General Introduction

Yokosuka was founded in 1907, and is located in the center of the Miura Peninsula in the southeastern part of Kanagawa Prefecture.  The Miura Peninsula is surrounded on three sides by the sea: Tokyo Bay to the east, Sagami Bay to the west, and the open Pacific Ocean to the south.  Its location is close to Tokyo, about 42 kilometers away, and travel from Tokyo is quick and convenient.  There are also many ways to travel from the Narita Airport and Haneda Airport to Yokosuka.

While it is considered part of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, Yokosuka is abundant with nature and renowned for its comfortable climate throughout the year.  Farms in the rural parts of Yokosuka area able to grow fruits and vegetables in all the seasons.     

Yokosuka is an international city with about 6,000 international residents from around 70 different countries, and it is also home to over 23,000 Americans due to it hosting a large U.S. Naval Base.  In addition, the amount of overseas tourists have been increasing due to inbound tourism efforts. 

Yokosuka promotes international exchange and connects to the world through ties to various countries such as its four sister cities (Corpus Christi, U.S.A.; Brest, France; Fremantle, Australia; and Medway, U.K.)

Yokosuka has also hosted international competitions and athletes from around the world.  Starting from 2017, it was the site for the Windsurfing World Cup, and during the 2018 competition, top-class windsurfers from 30 different countries and regions and around 50,000 spectators visited.  Many citizens were also volunteering and providing support for this competition.

Yokosuka's Huge New Year's Party

I did some checking around, and it appears that Yokosuka's "New Year's Eve Countdown" celebration was first held back in 2004.

Pretty amazing event, where thousands of people show up at the Verny Park site .... food booths .... stage performances .... portable shrine carried around (Washoi! Washoi!) .... all the Navy ships in the harbor lit-up .... and then a 10-9-8-7-6... countdown and it's "Happy New Year!"  "Ake-mashite Omedeto!" .... and all the ships sound their horns + fireworks are launched .... dramatic, memorable, lots of fun .... then it’s off to Dobu-Ita Street for drinks and partying, or make the Hatsu-Mo-De visit to one's neighborhood shrine...

     

An International & Cultural City-by-the-Sea

I was out for a walk and came across a unique-looking clock tower located by the entrance to Yokosuka City Fire Department's main building (see the photos below).

Interesting design .... maybe shaped like a "Y", for Yokosuka...?

But the inscription also caught my eye:  国際海の手文化都市 よこすか ... "Koku-sai Umi-no-Te Bunka Toshi" .... which can be translated as "Yokosuka, an International & Cultural City-by-the Sea"

Turns out this City motto (or vision statement) was created and promulgated back in June 1950, as Yokosuka municipal government laid out a plan to transform, by 2025, its economy and infrastructure from being dominated by the huge pre-World War II presence of the Japanese Imperial Navy (JIN) .... Under a special law passed by the National government, regulations were loosened and tax breaks made available so private sector companies could establish new ventures and businesses in Yokosuka .... and things moved forward after that, with factories, commercial buildings, and parks, etc., getting set-up on former JIN property...
  　
Words printed on a clock ... and the history they represent...   

Kurihama's Tenjin Shrine --- A place to make you smart

Originally founded in 1601, when new rice fields were being developed in what is now the Kurihama area (southern part of Yokosuka City) ....  天神社  Tenjin-Sha (Tenjin Shrine) is the only one among the 88 shrines in the Yokosuka/Miura Peninsula area, to host a god of learning... 

In mythology, folklore and the Shinto religion of Japan, Tenjin (天神) is the kami (deity) of Academics, Scholarship and Learning.  It is the deification of Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), the famous scholar, poet and politician of the Heian period.  Ten (天) means sky and jin (神) means god or deity. The original meaning of Tenjin, sky deity, is almost the same as that of Raijin (a god of thunder).

So, many students visit the shrine before taking examinations, and oldsters even visit to keep their minds from getting cloudy .... It is a beautiful & a well-maintained place, and it still plays a vital role in the culture and tradition of the Kurihama community .... As with most shrines, it sells amulets for good luck, successful studying, driver safety, and protection during business trips, etc.

