Yokosuka's "Ocean Boulevard"

National Highway 16 runs through the heart of Yokosuka's downtown naval port area. 

It is one of the City's life-lines, and is always busy with a rush of cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, traffic heading to & from Yokohama, Kawasaki, Tokyo, and other places north of the Miura Peninsula.

At an intersection just a few minutes south of Yokosuka Navy base, a remarkable 4-lane road branches off to run along Tokyo Bay.

It is wider than older Japanese streets, and is picturesque, lined with palm trees ... almost has a California or Florida feel to it.

Called "Yokosuka Kaigan Dori" (Yokosuka Seashore Boulevard)  横須賀海岸道り .... it is lined with pedestrian & bicycle-friendly sidewalks, and is host to several big-box stores (AVE, LIVIN, HOMES, NOJIMA, etc. -- all with lots of parking), as well as some large & mysterious "art objects" .... and more to follow on that in future blog entries...

         

The Navy Monument

Previously, in this blog, I have described, one by one, five of the six monuments/memorials which stand along the eastern edge of Yokosuka's Verny Park.

The sixth & last one, located closest to the ocean/harbor, is simply named: the "Navy Monument" ( 海軍の碑 ), and it commemorates the transformation of Yokosuka from a small fishing village into Japan's most important naval base.

The monument was erected in 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the end of "The Pacific War" (others call it World War II), and construction costs were paid by voluntary donations from various groups and individuals who wanted to honor the memory of the Japan Imperial Navy.

The monument is also dedicated to those who lost their lives in the war, and expresses hope for peace in the future.

There is a bench where one can sit and ponder.

     

"Sunburst" flag is actually the Navy Ensign 

Japan's dream of isolation was destroyed
by the countries of the West

Details of Yokosuka Imperial Navy complex  

The Shogun's Admiral --- Graves In The Middle Of A Suburb

Located on a hilltop in the middle of Yokosuka's Ikeda-Cho residential district -- a place with a breathtaking view of the City harbor and Tokyo Bay -- are the large grave-stones of MUKAI SHOGEN and his wife...

 














Admiral MUKAI (1621-1674) was the commander of the Tokugawa Shogun's navy.  Here is a painting of what some of his ships looked like back in those days:

Of interest, Admiral MUKAI was a contemporary of the Englishman, William Adams (who is also buried in Yokosuka -- Hemi District, Anjin-Zuka), and, together they built first Japan's western-style sailing ships...

One day Ieyasu commanded Adams to construct a Western-style ship.  Although Adams had studied shipbuilding at Diggins in his young days, he had never actually built a ship.  Even so, determined to comply with Ieyasu’s request, he obtained the comprehensive assistance of the Liefde’s shipwright, Pieter Janszoon, as well as that of ship-carpenters from the Bakufu Navy, Mukai Shogen.  Together, in Ito of the Izu Peninsula, they created an 80-tonne Western-style ship.  When Ieyasu saw their success, he immediately ordered construction of an even larger ship, this time 120 tonnes. This ship ended up serving as a substitute for the Spanish Viceroy Don Rodrigo’s ship, which wrecked off Onjuku in Chiba. To repay this debt of gratitude, Spain opened up Mexico, then its own territory, for full-scale trade with Japan; and also sent Sebastian Vizcaino, its first-ever ambassador to Japan, to Uraga.

William Adams' remarkable life (i.e., going form a shipwrecked sailor to a samurai advisor to Japan's top ruler) was turned into a historical novel "Shogun" written by James Clavell, and was also made into a multi-part T.V. movie of the same name in 1980.

A real good biography of Adams can be read here.

An Island, a Monk, and a Monkey --- SARU-SHIMA

SARU-SHIMA, which means "Monkey Island" is the only natural island in Tokyo Bay --- and Tokyo Bay is HUGE, so that is saying something.

A recent visitor wrote this description.

