunning. You see this gorgeous bay below you, and it feels like you’re about to land on water.

(courtesy of the Nagasaki airport website)

Hills  

The reason I joke about hills is because I both love and hate them. You can get in a lot of hiking and exploring, and you can always count on getting the most picture-perfect landscape photo. I mean, Mt. Inasa in Nagasaki city has one of the top night views in Japan. And then there is Mt. Unzen, a dormant volcano that is also home to a few onsen towns.  

However, during let’s say… peak summer, those hills and slopes aren’t so enjoyable to climb up on your way to your apartment or school. And when you’re driving, some of those mountain paths can be so narrow that can’t help but curse under your breath while simultaneously praying that your car doesn’t stall or fall of the ledge.

But it’s a worth it.

Water

On one side of the prefecture is mountains and hills, but the other side is water. Ocean. Sea as far as the eye can… see. And that’s what makes Nagasaki so beautiful. How can you not feel your heart pitter-patter a bit when you’re driving (or taking the train) along the coastline? I’m a water kid. As long as there is a body of water within reasonable distance, I’m as happy as a clam.

Although I beaches might not compare to Okinawa, there are still some real treasures. And the water is the perfect temperature. I will admit though, if you’re a freshwater kid like me, the sea creatures you encounter might take some getting used to. For example, I learned that I am afraid of being stung by a jellyfish. And stepping on sea urchins.  I have yet to do either, but I still fear it. On the plus side, this also means some of the freshest seafood around. During one of our ensokus (school hikes), one of the teachers brought his fishing gear for the students to use. One of the kids managed to catch a fish and could bring it home to cook! So, the sea might be scary, but it’s also tasty.

Islands

Nagasaki not only has the most islands in comparison to any other prefecture, but we also have the most inhabited islands. So much so that many teachers are expected to do a stint on an island at one point during their career. Which also means that as an ALT, your placement might be on an island as well. But don’t take that as a bad thing. The islands have the prefecture’s most beautiful beaches and some incredibly unique history.

So I’ve given you a pretty decent look at the topography and climate of Nagasaki, but obviously it’s so much more than just that.

 Okay, so what else is so cool about it?

Nagasaki is unique in a lot of ways because of it’s history as being the gateway to Japan. A lot of what we consider to be ‘Nagasaki culture’ comes from our trade with the Dutch, Chinese, and Portuguese. Our local foods include castella, a sponge cake brought over from Portugal in the 16th century, and champon, a noodle dish made by a Chinese restaurant owner during the Meiji era.

If you’re into Christian history, then Nagasaki has several of the oldest churches in Japan and many of them became part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018. This is all a part of the ‘Hidden Christians’, who were persecuted during the 16th century. Even if you’re not particularly religious, they’re still cool buildings to visit and learn about. And if you are religious (and specifically Christian), then chances are you’ll be able to find a church where you can attend services.

Of course, one of the biggest historical events (and most tragic), would be the Atomic Bombing during WWII, which we hold a memorial every year at the Peace Park in August. Other things I learned about living here was that there were also several air raids around the prefecture. My city of Sasebo has a moment of silence every year right before the summer holiday. One of my schools also has a historical site right beside it; a secret cave that was used as both a hospital and school after the school in the area was bombed.

While this isn’t specific to Nagasaki prefecture, if you like Taisho era architecture, you’ll also get a chance to see some impressive tunnels and buildings. Some of my favorites are the Hario radio transmitters and the old Hyuga Tunnel.

This is just a glance at what is fascinating about the area as a whole. Once you get here, you’ll start to get a feel for the even finer details. Honestly, it feels like every town has their own little bit of history, so I urge you to talk to the locals in your area to learn even more.

Okay, now that you have an overview of the prefecture, I’ll try to give you a bit of a taste of what to expect in your city!

 I’m moving to Nagasaki City

Capital of the prefecture and the biggest city with the most ALTs in the prefecture. When I complain about hilly drives and narrow streets, Nagasaki City takes the gold. But obviously, there is more to this port city than just that. Nagasaki City is great if you’re interested in history. They have a number of historical buildings, museums and monuments scattered around the city that are open to the public. They are trying harder to make the area more to make the information more accessible to foreigners as well, translating many things into English, Korean and Chinese.

Two of my favorite festivals in Nagasaki City are Okunchi, which is held in the fall, and the Lantern Festival, which is held around Chinese New Year.