    

Free WIFI Has Arrived In Yokosuka's Main Shopping Streets

On 10 December 2019, NTT Higashi Nihon (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation) started free WIFI service in several shopping street (Sho-Ten-Gai 商店街) locations around Yokosuka City.

NTT's business initiative was spurred by the increase in recent years of foreign visitors and the growth of Japan's tourism industry.

"Yokosuka-Free-WiFi" has been installed at Kinugasa-Oh-Dori, Kinugasa Naka-Dori, Dobu-Ita Dori (The Honch), Kurihama, Mikasa Mall/Sho-Ten-Gai, and Wakamatsu Sho-Ten-Gai.

The objective is obviously increase the convenience factor for those visiting the shopping street areas .... using smart phones to learn about stores, restaurants, bars, and sales, etc .... also, helps with navigation, language translation, future use of cashless payment systems, communicating during natural disaster situations, etc.

NTT has been busily setting-up WIFI all over Japan .... And Yokosuka is one of the latest additions

http://www.ntt-bp.net/jcfw/en.html

Video Game Meets Reality

Apparently Yokosuka is the setting for a really popular video game called "Shenmue"

Here is one blogger's description...

"Dobuita Street welcomes you with the lovely scent of burgers, fries and old grease. Yummy! Despite its now overwhelming number of restaurants, Dobuita Street still has the look and feel of its digital counterpart in the first Shenmue game. It’s packed with little shops, some of which you might remember from your last playthrough of the game. Not all of them are directly located on Dobuita Street, so you need to wander around a bit."

https://shenmuereal.wordpress.com/dobuita/

Here is a video which explored "The Honch" ... aka, Dobu-Ita Street

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9I1pkBg7fQ

Here is another one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm_qozj6J94

Aerial Robot Doing Its Job In Yokosuka

During July 2019, in a first for all of Japan, Yokosuka was chosen as the test site for a drone-borne groceries delivery service .... On-demand supplies are flown from the roof of the Seiyu supermarket and out to Saru-Shima (Monkey Island), the only naturally-formed island in Tokyo Bay, which is located off-shore from Yokosuka port...

     



















"Rakuten and supermarket chain Seiyu announced launch of the first commercial drone delivery service to a remote island designed for general users in Japan.  This latest drone delivery project of Rakuten will take place on Saru-Shima island in Yokusuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, just south of Tokyo, which is a popular destination for barbeques and sightseeing.  The new service will deliver hundreds of products to the island including fresh foods, beverages, daily sundries, and emergency supplies from Seiyu’s "LIVIN" Yokosuka store on the opposite bank."

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/innovation/rnn/2019/0705/

Yokosuka's New Connection With Nepal

For those who have lived in Yokosuka over the past 10 years, one noticeable trend has been the appearance of numerous Indian Curry restaurants .... There are over a dozen of them now, all small businesses, and often built in old Japanese shops which had closed .... Names like Nirvana, Delicious, Sarina, Gorkha Palace, Lotus, Kalika, etc.

And it turns out the people who run these establishments are actually from Nepal.

Japan is aging and its population getting smaller, so it is beginning the experience a serious labor shortage, and the government has revised immigration laws to allow more foreigners to come work and live in Japan.

Not sure how things developed, but looks like some of the Nepali restaurant managers must have reached-out to Yokosuka City government with a proposal to help actualize the National Government's new foreign labor policy.

What subsequently happened is that Yokosuka signed a three-year immigrant labor agreement (memorandum of understanding) with Bharatpur City in south-central Nepal. 

Yokosuka Mayor Kamiji traveled to Nepal (15-19 October 2019) to meet with National Government officials, and then went to to Bharatpur for a signing ceremony with Mayor Dahal.

Don't know the details of the agreement, but its intent is to bring more Nepalis into Yokosuka to work at local small- and medium-sized Japanese businesses which are suffering due to the overall labor shortage.