SARU-SHIMA is located close off-shore Yokosuka, right in the middle of the approaches to the harbor --- so, from a military point of view, it is a natural/classic defensive position, and the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy built extensive coastal artillery and other facilities on Saru-shima.  In 1942, anti-air guns were installed at five different concrete-reinforced spots on the island.

A long time ago Sarushima Island was called "Toshima Island" (Number 10 Island.)  At that time there were more islands among Sarushima Island: for example Kasajima Island, Hirashima Island, Takogaijima Island, and more.  All together there ware 10 islands.  Thats probably the reason that they called one of them "Toshima Island".  Toshima means litterly "10 islands".  From the days of the Meiji period, all the other islands are lost because of several (land-fill) projects of government and industry, leaving only Sarushima Island still existing today.  

Although it is called Monkey Island, none of those critters live on it -- they are nowhere to be found.  The name actually comes from Buddhism, and one of its famous monks: NICHIREN SHONIN.

In April 1253 Nichiren, the priest that the branch of Nichiren Buddhism has founded, wanted to sail from the country Kasuza (in Chiba, across the bay from Yokosuka) to Kamakura (located northwaet of Yokosuka), but he fell into a storm.  The priest began to pray and sing to the Holy Dragon god of the sea.  Miraculously the huge dragon appeared and the water was calm again.  However, the captain had no idea where he was and got off course.  The legend goes that at that time a White Monkey on the bow of the boat appeared and led them to an island, this island was therefor called Sarushima Island.  When Nichiren came to the beach he saw a fisherman whose feet were hurt by the spines of the sea snail.  He sang a prayer, and ever since then the sea snails had no longer spines, and even now, as you will find on the beaches, you'll only find shells of the sea snail without spines...

A good short biography of Nichiren Shonin is here.

If you are thinking about going to see Saru-Shima, read this article.

Battleship YAMASHIRO 戦艦山城 --- "Only 10 Survived"

Here is a good shot of the memorials which are lined-up at the eastern end of Yokosuka's Verny Park:

I have already described, earlier in this blog, the four monuments starting from the right-hand side of the photograph, and now I would like to concentrate on the one furthest to the left, which is dedicated to the Imperial Japanese Navy's battleship "YAMASHIRO."

 

YAMASHIRO was built at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal (1913-1917), so I guess that is one reason for the memorial to be located here.  The following is a brief history of the ill-fated battleship from WIKIPEDIA:

Yamashiro (山城, "Mountain castle", named for Yamashiro Province) was the second of two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake.

Yamashiro was modernized between 1930 and 1935, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nevertheless, with only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war.

By 1944, though, she was forced into front-line duty, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During fierce night fighting in the early hours of 25 October against a superior American force, Yamashiro was sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire. Nishimura went down with his ship, and only 10 crewmembers survived.

   









Yamashiro was the second of two Fuso-class battleships, but was the first Japanese battleship equipped with aircraft catapults. Between Dec 1930 and Mar 1935, she undergone a modernization that replaced her boilers, added aircraft handling facilities, and added better armor protection, particularly against torpedo attacks. After this modernization, her appearance became rather different than her sister ship Fuso: the pagoda-style tower was larger after being extended further aft, which required that the stowed position of Turret 3 in the aft position, as opposed to forward as on Fuso. 

The Battle of Surigao Strait which doomed YAMASHIRO.

Uraga Bay -- The Place Where Yokosuka First Modernized

Saburosuke NAKAJIMA, from Uraga, was the "right man at the right time" as described in this Sumitomo Corp. historical description... 

== Almost all Japanese associate Uraga with the arrival of American Navy Commodore Matthew Perry.  In 1853, Perry's fulfillment of his mission to deliver President Fillmore's personal letter to the Shogunate ended more than 200 years of self-imposed isolation and signaled the beginning of trade between Japan and the rest of the world. 

