The Subtle Joke Monument in Perry Park

じょうきせんの碑｜横須賀市

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Tucked away in a corner of Yokosuka's Perry Memorial Park is a small monument which seems to exist as an inside joke...  

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"Jokisen" Rakushu Poem Monument

For about two hundred years, the Edo Shogunate had adopted a policy of national isolation that prohibited trade and traffic with foreign countries.  Suddenly, as if to shatter Japan's dream of peace, on July 8, 1853 (June 3, Kaei 6 in the lunar calendar), a fleet of four black ships appeared off the coast of Kamoi, Uraga, urging Japan to open its borders, and six days later the fleet landed at Kurihama.  The fleet was commanded by Commodore Perry.

The samurai of the various domains guarding Edo Bay and the Uraga Magistrate's Office were shocked and shaken by the sight of these large black ships.  How astonishing was the arrival of the black ships urging Japan to open its borders, not only to the Shogunate officials, but also to those who saw and heard about their grandeur? 

This rakushu (humorous poem) succinctly expresses that surprise.  According to the Kurihama Village History, this rakushu is also said to have been written by the Elder Manabe Akikatsu (pen name Matsudo).

Monument Inscription:

   泰平の眠りをさます上喜撰

   たった四盃で夜も寝られず

   Taihei no nemuri wo samasu jokisen

   Tatta yon-hai de yoru mo ne-rarezu   

   Awoken from peaceful slumber due to Jokisen

   Just four cups and can't fall back to sleep

Note: Key to understanding the poem is the clever/humorous use of the word "Jokisen", which, depending on the kanji used, has a double meaning of 上喜撰 (tea) and 蒸気船 (steam ship) .... The "four cups of tea", mean "the four steam-powered U.S. Navy warships" -- e.g., the Black Ships...

Kanagawa’s Two Most Famous Arrivals: Commodore Perry and Godzilla - Sea Leg Adventure

Hello Kitty Yokosuka Jumper (Suka-Jan)

Hello Kitty, My Melody sukajan jackets combine symbols of Japan traditional, old-school, and cute | SoraNews24 -Japan News-

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Japan is a country with a rich history of distinct aesthetics. If we’re talking sights that have been considered representative of the country for centuries, we have to start with Mt. Fuji and cherry blossoms. Meanwhile, in more modern eras, the cute characters of Sanrio have also become a globally recognized shorthand for “JAPAN!”

So what better place for those symbols of Japan to meet than on a canvas that’s itself a style that originated in Japan: the sukajan.

The sukajan gets its name from the town of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, where the look was established following World War II as the fashion senses of American sailors at the city’s naval base blended with those of local Japanese youths. The resulting garment, also sometimes called a “souvenir jacket” in English, features smooth, shimmering fabric with contrasting colors for the chest/back and sleeves, along with embroidery evocative of Japan. Often this comes in the form of flying dragons, leaping carp, or raging wind gods, but Tokyo-based fashion company Nevermind’s muses are instead Sanrio stars Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Kuromi.

It’s not all modern pop, though, as the designs of the all-rayon also incorporate traditional motifs, starting with the Kitty-chan jacket with a storm of sakura petals blowing through the night sky with Mt. Fuji in the background and a crescent moon above, and Kitty herself donning a kimono on the jacket’s back.

Hirasaku Army Cemetery

The Hirasaku Army Cemetery was transferred to our city on April 1, 1951, under the Former Naval Port City Conversion Act. The cemetery enshrines 23 soldiers who died in World War I, as well as the remains of approximately 400 soldiers from the Yokosuka Heavy Artillery Regiment who died in battle or from illness.

Due to the confusion at the end of the war and the sudden demobilization of those involved, records were scattered and the surviving family members of the war dead are not known. After that, the cemetery fell into disrepair with broken grave markers, but in October 1964, with the cooperation of local residents, the scattered remains were collected and reburied, a surrounding fence and approach to the cemetery were constructed, and in 1973, a memorial monument was erected to pray for the repose of the war dead.