         

                

No Summer Fireworks In 2020

According to a 05 December 2019 Kanagawa Shimbun newspaper report, Yokosuka's large annual fireworks ( 花火 Hana-Bi ) display, which happens during the early-August  会国際  "Kai-Koku-Sai" festival, will be cancelled in 2020.

The reason being that most of the Yokosuka-area police will be up in Tokyo helping with security for the 2020 Olympics.

Kai-Koku means "Opening of the Country" .... and it refers to the arrival of the U.S. Navy "Black Ships" off of Yokosuka (Uraga Bay) in 1853, which served as the historic first step to "open" Japan to international trade and relations, after over 220 years of isolation.

The Kai-Koku summer festival is Yokosuka's largest, and draws over 200,000 visitors to see thousands of fire works getting launched, as well as parades, concerts, and performances .... Additionally, both U.S. Navy an JMSDF bases and ships are opened for public visitation, which is a big draw for visitors from outside of Yokosuka and all around Japan.

     

       

2020 Tokyo Olympics Training Spot In Yokosuka

For some of the Olympic shooting events athletes, training is available among the greenery & flowers of Yokosuka's  くりはま花の国  "Kurihama Hana No Kuni" .... Kurihama Flower Park .... An area which was formerly property of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the converted into a park (like some other places in the City.)

From the website: 

"Kurihama Flower Park Shooting Range standards are approved by the National Rifle Association of Japan.  This indoor facility is a converted air raid shelter fitted with electronic targets and soundproofing to maintain stable conditions that will allow you to stay completely focused while training.  In addition, a training room, pool, and gym amenities are available within walking distance, to ensure multiple types of training necessary for competitive air rifle shooting (the training room and pool near the park are about 500 meters away from the shooting range, and Minami Gymnasium is about 800 meters away).  Meeting rooms are also available in Kurihama Flower Park Pool and at Minami Gymnasium.  Every year, competitions to decide Japan's air rifle and air pistol ranking are held in Kurihama Flower Park Shooting Range."

https://pregamestraining.tokyo2020.jp/en/module/camp/facilities/8784fe18e8659839c7af7e235544a909

Four Former Imperial Navy Ports

Below is the symbol for the four Japanese port cities which hosted major bases and shipyards for the Japan Imperial Navy (JIN).

They are: Yokosuka, Sasebo, Kure, and Maizuru.

In Sasebo, Kure, and Maizuru, the former JIN shipyards, maintenance facilities and dry-docks were taken over by private companies.

In the case of Yokosuka, however, things remained under U.S. Navy control and managed as a Naval Ship Repair Facility: https://www.srf.navy.mil/

The U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility Japan Regional Maintenance Center (SRF-JRMC)’s proud tradition and "root" were firmly implanted in 1865 under the patronage of the Tokugawa Shogunate when the "Yokosuka Iron Works" was established.  Since that time, the shop and waterfront facilities have been extensively developed and expanded.  During World War II, the shipyard was one of the largest shipbuilding and repair sites of the Imperial Japanese Navy, employing over 40,000 people and building over 100 combatant ships.  Among these were the 62,000 ton carrier Shinano, along with 10 other aircraft carriers, the 33,800 ton battleship Mutsu, and six other battleships, six cruisers and 20 submarines.

The facility was opened by U.S. Forces on Apr. 28, 1947 as the "Ship Repair Department" Fleet Activities, Yokosuka, with an Officer-in-Charge and a staff of 75 U.S. Navy personnel and 576 former Japanese Imperial Navy employees.  At that time the facility occupied about 72 acres, approximately one quarter of the former Imperial Japanese Naval Shipyard.

On Aug. 15,1951, the facility was officially designated the "U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility" by the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, and a Commanding Officer was assigned. 

Today the facility employs both U.S. military and U.S. civilian personnel as well as over 2,000 full-time Japanese Nationals who are assigned throughout the organization, including top management.

Dry-docking facilities can support timely dry-docking of most ships in the U.S. Navy inventory. Facilities include six dry docks with a combined displacement of 530,000 tons, 19 wet berth locations, 10 industrial buildings with combined workshop space of 730,000 square feet, and 15,300 combined feet of pier to support maintenance.

