Haru Reischauer - Part 2

In early 1990, Dr. Edwin and Haru Reischauer finally settled in La Jolla, the home they bought when they were around age 80 for retirement but used as their summer home after the purchase. The house purchase has been the culmination of their efforts to fulfill their ultimate dreams, l) to enjoy the ocean view, 2) to have a Japanese garden, 3) be in close vicinity to Edwin’s daughter. Since suffering a stroke in his 70’s, Edwin was frequently hospitalized. Sadly, he passed away in September, the year they relocated from Belton, Massachusetts. He was buried at sea using a chartered plane, conducted per his will to help and support the U.S./Japan relationship.

I met Haru-san on several occasions, including my first visit to her La Jolla House, to seek her contribution for the Minato Gakuen’s Bridge magazine (see Part 1). It is fairly close to the tall hotel building (now Hotel La Jolla), entering from Torrey Pines Road to La Jolla Shores Drive and turning to Paseo Dorado. The entrance hall is in the back with the living room, kitchen, guest dining and drawing room to the right, and garage, guest bedrooms, main bedroom to the left.  It was well designed to provide views of La Jolla Shores from every room, except from the main bedroom.  There are some level differences.  The spacious drawing room, three steps up from the kitchen, has a 180 degree ocean view including the palm-lined Torrey Pines Road slope curving toward La Jolla Cove on the left. The CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions) in the hilly La Jolla retreat are very strict in regards to ocean view. The house benefits most from being on the lower part of the hill as a single story house with the hacienda style backyard for family get-togethers or a small garden party and the front courtyard is a landscaped lawn.

My son, upon getting married, was a La Jollan living in a condo near Mt. Soledad before moving to New York. He reminisces about the sunsets viewed from La Jolla as magnificent and unforgettable. On July 4th, the Cove attracts onlookers for the fireworks.

In 1986, Haru’s non-fiction book, Samurai and Silk was published by Harvard Press. I had skimmed through it in a Mission Valley Bookstore in San Diego. Recently I read the translation by Wakako Hironaka. Here’s my thoughts after reading it:

1. Ryoichiro Arai (1855-1939)

Haru-san’s maternal grandfather, Ryoichiro Arai, arrived in New York after a two-week Union Pacific train ride in March, 1876, four years after the Meiji Restoration. The Japanese residing in the U.S. then were either Government bureaucrats or scholarship students. Ryoichiro sought his lodging in Brooklyn, $5 per week with breakfast and commuted to Manhattan by ferry. His workplace was 97 Front Street and he walked to save his carriage fee. I was unable to find Front Street around Battery Park or Greenwich. In 1878, his silk business got off to a good start, so he relocated his lodging to East 55th and 9th at $7 per week including breakfast.

I was a New Yorker myself in the 1960’s, arriving in New York City close to 90 years later than Ryoichiro, and my office was also in downtown Manhattan. I also walked around in the civic center area. The difference is that I checked into the uptown Hotel Paris, a long term stay hotel, used by many transitory Japanese, at West End Avenue along the Hudson River. I commuted to downtown by subway. (The subway system in New York opened in 1904.) I don’t remember my monthly hotel rent but I recall the $100 monthly garage fee for a car. Upon the arrival of my family, I rented an apartment in Forest Hills, Queens. Settling in a foreign country requires a challenging spirit and much patience. I noted Ryoichiro was the proposer of the New York Nippon Club. I belonged to the Club for about 10 years while living there and shared the great benefits as one of its members.


2. Masayoshi Matsukata (1834-1924)

Haru-san’s paternal grandfather is Masayoshi Matsukata, one of six Genros, an elderly statesmen who served the Government since the Meiji Restoration. Masayoshi, a 7-time Treasury Minister and two-time Prime Minister, is less familiar than the other five Genro because of the missing career of his younger days. Silk & Samurai had the details of how he stood out during the tumultuous Meiji Restoration and I felt closer to him as a Kyushuan after reading his story.

Masayoshi, serving often as an usher/guard to Lord Shimazu, Satsuma Domain, faced historical incidents, such as the Richardson Case (known as Namamugi Jiken) and Boshin War, and was involved in orderly duties between Kagoshima and his travel assignments. He happened to be in Nagasaki, when Tokugawa magistrates fled there with money. He not only retrieved it, but used it for the sake of Nagasaki citizens and appeased foreigners in distress. Toshimichi Okubo, his Kagoshima clan senior who was in the Meiji Government, was impressed with Matsukata and sent him to Hita (now in Oita), another country under Tokugawa’s direct control where commotions were reported because of the vacuum formed without Tokugawa. His tenure in Hita as a governor is about tow years but he proved his governing skills, ranging from an open door policy, land and tax reforms, to promoting businesses such as wood products, brewery, citrus planting and hot springs, while popularizing Sumo as a local sport. Outstanding was his creation of orphan homes, prohibition of bribes and counterfeit notes in the neighboring countries. He extended his rein in river management to Beppu and initiated Oita Harbor construction. His contribution to the Meiji Government in the treasury field and foreign trade promotion through Paris Exhibitions became legendary. Haru-san saw another last Samurai in Masayoshi.