While Perry's four warships were anchored off Uraga, one of the Shogunate officials who boarded them was Saburosuke Nakajima.  Born in Uraga, he had been thoroughly trained in shipbuilding by his father and was keenly interested in any and all new developments in that field.  His detailed observation of the ships' interior allowed him to gain an understanding of how they were built.  After Perry returned to America, the Shogunate ordered Nakajima to build a Western-style warships.  Nakajima immediately set up Japan's first real shipbuilding works and set to work.  "The three-masted barque, called the 'Ho-o Maru,' was completed in just six months and is testament to the extent of the knowledge and expertise in shipbuilding Nakajima had acquired by then -- something I think quite worthy of recognition," explains local historian Shoichi Yamamoto with pride.

Nakajima also played a leading role in the extensive repair of the Dutch-built "Kanrin Maru," which was carried out at a dry dock he built at Uraga.  The Kanrin Maru is of historical significance as the ship that carried Shogunal officials across the Pacific for the ratification of the United States-Japan Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1860.

In 1869, Nakajima sacrificed his life fighting for the crumbling Shogunate; but in 1897 a comrade, then Minister of Agriculture and Commerce Takeaki Enomoto, fulfilled a wish he had had by founding the "Uraga Senkyo Kabushiki Kaisha" ("Uraga Dock Co., Ltd.").  The predecessor of Sumitomo Heavy Industries' Uraga Shipyard, it produced numerous vessels during its long and colorful history.

AND, here are several views of historic Uraga shipyard and bay:

Another Mysterious Power Spot

It is called INARI DAI-MYOJIN.

Located near Keikyu Horinouchi Station in the Miharu-Cho section of Yokosuka.

Apparently, after World War II, the shrine was removed when the Keihin Kyuko railway line was built through its property.

But what remained was a the Torii Gate (entrance to holy area) and a stairway...

A stairway leading up to ... nothing...

Although the two small caves definitely seem to contain something alive from ancient times .... and then .... there is the tree!

The Japanese would call this old tree 神木 (Shin Boku) .... a God Tree .... From certain angles you can see a face in its trunk.  Who knows how long this tree has experienced and absorbed the energy of life!

This is (was) an INARI shrine.  I good article explaining INARI is HERE.

Inari 稲荷. The deity of rice and a major Shinto god (KAMI.) Closely associated with various Shinto deities of food, Inari can be depicted in either male or female form. Inari not only protects the rice harvest -- s/he is also the patron of prosperity for farmers and merchants, especially those involved in rice production, foodstuffs and fisheries.

In traditional artwork, a pair of foxes typically flank Inari’s image. But in modern times, images of Inari have all but disappeared, replaced instead by images of Oinari’s messenger, the magical shape-shifting fox (kitsune 狐). Here the symbolism is two-fold. First, rice is sacred in Japan, closely associated with fertility (the pregnant earth) and with sustaining life. Inari and Inari’s foxes must therefore be placated -- otherwise it would be disastrous to the livelihood of the nation’s farmers and people.     

Godzilla On A Hilltop

Godzilla lives on a hilltop in Yokosuka!

In "Hana No Kuni" (Flower World), which, like many other parks in Yokosuka, used to be a Imperial Japanese military facility.

Here is a description by someone who made a visit in 2014...

Ryuhon-Ji --- Intricate Wood Carvings

Some people assume that in order to see old & beautiful Japanese temple architecture and art work, a trip to Nikko, Asakusa, or Kyoto will be necessary.

However, that is not true, as a temple with fantastic & detailed wood-roof carvings is located only about a 10-15 minute walk up the hill from Yokosuka Chuo train station --- It is called "Ryuhon Ji."

猿海山 龍本寺

Here are some examples (amazing woodwork art!):

Unusual Hill-top Monument

On top of a bluff overlooking downtown Yokosuka (just up the hill from Chuo Station) is a large mysterious & oddly-shaped metal sculpture.

It is hard not to notice...

It turns out that this structure is called: "Peace Monument"

Built in 1989 as part of Yokosuka City's declaration against nuclear weapons.

Not sure what the design means ---- sort of has an abstract "Hammer & Sickle" look to it.