Small And Right In The Middle Of Urbanity

Walking after exiting the very busy Keikyu Yokosuka Chuo train station, and only a few blocks away I came across a small shrine, sandwiched between a busy road and a large parking lot .... a tiny bit of green serenity in the middle of all the concrete .... even with a tree loaded with Japanese みかん "mikan" citrus fruit...

     

Multiple vermilion-colored 鳥居 "torii" gates .... Inari shrines typically have many torii because those who have been successful in business often donate in gratitude a torii to Inari, kami of fertility and industry .... so I walked inside to pay respects...

The wash basin for ritual cleansing before approaching the altar .... marked with the characters 奉納 "Ho-no", meaning to make an offering or dedication...

     

I later talked to a local historian who said that in the old days, there were many large gas and fuel tanks situated in what is now the adjacent parking lot, and the regional headquarters building of Tokyo Gas Company (owner of the tanks) is still located close-by .... The small shrine was likely built to pray for safe operations in handling the gas .... and has remained in place while everything else around it transformed... 

O-Mikoshi Parade

This past October, on Sunday the 20th, Yokosuka City held its 43rd Annual Portable Shrine ( お神輿 "O-Mikoshi" ) parade

Dozens of shrines & neighborhood associations from around the Yokosuka and Miura Peninsula areas participate .... and the O-Mikoshi's are carried down the main street and then into the U.S. Navy and JMSDF base

And, I believe this is the only place in Japan where one of the portable shrines is exclusively carried by Americans -- mainly sailors and civilians from Yokosuka Navy Base

Last Days Of A Political Art Object

There is a large and distinct-looking memorial located on a bluff overlooking Yokosuka's downtown harbor district.

Part of Yokosuka's 中央公園  "Chuo Koen" or Central Park .... really good view from there, overlooking Tokyo Bay .... the site was originally developed & used by Japan Imperial Army's coastal defense heavy artillery regiment

Earlier related post in this blog:

https://deepyokosuka.blogspot.com/2017/09/mysterious-monument.html

Well, a decision has been made by the City to remove the monument in January 2020 as part of a park renewal project .... Lack of maintenance and safety cited as the cause.  But it will be replaced by another "Hope For Peace" monument during 2020.

The soon-to-be removed 20-meters-tall structure is an artistic statement against atomic bombs .... And it was funded as part of Yokosuka City's declaration to be "Peace City For Abolition Of Nuclear Weaapons" in 1989

Made of stainless steel, the monument was erected in 1992, at a cost of about $1.4 million (about a fourth of which came from private donations.)

It was designed by a famous Yokosuka native sculptor, the late-Hiroyuki MOGAMI.   

Also designed by MOGAMI, at Yokohama's Landmark Tower 

     

Tri-Color Battleship

Yokosuka's Mikasa Park .... And the old memorial battleship is being lit-up, Red, White, and Blue, from 06-13 December 2019.

Part of a collaboration with the Yokohama Marinos soccer team.

Yokosuka also is closely tied to the Yokohama DeNA Baystars baseball team.

Homes for Americans

The U.S. Navy (over 20,000 personnel) has been operating from Yokosuka for over 70 years .... American influence can be seen (felt) in the Dobuita (Honch) shopping & entertainment district located downtown, just outside the main gate to the Navy base...

The other, noticeable, evidence of U.S. presence in Yokosuka are the high-rise housing buildings which have been built in the downtown area.

A prototypical example is Liberty Cove House .... a huge apartment building which was erected right next to JR Yokosuka Station....   

http://www.liberty-cove-house.com/

Liberty Cove's Blog also introduces temporary American residents to Japan's culture...  Some examples...

http://www.liberty-cove-house.com/blog/?p=4120

http://www.liberty-cove-house.com/blog/?p=4118

Sukajan ... Yokosuka's Bomber Jacket

One of the America things which has sort of worked its way into Yokosuka's (and Japan's) cultural fabric is the  "Sukajan"  スカジャン

You can read more about it here:

https://www.nippon.com/en/guide-to-japan/gu900245/

Yokosuka Original

Emblazoned with intricately embroidered images of fierce tigers, glowering hawks, smoldering dragons, and myriad other creatures, Japan’s iconic satin bomber jackets are eye-catching items. Known as sukajan, their distinct designs—an amalgam of Japanese and American fashion—have garnered generations of loyal fans and inspired versions by the likes of Louis Vuitton and Gucci.