Getting around the city is fairly easy, and it’s one of the places in the prefecture that you don’t need a car. You can grab the train, bus, or tram which are all very reliable. You can also get pretty much everything that you need, shopping wise. There is a large arcade, as well as two shopping centers; Amu Plaza and Cocowalk.

It’s also very easy to pick up a hobby in this city. I go to Nagasaki once a week for naginata practice, but I also know other folks who practice iaido, hanga, rock climbing, and lots of other fun things.

I’m moving to the Sasebo Area

Oh hey! This is where I currently live, so expect this entry to be even more biased than everything else.

Sasebo is the second biggest city in the prefecture, and home to both the Japanese and American naval bases. It’s also home to a very peculiar but super enjoyable Dutch-themed theme park; Huis Ten Bosch. It’s an homage of sorts to Nagasaki’s old ties with the Netherlands. 

We also have some great views, such as the 99 islands (featured in the movie the Last Samurai), and we are apparently the birthplace of Japanese style spinning tops (Beyblade style). Our ‘local delicacies’ are the Sasebo burger and lemon steak. If you’re a bar person, than we more than our fair share, being a port town and all. We actually hold a Bar Hop every year during the fall/winter time.

I love Sasebo. It’s incredibly comfortable to live here. You get a nice balance of small city life with the rural nature only a stone’s throw away. Some people get a little disappointed that they’re stationed near an American base because they’re worried they won’t get an authentic ‘Japanese’ experience. To be honest, I was one of those people when I first found out that I would be moving here. I’ll tell you now to do away with that attitude, because every experience in Japan is a Japanese experience. I’ve had a chance to meet all sorts of people living here both born and raised here and also from abroad.

I’m moving to an island

If you got an island, chances are you’re going to Goto, Tsushima, Iki, or Ojika. They are incredibly beautiful, but this is coming from a visitor rather than someone who is actually living on one

From what I’ve been told, island life is what you imagine it to be; slow paced, an older population, beautiful beaches and lots of fresh seafood. You also get some of the best beach parties, marathons, and sunsets. The islands in Nagasaki are accessible either by ferry or plane and are usually connected to either Fukuoka, Nagasaki, or Sasebo ports.

If you are an outdoorsy and small-town person, then these placements are perfect for you. If this is your first time away from ‘civilization’, you might feel a little isolated at times, but if you try to join the local community, it’ll help a lot!

I’m moving to Omura/Isahaya

I actually feel really bad because Omura and Isahaya are two of the places I’ve been to the least, but I know that there are a lot of cool people there. So I’m sorry that this post will not be doing it justice. Here is a great video though that city recently made that a lot of Omura acquaintances and friends of mine said really encompass how they feel.

Omura is the fourth largest city in the prefecture and home to Nagasaki Airport! So, while the rest of us still have another hour or so drive, you guys are very lucky.

Omura used to be a castle town, ruled by the Omura clan for a good 900 years. In fact, you can still explore some of the castle ruins as well as a gorgeous area to do sakura viewing during the spring.  

There are always international events going on in the city thanks to their international center (where a lot of the programs are run by a former JET!), so you’ll get a chance to connect with the community pretty easily!

Isahaya is the third largest city and hometown of the Japanese gymnast (and Olympic gold medalist) Kohei Uchimura. It is also the city where the original Meganebashi (Spectacles Bridge) is kept and preserved.

These are both fairly new events, but during the springtime there is a Gourmet Festival as well as a Yabusame event held in the city. Yabusame is a must see for anyone who is interested in traditional Japanese culture.

I’m moving to the Higashisonogi District

The Higashisonogi area is in-between Omura and Sasebo and includes three towns; Hasami, Kawatana, and Higashisonogi. While they are on the small side, each place has their own little specialty!

Hasami is right near the border of Saga and is part of the porcelain belt. That means it’s one of the towns that has a 400-year history with origin of Japanese porcelain, which was brought over from Korea and China. Their signature style is a white and blue underglaze. Hasami is a quaint and cute and I make trips there every now and then. Their biggest festival is the Hasami-yaki Matsuri, which takes place during Golden Week. As you can expect, it’s where you can buy tons of porcelain and pottery from around the area.

Kawatana is a party townnnn!