Back story --- Yokosuka's Mayor at the time was Mr. Yokoyama.  He served for 5 terms (20 years) and his last year was 1993.  Turns out that Yokoyama-san was originally from Hiroshima .... so, that may explain why this anti-atomic bomb sculpture was erected while he was in power.

Mysterious Hilltop Shrine ---- In A Place One Might Find Tottoro

Hidden forest shrine.

Fushimi Hakuseki Inari Shrine

Up the hill from Taura Station .... hard to believe this ancient quiet holy spot is located only a twenty minute walk from all the concrete urbanized areas below....

Yokosuka Power Spot No. 3 --- The Fatal Price Of Loyalty

Yokosuka's "Verny Park" rightfully ought to be called "Verny-Oguri Park."

"Tadamasa Oguri was a controversial Tokugawa government official whose efforts contributed to the modernization of Japan at the end of the shogunate and the beginning of the Meiji Period and whose insistent calls for resistance against the forces of Satsuma and Choshu would cost him his life."

Good/short biography is here.

In the mid-1860s, Tadamasa Oguri teamed-up with the French naval engineer, Francois Leonce Verny, to build-up the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.

A real nice bilingual explanation about Verny is here.

So, Oguri, who actually ran the Tokugawa's finances at one point, was a pretty powerful government official, and intensely loyal to the Shogun --- and he used his power to build-up Yokosuka.

And in the central part of Very Park, the busts of Verny and Oguri are displayed together, as such:

  












But, taking a closer look, in the middle and behind the statues is a small rock formation, which looks like this:

It turns out that these stones were taken from a spot along the Karasu River, in Gunma Prefecture, where Ogura was beheaded by samurai from Choshu & Satsuma.  The stones were donated to Yokosuka's park in 1953.

I had walked an jogged past the Ogura and Verny statues for many years, and only recently became aware of these quiet, strange, & powerful stones which lie in the background --- wow!

The Black Ships 黒船

In 1720, a office headquarters & administrative complex was set-up in Uraga ---  It was called the Uraga Magistrate's Office, and it reported up to the Tokugawa Shogun government in Edo (Tokyo.)

At that time, Yokosuka City did not yet exist (it was just a small fishing village) --- so, even until today, the people who live in the Uraga section of Yokosuka have a sense of being the oldest and historically most important part of the City (local pride!)

The job of the Uraga Magistrate's Office, due to his location near the mouth of Tokyo Bay, was to monitor and manage the entry of boats and ships into the bay --- i.e., to make sure no one could sneak-up and surprise the Shogun in Edo.

So, in 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry and his squadron of U.S. Navy warships showed-up to "open" Japan, it was the Uraga Magistrate who had to deal with the situation.

Yokosuka City has produced an excellent summary of what happened between Uraga and the "Black Ships" --- and here it is:

Matthew Perry and Yokosuka

The Birth Of Japanese Naval Aviation -- 1912, Yokosuka (Oppama 追浜)

One of Nissan Automobile Corporation's main manufacturing and test plants is located in the northern part of Yokosuka City, called: Oppama (追浜).

Nissan built its factory there in 1961, on "wide-open" property which had formerly been used as U.S. Naval Air Station Oppama, and before that, as the Japanese Imperial Navy's Yokosuka Air Base.

It has been mostly forgotten that the birth of Japan's naval aviation occurred at Yokosuka Air base in 1912.  Here is a relevant quote from the book "Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy" (by David Evans & Mark Peattie, pgs 179-180):

"(Japan's naval aviation) began with the decisions of the Commission on Naval Aeronautical Research to purchase foreign winged aircraft and to send junior officers abroad to learn how to fly and maintain them.  In consequence, the navy purchased two seaplanes from the Glenn Curtis factory in Hammondsport, New York, and two Maurice Farman seaplanes from France.  To establish a cadre of naval aviators and technicians, the navy dispatched three officers to Hammondsport and two to France for training and instruction.  Upon their return to Japan at the end of 1912, two of the newly trained naval aviators made the first flights in Japanese naval air history at Oppama on Yokosuka Bay, one in a Curtiss seaplane, the other in a Maurice Farman .... Within a year, the navy had begun operational use of the aircraft, and within two, Japanese naval aircraft had undertaken their first combat missions."