Sukajan have evolved to become their own fashion genre, but their roots can be traced back to a shopping arcade in the Honchō district of Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was along Dobuita Street, which sits at the doorstep of a major US naval base, that “Yokosuka jumpers”—later shortened to sukajan—first appeared in the early postwar period.

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Basically, in the late-1940's, during the U.S.-led Occupation of Japan, local merchants in Yokosuka used brightly-colored cloth pieces from kimonos to sew-together jackets and shirts .... The jackets came to be called Sukajan, using the "suka" from Yokosuka and "jan", short for jumper (jacket)

Sister Cities

Yokosuka has an active international sister city program with the municipalities shown below...

City of Corpus Christi (/Texas, the United States)
Partner October 18, 1962

City of Brest (/Finistere, France)
Partner November 26, 1970

City of Fremantle (/Western Australia, Australia)
Partner April 25, 1979

City of Medway (/Kent, the U.K.)
Partner August 26, 1998

https://www.city.yokosuka.kanagawa.jp.e.rb.hp.transer.com/2210/g_info/l100050650.html

Shogun mini-series being reborn at FX

https://winteriscoming.net/2018/08/07/game-thrones-director-adapt-shogun-fx/

This is from the link above (can't wait to watch it):

According to Entertainment Weekly, FX is adapting the "Shōgun" mini-series, and they’ve tapped "Game of Thrones" director Tim Van Patten to helm multiple episodes.

Van Patten directed the first and second-ever episodes of Thrones, so he didn’t stick around Westeros long, but he made his time count .... Novelist and screenwriter Ronan Bennett will write the FX’s adaptation .... Here’s the network’s official synopsis:

[Shōgun] charts the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai: John Blackthorne, a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him; Lord Toranaga, a shrewd, powerful daimyo, at odds with his own dangerous, political rivals; and Lady Mariko, a woman with invaluable skills but dishonorable family ties, who must prove her value and allegiance.

Hollywood has come under fire in recent years for its depiction of Asian characters, and a story about about Japanese culture that revolves around a white guy may not be the best way to course correct .... however, the new adaptation will focus on a diversity of viewpoints, rather than zeroing in on Blackthorne’s perspective, as the 1980 adaptation did

The story will be told from multiple points of view .... there’s an opportunity to tell the story of two cultures in a way that wasn’t done before...

The Life of William Adams turned into a novel and TV mini-series

Just a couple stops to the north of the large/central "Yokosuka Chuo" Keihin Kyuko train station are "Hemi" and "Anjin-Zuka" stations .... both are located in the fief which William Adams was granted by the Tokugawa Shogun .... The scenic hills which loom above the stations have hiking trails, and some lead to the park where Adams and his wife are memorialized by large gravestones .... apparently, the locally-famous grave site was sort of lost to outside history/attention until being rediscovered by an Englishman from the foreigners settlement in Yokohama, during the late-19th Century...            

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"Shōgun" is an American television miniseries based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell, who also was the executive producer of the miniseries. It was first broadcast in the United States on NBC over five nights between September 15 and September 19, 1980. To date, it is the only American television production to be filmed on location entirely in Japan, with additional sound stage filming also taking place in Japan at the Toho studio.

The miniseries is loosely based on the adventures of English navigator William Adams, who journeyed to Japan in 1600 and rose to high rank in the service of the shōgun. The miniseries follows fictional Englishman John Blackthorne's transforming experiences and political intrigues in feudal Japan in the early 17th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shōgun_(1980_miniseries)

William Adams --- Miura Anjin --- An Incredible Story

If you want to learn about the amazing real-life saga from the early=1600s, about  "三浦按針 Miura Pilot" or "Blue-eyed Samurai William Adams", here is the first thing you should read (published by Yokosuka City Government):

Link to PDF:  Sans titre (clvaw-cdnwnd.com)

More below...