Or that’s what I like to jokingly call it because one of my schools often has staff parties in this town. It really does have a number of delicious restaurants, including my favorite hot pot place, つばさ. Kawatana is right by Omura Bay, making for an incredibly picturesque view. What it is probably best known for is it’s peacock park, which was a gift from India, as a symbol of friendship between the two cities.

Lastly is Higashi Soonogi (what the district is named after! Or is it vice versa?). Higashi Soonogi is best known for growing green tea and you can see several rows of the bushes around the town. According to a friend of mine, Higashi Soonogi is also one of the towns that has a decently large community of folks who have moved from Tokyo and Sendai not long after the earthquake. This is because Nagasaki prefecture is an area that has the least amount of natural disasters in Japan, and Higashisonogi is a good place to set up a business. I would also like to point out that this town has a lot of great off lovely ‘off the beaten track’ trails, where you feel as though you are walking right into a Ghibli movie. One of those places is Chiwata! I would recommend you talk to the local ALTs and Higashisonogijin more about it!

 I’m moving to Hokubu Area

When we’re talking Hokubu, we usually mean Hirado, Matsuura and Saza! Hirado was known to be a port city where a lot of trade between Japan and Asian countries occurred. It’s also the burial site of William Adams, the first recorded Englishman to travel to Japan. 

Matsuura’s name to fame is that it was the area of the Mongol invasion failed due to typhoons. There is a lot to discover in the area if you are a history buff, or you’re big on beaches, camping and hiking! The area is truly breathtaking. In fact it’s so beautiful, that many Japanese car commercials are filmed on the island of Ikitsuki.

Saza is one of the only towns within the Sasebo area to not actually merge with the city and it’s very proud of that! It also has a saltwater river that runs through the town, which is a very unique feature to the town. 

The one thing about the area is that it can be a little hard to get around via public transportation, so it’s best to get a car if you can!

 I’m moving to the Unzen/Shimabara

Or as most ALTs I know from the area lovingly call it ‘The Hanto’. Amakusa National park was actually one of the first national parks in Japan, so you can expect a lot of great hiking in this area, as well as onsen!

Mt. Unzen is actually an active volcano, that last erupted in 1996, but I wouldn’t about that happening anytime soon. The town has a bit of a Dutch feel to it, which is yet another nod to Nagasaki’s ties to the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Shimabara is a castle town, is known for the Shimabara Rebellion, which was during the Edo period when there was persecution of Christians as well as mismanagement in the government. You can also check out Obama, which is known for it’s cold onsens, and of course, having the same name as the former United States president. You can also expect the area to have a lot of off the beaten track restaurants.

I’m no expert of the area, but we do have another Tumblr JET @wandereranddreamer here to answer your questions!

 I’m moving to Saikai/Nishi Sonogi

Do you love Capybara and beaches? Excellent, because this area has both! As you’ve probably guessed, Saikai is on the western part of Omura Bay. Saikai has Biopark, which is a zoo, but where the animals are actually able to run around and have their own space! You can feed and pet capybara, mara, monkeys, and so much more. There is also a lot of green spaces, such as the Nagasaki Forest Prefectural Park, a number of beaches, and a few islands accessible by bridges. It is a little bit inaka, so you’ll probably need a car to get around! But it’s well worth it. And if you get a little too tired of the countryside, you are perfectly situation right inbetween both Sasebo and Nagasaki.

 I still want more information!!!

Oh wow, okay! Well, if you are really super curious, might I suggest reading up on the Nagazasshi? It’s a local (and free) English magazine, all about the prefecture. It’s a great magazine, and I’m not just saying that because I was a former editor for it, ahaha.  

If you are into movies, anime, or manga then you can check out these titles that take place in Nagasaki Prefecture

Kids on the Slope (Manga, Anime, Movie) – A coming of age story that takes place during the 1960s, Sasebo.

Silence (Movie) – All about the spread and persecution of Christianity in Nagasaki.

Aoi no Hana, Utsuwa no Mori (Manga)- A josei manga that is all about love and pottery in Hasami

Barakumon (Manga, Anime)- The story of a professional calligrapher who moves from the big city a tiny town on the islands of Goto

Irudoku: The World in Colors-  Hitomi Tsukishiro is a teenage girl from a family of witches who loses her sense of colors. She travels back in time to the year 2018 and meets the 17-year-old version of her grandmother.