* It was originally called "Yokosuka Heavy Artillery Regiment Cemetery" (Yokosuka Army Cemetery).

* It was built in 1890 as a burial ground for the 1st Fortress Artillery Regiment when the regiment was founded.

* After the war, it became overgrown because many people came and went during cherry blossom season and other times. It seems to have been maintained by members of the local neighborhood association and Buddhist church.

* In October 1964, an Olympic memorial pool was built, and the remains scattered in the park area along with those from the cemetery there were reburied in the current cemetery, and a fence was also built around it.

* The local senior citizens' association regularly cleans the temple grounds. We are grateful for this. The city administration center is responsible for caring for the trees.

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oukanokizuna.web.fc2.com/gunjinbochi/sanpai-kanagawa-yokosuka.html

International Events

Yokosuka City government annually organizes and hosts four public ceremonies and festival events which commemorate its international history.  

The first one occurs during April in the historic Uraga port district.  A local festival is held in the shipyard area to commemorate the departure, in 1860, of the naval vessel, "Kanrin Maru" -- which was the first Shogunate ship to sail across the Pacific Ocean, carrying a group of officials to visit & tour the U.S.  A ceremony is held in which representatives from the U.S. and Netherlands embassies attend.   

Also, in April is the "William Adams Cherry Blossom Party", held at "Tsukayama Park" in Yokosuka's Hemi district.  William Adams lived in Japan during the 1600s, and his adventurous experiences are fictionalized in a popular novel and award-winning TV series called: "Shogun".  In real life, Adams was granted a fiefdom over land in the Hemi area.  Representatives from the British and Dutch embassies attend a ceremony amidst the beautiful Sakura trees, which are blossoming at the time.  

Later in the year, during early-July, when things are much warmer, a festival with fireworks is held by the beach in the Kurihama district.  The lively event commemorates the landing, in 1853, on Kurihama beach, by Commodore Perry and members of his U.S. Navy warship squadron -- which, at the time, Japanese called: "the arrival of the Black Ships".  Perry's visit marked the beginning of the "opening" of Japan to international commerce and foreign residents.  Senior U.S. Navy officers and American embassy officials attend a ceremony which is held as part of the festival.  

Finally, in November, a commemorative event is held at Verny Park, located next to Yokosuka Navy base (CFAY), to celebrate France's role in the development of a large naval-industrial complex in Yokosuka.  Beginning in 1865, a team of French engineers and officials, led by Leonce Verny, arrived in Yokosuka to build-up the necessary infrastructure and install management systems, etc., for what would later become Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.  Verny's Japanese counterpart was the Shogunate official, Lord Oguri.  Diplomats from the French embassy and navy attend a ceremony and reception held in the park.  

As you can see, Yokosuka has a unique "international" history, which these various festivals and events showcase every year.

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式典・表彰｜横須賀市

Historic Uraga "Brick" Dock

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/original/perspectives/20250112-232616/

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== Former Shipbuilding Site Conveys History, Heritage of Japan’s Shipbuilding Industry; Uraga Brick Dock in Yokosuka, Rare Dry Dock in Japan

YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa — An open-air performance of the play “The Japanese Ideology Chapter 7” was recently held at Uraga Brick Dock in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The play, which lasted for about an hour, was performed by a group of artists called Olta and is a continuation of the group’s previous “The Japanese Ideology” shows. Japan’s modernization was the theme of the play.

The performers from Olta moved from stairs to puddles at the dock, while the audience walked around them, enjoying the show at a variety of distances and angles.

“It was a performance that effectively made use of the unique location,” said a male company worker in his 40s from Yokosuka.

Uraga is the birthplace of modern shipbuilding in Japan. It is where the Edo shogunate built the first Western-style sailing warship Ho-o Maru, after a U.S. fleet led by Commodore Matthew Perry appeared on the seas off the coast of Uraga in 1853.

The dock was built in 1899, and more than 1,000 ships were constructed and repaired at the dockyard where the dock is located until its closure in 2003. Destroyers for the Imperial Japanese Navy were among the vessels built there before World War II. Among those built there after the war are the Mashu Maru I, a ferry connecting Hakodate and Aomori; the sailing ship Nippon Maru II; and Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers.

The dockyard led the country’s shipbuilding industry from the 1950s through the 1980s, when Japan was said to have been the world’s top shipbuilding nation, and the area was reportedly bustling with workers engaged in shipbuilding.

In 2003, however, the historic dock was closed due to changes in shipbuilding demand and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., which owned the dock, had undergone a business reorganization, among other factors. In 2021, the dock was donated to the city of Yokosuka.

According to the city, there are only two large brick-built dry docks in Japan, and only the one in Uraga can be seen with no seawater at all times. There are said to be very few similar docks in the world.

Ships are built or repaired at dry docks. Water gates close before the water is drained, and the ships are set afloat again when the dock is refilled with seawater.

Uraga Dock is about 180 meters long, 25 meters wide and 10 meters deep. Many bricks are still found on the sides of the dock, and the blocks where ships were placed are lined up on the floor. More than 2 million bricks are said to have been used in its construction.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has designated the dock as a facility of industrial heritage for modernization, as it recounts the history of the shipbuilding industry. Recently, it has been called the Uraga Brick Dock.

The city of Yokosuka hopes to convey the pride and history of the area around the dock and its prosperous shipbuilding history while capitalizing on its potential as a new tourist resource.

The dock is only open to the public during events or for guided tours.

“The Japanese Ideology Chapter 7” was performed as part of the “Sense Island / Land 2024” art festival, which was held from October to December 2024 in various places around Yokosuka, including on the uninhabited island Sarushima.

Koajiro Forest .... Located Southwest of Yokosuka

https://www.city.miura.kanagawa.jp/material/files/group/24/shinyotai.pdf

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Listening to the chirps of many small birds and the sounds of Japanese pygmy woodpeckers pecking at trees, we passed through the Koajiro Forest in Miura City, where we came across three caves on the cliffs facing the shores of Koajiro Bay. 

Today, Koajiro Bay is a quiet crab paradise, but at the end of the Asia-Pacific War, it was used as a base for the "Shinyo" special attack boats in preparation for the American invasion of the mainland. 

Around Koajiro Bay alone, more than a dozen tunnels (underground bunkers) of various sizes were dug, and their existence can still be seen today. The bunkers facing the bay are relatively easy to explore, but the tide can rise up to the entrance, and there are puddles inside, so if you are going to explore, you will need boots, a flashlight, gloves, and a hat.

Holding a flashlight in one hand, I cautiously enter the pitch black cave. There are many things that remind me of the time, such as the remains of a pulley on the ceiling for storing boats, the remains of rails on the floor for transporting boats, and the remains of a door at the entrance to the cave. There are also many centipedes, which will suddenly fall on your head if you are not careful.

Deployed here in Koajiro, the 27th Shinyo Unit was a unit of 184 people, including 25 Shinyo boats and 50 crew members (kamikaze pilots), and repeatedly conducted training in Sagami Bay. On July 29, 1945, with defeat imminent, three Shinyo boats (with six crew members) were sent out on a "special mission" (kamikaze). However, the next day, they were attacked by American aircraft off the coast of Sagami and all of them were killed in action.

In Aburatsubo Bay, located next to the small peninsula where Aburatsubo Marine Park is located, the base of the special attack submarine Kairyu was located.  Currently, many yachts and cruisers are moored there, but at that time, 60 Kairyu were deployed in combat. 

The 56th Shinyo Unit (183 people including 25 Shinyo boats and 53 crew members) was stationed in Ena Bay in Matsuwa, Minamishimoura Town, and the unit headquarters was set up in Fukusenji Temple. The crew members and base staff were apparently lodged in private homes. There are about 10 underground trenches remaining around Ena Bay. 

Why not take a moment to reminisce about the war 60 years ago while looking out at the sparkling Koajiro Bay and Ena Bay? 

Note: "kamikaze" is an attack method used by the Japanese military at the end of the Pacific War. It involves young soldiers personally piloting aircraft to ram enemy ships.