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William Adams, known in Japan as Miura Anjin ('Pilot'), is thought to be the first Englishman to have set foot in Japan.

Born in Gillingham, Kent in 1564 Adams started work as an apprentice in a shipyard in Limehouse, London at age twelve. After twelve years of study of astronomy, navigation and shipbuilding, Adams joined the Royal Navy under the command of Sir Francis Drake and saw service against the Spanish Armada in 1588.

Aged thirty four, Adams joined a Dutch expedition of five ships to the East Indies as a pilot. After various adventures off the coasts of Africa and South America, only one ship of the original flotilla, the Liefde, with a crew of just twenty, starving men arrived off the coast of Kyushu.

Resisting pressure from Portuguese Jesuits, who wanted the men put to death as pirates, the surviving crew were imprisoned in Osaka Castle on the orders of Ieyasu Tokugawa and the Japanese authorities.

Summoned to meet Ieyasu, Adams impressed the future Shogun with his knowledge of ships and navigation and was released from confinement.

In 1604, Ieyasu ordered Adams to build Japan's first western-style vessel and over time the two men's relationship strengthened as Adams built more ships and lead trading expeditions, the so-called "Red Seal" voyages, on behalf of the Shogun to Thailand and Vietnam in South East Asia.  Eventually Adams was granted the title of "hatamoto" -- a samurai in direct service of the Shogun -- and granted lands and servants in Hemi, near present-day Yokosuka.

Although married in England, Adams took a Japanese wife, possibly called Oyuki, the daughter of a highway official, with whom he had two children - Joseph and Susanna. Adams also had a consort in Nagasaki with whom he had another child born after his death, as during the latter part of his life Adams became estranged from his Japanese wife.

Adams was influential as a translator in the setting up of Dutch and English trading stations in Hirado and Nagasaki, though the English 'factory' at Hirado (1613-1623) proved unprofitable and was abandoned.

Adams was unable to establish a good relationship with the English representative in Japan, John Saris, who disliked Adams for his adoption of a Japanese lifestyle and habits.  Adams advised against Hirado (a small island off Nagasaki) as a permanent trading post and favored Uraga (Yokosuka) much nearer to Edo (present-day Tokyo).  Adams refused to return to England with Saris, due to his dislike of the man.

Adams died in Hirado aged 55 and his tomb and memorial stone look out over the sea. A stone from his wife's grave in the UK was brought over so the two could be united in some way.

Adams was largely forgotten in Japan after his death and is mostly known to Westerners nowadays due to his depiction in James Clavell's best-selling novel Shogun, and then the TV mini-series of the same name.

https://www.japanvisitor.com/japanese-culture/famous-japanese/william-adams

Take a closer look at Yokosuka's scenic Tsuka-yama Park, which is the site of a memorial gravesite for the "Miura Anjin" .... The Amazing Story of Williams Adams.

A sculpture by the famous Sumikawa

Here and there, around Yokosuka are works of art, mostly sculptures .... called オブジェ (Japanization of French: "objet d'art")

One such sculpture is located a few block away from Keihin Kyuko Yokosuka Chuo Station, located on a corner of the intersection leading to Yonegahama (in front of a CoCo Ichiban Curry Rice restaurant) .... It is entitled 譜 ("FU", which means musical note or score) .... and sure enough, it is shaped like a musical note

"Why a musical note?" .... Well, Yokosuka has prided itself on being one of the birthplaces of modern jazz music, as Japanese musicians flocked to Yokosuka after the end of World War II to learn and play jazz & big band music to entertain U.S. sailors and troops in places like the "EM Club" (see the earlier entry in this blog)    

Turns out that this work of art 譜 was created by Kiichi Sumikawa, who is totally famous in Japan .... born in 1931, very prolific, winner of numerous prizes & awards, served as president of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music .... and, he was the design director for Tokyo Skytree...

Link about Skytree:  https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3064.html