          

Yokosuka's "Statue Of Liberty"

On the bluff overlooking Yokosuka City's downtown & naval port area, a park called: "Chuo Ko-en" (横須賀中央公園 -- Central Park) is located on what used to be a Japan Imperial Army training area.

It was an excellent location for looking out at Tokyo Bay, and the Japanese Army's Yokosuka Heavy Artillery Regiment would conduct canon firing practice from that spot/facility.  (Subject for a different post in the future.)

Yokosuka's museum and cultural center/civic auditorium are located within the Central Park grounds.

Of interest, there are also some statues located on a green area next to the museum.

And one of them is called "The Statue Of Liberty," and looks like this:

        












This statue was built in 1960, by a famous Japanese sculptor Seibo KITAMURA, and was moved and erected in Yokosuka's Central Park in 1977, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the City's foundation.

KITAMURA-san, who passed-away in 1987, is most famous for a large statue he built for the Atomic Bomb Peace Park in Nagasaki City, which most people have seen, and looks like this:

  














Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Yokosuka's political leaders (and many citizens of the post-World War II generation,) never wanted Japan's military to become powerful again, and they were intent on developing Yokosuka into a "Peace City" -- and lessen its dependence on the naval harbor complex, from which the U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force operated (and also served as the City's largest employers.)

KITAMURA's "Statue Of Liberty" -- built on a base of stones from Hiroshima -- was intended to send a message of "love and happiness" to the people of Yokosuka.

(Note:  There is another, more notorious, Statue of Liberty, which is located on top of the Love Hotel "Goddess," located right across the street from (and facing towards) Yokosuka U.S. Navy Base --- It has been there for decades, and I am not sure what it is intended to mean ... ?)

   

The Battleship Which Survived An Atomic Bomb

Continuing on with checking-out and explaining the monuments located in Verny Park...

The above photo shows three of them --- the one furthest away commemorates the poet Masaoka Shiki, while one in the middle is a memorial to the crew and Imperial Navy mine-laying warship: Okinoshima.

So, that leaves the one in the foreground, which is a monument to the battleship NAGATO.

 

(From WIKIPEDIA) --- Nagato (長門), named for Nagato Province, was a super-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1910s. The lead ship of her class, she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. The ship was modernized in 1934–36 with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nagato briefly participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and was the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the attack on Pearl Harbor. She covered the withdrawal of the attacking ships and did not participate in the attack itself.

Other than participating in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, where she did not see combat, the ship spent most of the first two years of the Pacific War training in home waters. She was transferred to Truk in mid-1943, but did not see any combat until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in mid-1944 when she was attacked by American aircraft. Nagato did not fire her main armament against enemy vessels until the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. She was lightly damaged during the battle and returned to Japan the following month. The IJN was running out of fuel by this time and decided not to fully repair her. Nagato was converted into a floating anti-aircraft platform and assigned to coastal defense duties. She was attacked in July 1945 as part of the American campaign to destroy the IJN's last remaining capital ships, but was only slightly damaged. In mid-1946, the ship was a target for nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads. She survived the first test with little damage, but was sunk by the second.

NAGATO was built at Kure Naval Arsenal, but spent most of its commissioned service based out of Yokosuka, where it was assigned to the Naval District Command.  Also, NAGATO embarked on its final deployment from Yokosuka, using its own propulsion-power & under the command of a U.S. Navy officer, en route Eniwetok, and its final operation/destiny as a target for nuclear weapons...

ありし日の　
聯合艦隊旗艦長門の
姿をここに留めて　
昭和の激動の時代を
偲ぶよすがとする