Phew, well. I think that’s about all I can offer for this post. If you’ve read through this all, awesome! I hope you’ve found it useful!

[crystal-in-nagasaki]

sasebo

Sasebo is a large port city in the northern part of Nagasaki prefecture. It takes about an hour to get to by train or car from my town. I have been a total of three times, and want to just share a little bit here of my experiences in Sasebo.

Sasebo is home to a large US naval base, so there are tons of Americans living there, both on base and off. Thus there is a large American influence there, for example with the famous Sasebo Burger, which is a huge cheeseburger stacked with bacon and a fried egg. 

There are also several foreign owned restaurants and bars in which you can enjoy American and other kinds of international food. Mexican food is generally hard to find in Japan, but you can find several Mexican restaurants there too, which made me so so happy. 

One of the times I went to Sasebo with friends, we went to a large arcade and played crane games and rhythm games. We have two small arcades in Omura, but Sasebo's arcade has four floors and a much bigger selection of games, so some people from my town prefer to visit Sasebo arcades over our own.

We also went to an import shop in Sasebo which sold foreign foods and snacks like bagels, macaroni and cheese, taco seasoning, potato chips, shampoos and other soaps, etc. It’s nice to know that when I’m missing some foods from home, I can get them here. 

One of my favorite things to do in Sasebo is visit the karaoke room, Jankara. Of course we have karaoke as well in Omura, but Jankara is quite cheap and you can order free time (unlimited singing time) and all-you-can-drink cocktails for only about $20. You are assigned a private room for you and your group of friends (you can even go alone too if you want to practice singing or blow off steam). They have a free drink bar with soda, juice, and hot drinks, which is nice for grabbing coffee if you’re out late or hot tea to soothe your throat after hours of singing. You can also order some foods like french fries and fried chicken. The staff will bring you maracas and tambourines to make the singing even more fun. Karaoke is one of my favorite ways to spend a night out and it’s something I wish was more popular in the US! 

Since Japan is an island country surrounded by the ocean on all sides, it has some pretty nice aquariums, including the Umi Kirara Aquarium in Sasebo. I’ve always liked aquariums, but found that the ones in the Midwest USA were not great, probably since we’re so far from the ocean. The Umi Kirara Aqarium had many standard aquarium animals like rays, sharks, colorful reef fish, and jellyfish, but something really cool about this particular aquarium were the amount of shellfish and prehistoric animals. They had many crabs and lobsters with beautiful colors, sea slugs, horseshoe crabs, and giant isopods. I learned a lot about many of these animals from playing Animal Crossing, but had never seen many of them in real life, so it was really exciting to see them all.

Being a navy town, there are many restaurants and bars in Sasebo which cater to foreigners and have English menus and English-speaking staff. I love being in Japan, but something about Sasebo is comforting when I’m missing home. I blend in more and almost never get stared at (which is really common being a non-Asian foreigner in Japan). One of the times I was in Sasebo I visited a foreign-owned bar and was able to chat with the staff in English and enjoy the atmosphere of being around other Americans for the night. It’s really nice when I’m feeling homesick or overwhelmed by all of the Japanese words and customs surrounding me. 

The last thing I want to talk about in Sasebo is the navy base. I was fortunate to make a friend in the navy, as you can only enter the base if you are a member of the navy or are escorted in by one. On base they have a grocery store, home goods store, and several restaurants including Taco Bell (I cried tears of joy) and a Chili’s. It was a really interesting experience going to the Chili’s. Even “American” restaurants here still have strong Japanese influence. For example, they have set meals at Japanese Taco Bell and KFC instead of ordering by item or in bulk. You will be greeted in Japanese and as a customer you will be spoken to in keigo,  which is very formal Japanese. You usually have to call the server yourself or with a bell and you never tip your server. I was surprised to walk into Chili’s on base to find exclusively English-speaking staff, English menus, and even the condiments on the table were only in English. The customs were even the same as the US. The waitress greeted us at the door, took us to a table, took our drink order first then returned for our food order. She even dropped by to ask us how our food was and if we were ready for the check. They never do this in Japan, and you must call them to ask for a check. At the end of the meal we were also expected to leave a tip. After being in Japan for several months, I felt huge reverse culture shock being there, but it was incredibly comforting and the most I’ve been reminded of home since arriving.  

Sasebo is a really bright and lively place, with a foreigner-friendly atmosphere and I always enjoy my time there. I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences in Sasebo!