Both Nagasaki and Hita are in northern Kyushu. Hita, in particular, is very close to Kitakyushu, where I live. However, there’s no direct highway for vehicles because of mountains. If you walk the direct route of 75 kilometers, it takes 16 hours. By vehicle, you have to travel 130 kilometers, which will take one hour and 45 minutes. Last year I took a highway bus via Fukuoka City. My 9 am departure from Hikino bus stop brought me to Hita before lunch time. I didn’t know that Hita, a tiny country, was an independent prefecture when the Meiji era got started.

Showa -- Days of the Enlightened Peace

My old friend Todasan, who lives in Hachioji (Eight Prince City), Tokyo, drove me to his neighboring Musashino Imperial Mausolea, about a few kilometers from the JR Nishihachioji Station. These Mausolea were familiarly known to the old timers as Tama Mausolea where the Emperor Taisho (1879-1926) and the Empress Teimei (1884-1957) were buried. Apparently the name has been changed after adding Mausolea of the Emperor Showa (1901 -1989) and Empress Kojun (1903-2000).

The wooded site was the ancient battlefield where Hojo Clans fought against those of Takeda Clans 400 years ago and Tokugawa Shogunate possessed it for a long time. The local magistrate, named Egawa, promoted planting a special root spreading cypress from nearby Mt. Takao, known today by his surname. After Meiji Restoration, the estate was under the custody of the Imperial Household Agency. When Emperor Taisho died, the Agency constructed the Mausoleum there, modeling it after Momoyama Mausolea in Kyoto.

Four Mausolea sit today in about a little over 100 acres (460,000 square meters). All of them face south , and are shaped round in the upper part and square in the lower part. Before and after reaching the guarded gate, visitors enjoy Zelkova and Egawa cedar lined approaches (plenty of ballasts laid inside the entrance). I found the Tama Forest Science Garden I had visited before for cherry blossoms, bordering the Mausolea. What a shame that I didn't visit the Mausolea when I resided in Tokyo.

My mind flashed back - about 35 years ago, when Showa Emperor and Empress visited the U.S., invited to Washington by President Ford. On their way home, they visited two oceanography research centers, one in Woods Hole, Mass, the other in La Jolla, California. I was residing in San Diego then, and through the Japanese Consulate Office in Los Angeles, about half a dozen local Japanese expatriate volunteers were assigned to escort the Imperial Household staff accompanying His and Her Majesties. I was one of them. I escorted a chamberlain (not the Grand Chamberlain "Irie") and a court lady. Upon their arrival, the party split into two, one to visit the San Diego Zoo, including the Majesties, and the other to set up resting quarters during a day stop at the Sea Lodge(now the La Jolla Shores Hotel) in La Jolla. I was in the latter party.

The Emperor, after the zoo, hurried to Scripps Institute of Oceanography as soon as he arrived at the Sea Lodge without resting. Showa Emperor's enthusiasm for marine biology was a sure manifest of his love of nature and respect for all living things and I had difficulty in distinguishing his war-time authority from his scholastic image. I didn't see him at all, although I was very close to him at the Sea Lodge. Instead I saw Empress Kojun strolling away to the beach to watch scuba divers practice . All the escorts and press followed her and Takeo Fukuda, then Vice Prime Minster, heading the mission, was sitting alone by the swimming pool by himself. I walked up to him and introduced myself and he accepted me for a casual chat for a while until the Empress party returned. The moment remains a very fond memory of mine. Fukuda later became Prime Minister of Japan.

It was at one of the San Diego Japanese expatriates' family picnic day in the late 1980s, that Showa Emperor was reported in critical condition and I remember we refrained ourselves from any alcoholic drinks for the day. We saw his obituary soon afterwards, which confirmed that he was only human as he declared in his 1946 Humanity Declaration.

Summer Memories

- From Seto Inland Sea to Nishinagato Beach Resort -

1. Seto Inland Sea

I was raised by the Seto Inland Sea. In summer, I swam almost every day at Asakawa Beach in west suburban Imabari, the city where I was born. No goggles. No ear plugs. White sands and a placid sea. I was pretty good at fishing multicolorfin rainbowfish (halichoeres poecilopterus), a small sand fish of about 6 inches or l5 centimeters. It is said that the fish sleep in a sand bed. Upon wakening, the fish brush aside the sand and hunt for a breakfast of nereis (worms). If you are fishing for them, there is a faint tug and that's the moment you have to pull on the fishing line or it eats the bait line with its saw-shaped teeth and escapes. This is the fish that can switch from female to male as they grow. