Tokugawa's Logistic Legacy Reborn in Mizushima Bay Complex

During the Edo Period, Kurashiki prospered as an area directly controlled by the Tokugawa Shogunate as a logistic center, using Takahashi River and the Seto Inland Sea transportation. Distinctive white-walled, black-tiled warehouses were built to store rice bales and other goods. Upon the Meiji Restoration, factories were built, including the Ohara Spinning Mill, which still stands as the nostalgic tourist attraction spot in Ivy Square. Known today as Kurabo, or Kuraray, the conglomerates diversified their operations worldwide.

I recently visited Kurashiki for a reunion with two old friends of mine who grew up in Kurashiki. Let me call one friend Kawa-San (resides in Kurashiki), and the other Tani-san (from Kyoto). They were classmates at both Kurashiki junior and senior high schools. I came to know the two separately through two different employers I worked for. Very rarely did I become well acquainted with anyone that I knew when I lived in Japan. I met Kawa-san in New York and Tani-san in San Diego. My name probably came up during their conversation and developed into a triangular friendship. Late last year, Kawa-san proposed a reunion. Tani-san and I seconded but it took time to set the date. It was this summer when all three of us finally agreed to meet on a weekend in September.

The reunion took place at a hotel lobby. After lengthy chatting and a luncheon, we strolled along the Kurashiki art arcade and visited Ohara Art Museum, the nations’ first authentic art museum built by Magosaburo Ohara (1880-1943), an entrepreneur and philanthropist. We spent the rest of the day there. I have visited Okayama (about 15 minute away by train from Kurashiki) often for Toastmasters events but It was my first time visiting Kurashiki and Ohara Museum and I was excited.

On day 2, Kawa-san drove us to Mizushima Bay Industrial Complex, formed by the intricate deltas at the mouth of Takahashi River, inclusive of the reclaimed as well as refilled lands connected by bridges, upon the merger of three cities, Kurashiki, Kojima and Tamashima in 1967. The designated area, I learned, is over 2,500 hectares, including a number of small mountains, occupying about 7% of the total area of new Kurashiki City. It is huge, equivalent to 400 Tokyo Domes inside. Kurashiki Minato Bridge, built in 2017, and State Highway 430, connects Kurashiki and Tamashima near the complex.

The complex is divided into five areas (see the complex chart above), named clockwise from A to E, where Mitsubishi Auto, which settled there before the war, is designated as A. B is centered around the East Mizushima Station, now turned into an exclusively container freight train station, with its nearby port facility. Area C or Kojima Shionasu area, is occupied by Sanoyasu (shipbuilder) at the tip. D is on the delta land reclamation area with a golf course on the south end. E is southern Tamashima District, that includes the land reclamation connected with the Harbor Bridge. The man-made island at E is the hope of the entire complex as the container terminal, where ships like tankers and bulk carriers can anchor alongside the wharf. There are 30 or more companies located at each of the five zones, nearly 200 companies in total that includes chemical, gas and oil, power, steel, autos and others coexisting together in the complex. There are companies straddling multiple zones - Mitsubishi Chemical over B and C, JXTG Energy A and C, and Mitsubishi Auto A, C and E. The production output is reported to be half of that of Okayama prefecture.

Kawa-san, supervises 100 people daily serving engineering and maintenance works for industries in the complex since his father’s days. He must be awfully busy.

To conclude day 2, all three of us sat together at noon at the Washuzan lookout point in Kojima to enjoy a panoramic view of the Seto Inland Sea and the entire span of the Seto Ohashi Bridge and pledged another reunion in the near future.

Keiro Day for the Kitakyushu Einomaru District

September brings another “Keiro Day” for the old folks. It was more than 10 years ago that I began receiving invitations from our neighborhood association to attend the luncheon, which includes heart-warming and entertaining events. My wife started to attend shortly after.

I unfortunately missed some events in my early 70s, due to some selfish conflicts of overseas traveling. But I no longer have such worries, and look forward to this annual meeting with our Einomaru neighbors. We are fortunate to have a nearby hotel ballroom that easily accommodates a couple of hundred guests, and a free shuttle bus to transport us.

I will definitely recall the Sunday, 15th of September, the first year of Reiwa, under the new Emperor Naruhito which started April l, 2019. The banquet opened with the proclamation by the President of the Association. The mayor’s message was read, and the board members and crew of volunteer hostesses were introduced with big applause. The toast then proceeded to a luncheon. Served inside the wooden lunch box were delicacies of all lands and seas, and a separate bowl of thick custard soup. Delicious!

I had high expectations of listening again to the wind instrument band of the nearby “Hokuchiku Sr. High”. Yes, I had my wish come true and I nudged my wife’s elbow. Years ago, our daughter played clarinet in the SDSU Aztecs Band, a marching band with over three hundred members. As a matter of fact, she majored in music at San Diego State University in the US with a degree in music composition. I enjoyed many Aztec performances whenever they played at the SDSU football games. Occasionally, they played at special performances like when the San Diego Padres returned from the World Series (unfortunately Detroit Tigers won) and when President Ronald Reagan was running for reelection.

Hokuchiku Band is made up of only 50 members but filled up the small ballroom show stage. The music they played included:

• “(Hikawa) Kiyoshi’s Zundoko Section - one of the Japanese Enka (ballad) masterpieces.
• “Flowers Bloom” - lyrics by Shunji Iwai, composed by Yoko Kanno, a hit song to support the Great East Japan Earthquake Recovery.
• Okinawa Song “Nada Soso” (Endless Flow of Tears)
• Hibari Misora’s Great Song “Like the Flow of the Rivers”

The band played with young energy and passion. We sent them a storm of applause. Hokuchiku has recently won repeated Gold Medals at the annual Kyushu Senior High School Band Competitions. We are blessed with their high spirits and for their local community charitable contributions.

A New Human Species

My iPhone evening news bulletin alerted me. A 20-year old rookie Hinako Shibuno from Okayama, Japan won the LPGA British Open by a razor thin margin of one stroke. I was following her progress and knew she was leading the tournament on the third day.

I had to burn the midnight oil to see how she won on the final day. I saw Hinako lose the leading heat in the first 9 holes, but she still hovered in the spoiler position. In the home stretch of her last three holes, 16th through 18th, I watched 3 women Lizette Sails, Jin Young Ko and Hinako competing in a three-way tie, with no one ceding the lead. It was a nail-biting series! Lizette almost broke the tie and won except that she missed the birdy shot on the short 17th. Tension made Ko shy off on the 17th. Hinako knew she could beat Lizette if she made the 5 meter long putt on the 18th green. Even a great pro golfer might need 2 putts to finish unless a miracle happens. Then she proceeded to break the tie with Lizette who was already on the putting practice green in anticipation of the tie-breaker. A flash hit Hinako’s mind “enjoy & rejoice!” Her positive determination made the winning ball roll, crawl, lick the edge of the cup wall, and fall in with a thump as if it hammered in. Hinako made it look so matter-of-fact easy. The victory photo showed her left hand raising her Ping putter straight and high with a princess smile, ready to take her trip to Disneyland. Did Hinako's pose reflect what she pictured in her flashing mind just before her putt? You bet it did!

“A stunning victory,” said Ayako Okamoto, a veteran Hall of Fame golfer who won 17 US-based LPGA, including two Inamori Classics in which I was involved. However, Ayako missed the major tourneys such as US Open and British Open. It was Hisako or Chaco Higuchi who won the US Open in 1977, making her the first Asian champ. Okamoto heralded the arrival of new champ, Hinako Shibuno, as a “New Human Species!”

San Diego TV Program Features Clara Breed

Hurray to the recent San Diego KGTV special program that featured Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! One of the highlights of the program was about Clara Breed, a San Diego Librarian (1906-1994). Let me applaud Rina Nakano who produced the program, having learned about hundreds of letters (she exquisitely called “letters of hope”) exchanged between the children of Japanese descent in the World War II internment camps and Clara Breed, then serving as the children’s librarian in San Diego. I hope Rina had a chance to visit the Japanese-American National Museum (JANM) in Los Angeles to see the original handwritten letters by the children. I went there myself in 1995, after Breed’s funeral. I had worked together with Clara Breed on the Planning Stage Committee of the Japanese Friendship Garden to be established inside Balboa Park. The committee was presided by Wil Hippen, Jr., Honorary Consul General of Japan. I represented my Japanese employer, and Clara was the voluntary substitute secretary of the committee. This was arranged by Liz Yamada, who sat on the committee along with Joe Yamada, her husband. I didn’t really know who Clara was at the time. I did notice that the minutes she wrote were superb and I voiced my appreciation.

I contacted Liz Yamada after reading Clara’s obituary, having learned about how a box full of children’s letters addressed to her have been donated to JANM. I immediately visited JANM and found the letters in the process of being scanned. I was able to copy some of them in the hope of writing about Clara Breed. I also contacted the Japanese-American Historical Society of San Diego (JAHSSD). Joyce League, then editor of JAHSSD “Footprint”, told me about a New York writer named Joanne Oppenheim who had started interviewing their members for a book. She advised me to wait for her book to be published.

To make a long story short, I read Joanne’s book, titled Dear Miss Breed, when it first came out and felt it my mission to translate it into Japanese. I wanted as many young Japanese children as possible to know that there was an American woman who gave “letters of immense help” and hope to the children who found themselves under adverse circumstances.

My translation had a print run of 6,000 copies in 2007 and I’m glad they reached all major metropolitan city libraries as well as libraries of major educational institutions in Japan.

Play named "Kesho"

"Stand if you can crawl
Walk if you can stand"
Even thus harshly reared/trained at tender age
His love grew to glimpse 'Mom', after life-separation

Komatsuza, a theatrical troupe specializing in works by playwright Hisashi Inoue, is putting on a series of his plays this year in a project called 'Memorial 10', celebrating his life works. Among them I found Inoue's signature play "Kesho" or "Make-up", a one woman show, once successfully acted by Misako Watanabe. Originally it started as a single act of 45 minutes. Then a second act of equal length was added by the witty playwright, inducing Misako to confess, "can I endure a 90-minute ordeal?"

I represented my employer in helping Misako Watanabe find theaters for her performances in Southern California in 1987. The request came a few months before her arrival, but I found it a terribly difficult task to find an open local theater where shows are usually booked a year or more in advance. On my first try, I could not find any San Diego theater available. I used friendly cultural connections to see if rigid rules could be bent. I had to meet theatrical managers or representatives in person. The language barrier was an issue as well. Throughout the play, Misako speaks close to 30,000 words in crude Japanese dialect quite rapidly. Even with English caption being shown, it was a challenge. Misako wanted to see the theater beforehand.

She was traveling with Chijinkai Troupe headed by Producer Koichi Kimura. At last, I was able to secure two theaters. One was the then Gas Lamp Theater, now reborn as the modern Lyceum at Horton Plaza. The Gas Lamp was an old, small theater with 100 seats. The other was the Carlsbad City Community Theater that had a few hundred seats. I believe she performed two nights in Carlsbad.

I read she fondly reminisced at her retirement of her cumulative 648 life performances, including those in France, Canada and US. While in Carlsbad, I took her to San Juan Capistrano for my favorite apple pie and coffee shop I used to frequent during my LAX-SD commute. I was glad she seemed so refreshed herself and enjoyed our casual drive together.

The play by Komatsuza is named Kesho and has two acts. However, there is a BIG change. Act One is performed by a female proprietor and Act 2 by a male proprietor. Good news was that Kesho was playing this weekend in Koga City, Fukuoka, just an hour away from Kitakyushu. The bad news was the tickets were all sold out.

P.S. - I recently found a book on my bookshelf – Misako Watanabe's book, "My Solo Trip, One Woman's Show". She autographed it for me as a memento of her San Diego stay. I saw that her book won the best essay prize in 1987 presented by the Japan Essayist Club.

Father's Day Weekend

My old Toastmaster friend Mr. Y called me earlier this month to remind me to attend his speech night on Father's Day weekend. He sounded elated. You'll be treated with the palm dates from my Chad friend, along with my palm date speech, he said.

He had a number of North African friends in connection with his IGES activities. I spiffed myself up with a hair-cut, put on my Father's Day gift – a persimmon colored flower-print shirt which came from my daughter in the U.S. Because I had a couple of errands to run that took a while, I was a bit late in arriving. I found the meeting room full. Usually the attendees number less than 20 with all our members attending. I saw close to 30 people there. Wow! The newspaper membership advertisement worked!

It was a night we call "Speech-a-(Mara)thon." I looked around. Mr. Y was not in. Panicked, I found his speech evaluator sitting close by. I sent her a message asking "Mr. Y"? The answer came back "he is absent tonight because of his sudden illness."

Then I noticed paper plates with palm dates on the table. Oh, my! Those are the dates he had talked about when he called me. I could not resist to beg for my 3-minute talk about the dates at the end of the Speak-marathon to thank him for the palm treats.

This was my speech:

"In place of Mr. Y, the would-be speaker #8 tonight, this is what I know about dates on the paper plates. Dates are called 'Arbor Vitae', fruits of life per the Quran, Prophet Muhammad. The palm grows in Arab countries, in the dry countries and desert under severe weather. The palm date, has served humans for a thousand years or more, and contains not only ample nutrition but minerals necessary for humans, such as iron, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus – a lot more than those found in vegetables. They should be indispensable to a woman's beauty. I know that the dates in the front were from his Chad friend for Father's Day. Let's pray for his early recovery and enjoy and thank him and his Chad friend for the delicious and nutritious treats.

And, for all the father's here tonight - , Happy Father's Day!”

Takasegawa (Kyoto) Revisited

The May reunion of the Old Boys Japanese expats group who I befriended in San Diego CA took place in the heart of downtown Kyoto, Kiya-cho aka Pontocho. A bit early going outdoors, the Ganko-Zushi Nijoen banquet is set in the open-air deck facing Kamo River. The venue was once owned by Ryoi Suminokura (1554-1614, surname meaning "Corner Warehouse"), one of the Kyoto’s wealthy merchants, whom I introduced in my blog about 10 years ago along with the Takasegawa Canal he built and flat Takasebune boats. These boats are long gone, but reportedly hundreds of boats sailed up and down the ten kilometesr canal in the heyday between Fushimi and Kyoto. Ryoi built his Kyoto home at this diversion point of the Takase River from Kamo River.

The name Suminokura fascinated me as a forerunner of Kyoto business enterprises. The family earned their fortune from the so-called Nanban trade by the Shogunate authorized vessels. Suminokuras left registration at the Shogunate office, with a dozen applications as well as authorizations for their voyages from Nagasaki to Vinh, Vietnam. There was one shipwreck disaster incident and records showed Ryoi visited Nagasaki to comfort survivors of the shipwrecked boat. Takasegawa project seemed to be one of his smaller enterprises. Easing rapid Hotsu River to a transportable river for Tanba and Kyoto was another. With the help of his son named Soan, rivers in Kanto area, such as Oi, Tenryu were also candidates to tame, but he passed away before it was feasible. Ryoan's name is remembered as well in connection with Lake Biwa Channelling or Kyoto Channelling.

Upon our arrival at the Ganko-Zushi, we were lead to the venue deck through the magnificent Nijoen Japanese garden (see the map), as we admired a monolith waterfall, a small tea room garden made by a legendary tea master Enshu Kobori (1579-1647), huge stone lanterns (the biggest in Japan) in an Arbor style with a 250-year-old red plum tree. The site had more gardens, but was moved to the nearby Nijo Castle by Kyoto City.

We had nice sunny weather in Kyoto at the reunion, and all enjoyed the Ganko-Zushi outdoor banquet. Our coterie Grandfather Mr. Arthur Jonishi was there, received hearty greetings from all. We missed Mr. Iue greatly this year. Mrs. Kuwahara, the first Minato Gakuen principal was represented by her daughter Kasumi and her husband Norikazu. I reported Minato Gakuen celebrated 40th year anniversary in San Diego. At the end of 2018 there were 524 students enrolled at Minato Gakuen, including 38 in kindergarten, 18 in senior high, and the remainder were elementary and junior high students.

This Ganko-Zushi Nijoen Restaurant is facing Shimadzu Foundation Memorial Hall, built in 1975 to celebrate its 100th year anniversary at its original birthplace. Taking this great opportunity, I visited the Museum, arriving an hour earlier before the reunion. I had a very instructive tour. Dr. Koichi Tanaka of Shimadzu won the Nobel Prize in 2002. I read his biography in English, which seemed to impress those present. Here is Nobel Laureate Dr.Tanaka's autobiography site.

I wish to thank both Coterie Kanji Nishimura and Kawamura who chose Ganko-Zushi.