[japantourguide]

220427-N-IO312-1130 by U.S. Pacific Fleet Via Flickr: SASEBO, Japan (April 27, 2022) Sailors assigned to forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) engage a simulated fire in a workshop aboard the ship during an integrated industrial firefighting drill with Commander, Naval Region Japan Fire & Emergency Services firefighters onboard U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo. The drill, required by the Industrial Ship Safety Manual for Fire Prevention (8010), was created to train integrated teams of Sailors and base firefighters to casualties in industrial environments. America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, operates in U.S. 7th Fleet to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew Cavenaile)

[juchechat]

im learning a lot from you but i have a question. one of my friends currently lives in Japan and there was an alarm gping off because north korea launched a missle and could possibly it japan. now i have a feeling that north korea doesnt intend on killing people at random like that. can you explain the whole situation?

The Japanese government and affiliated nationalist organizations utilize the missile tests of the DPRK to build support for the continuing military build-up within Japan as support for the projection of imperialist interests grow. We must not forget that Japan, a state which brutally occupied the Korean peninsula over 70 years ago, still has strained relations with both the North and South concerning this topic and their refusal to admit any substantial wrongdoing. The Japanese government has taken a far more aggressive stance against the DPRK than the RoK has in decades.  When maintaining and developing a missile deterrent, tests need to be conducted to ensure capability and to demonstrate said capability to aggressive foreign powers. Tests allow a state to ensure new software and hardware functions, allows a state to ensure older systems are still capable, allows a state to catch any possible flaws which may reduce the effectiveness of said missiles, and make tweaks to their arsenal in response. The DPRK has fired missiles into the East Sea for decades, not as a move of “intimidation” against Japan so much as firing into the sea being incredibly standard practice for any state testing ballistic missiles. If a failure occurs, the debris is far less likely to come crashing down on civilian areas, while spent stages will fall into the sea rather than into fields.  The only tests which could truly be considered “aggressive”, the two Hwasong-12s fired over Japan and into the Pacific, only occurred after Japanese (and u$) aggression reached its highest levels in years. We must remember as well that the two firings over Japan occurred only a few weeks after the u$ tested a Minuteman III ICBM, firing one 6,800 kilometres Westwards from Vandenberg AFB to Kwajalein Atoll. Hypocrisy and the build-up of fear among their populace is the game of the u$ and its allies, Japan included. The DPRK has continuously shown their focus on military targets in a potential engagement far more so than civilian ones. A deterrence plan must involve a focus on both tactical  targets (such as military bases) and strategic targets (such as cities) yet even then the DPRK has primarily focused on tactical rather than strategic targets. For an example, their threats against Guam are often painted as simply ‘threatening u$ citizens’ despite the existence of Naval Base Guam (which contains substantial assets of the u$ Navy Pacific Fleet) and Andersen Air Force Base (which is the only base in the Western Pacific which can permanently host B-1, B-2, and B-52 bombers).  Even within and around Seoul and Busan, the known and believed primary targets for DPRK missile forces are military, and not only military but u$ military. Primary targets within the RoK have been identified as Camp Humphreys, Osan Air Base, Camp Casey, Yongsan Garrison, Camp Red Cloud, Commander Fleet Activities Chinhae, Camp Carroll, Camp George, Camp Henry, and Camp Walker. On the other side of the East Sea in Japan, primary targets have been identified as Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station, Kadena Air Base, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Camp Zama, Yokota Air Base, Misawa Air Base, and Sasebo Naval Base. Across these bases are hundreds of combat aircraft at any given time, with the capacity to operate thousands, alongside dozens of warships, and nearly 100,000 u$ soldiers (with the capacity to field several times that number.) Often ignored as well is that it is suspected that the u$ military command in both Japan and South Korea are believed to possess arsenals of tactical nuclear weapons, largely in the form of cruise missiles.  The point of all of this is that the u$ is the primary enemy of the DPRK, not the RoK or Japan despite their aggression. Unless the u$ and its allies begin carpet bombing the DPRK, there is no threat of the DPRK attacking civilian targets in Japan, the RoK, or even the u$, regardless of how desperate the warhawks are to convince the people otherwise.

[nedzwood]

Crescent-hammer (at Sasebo Naval Base Japan) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-t5zVHjsm6/?igshid=1d8ucxxhcorsb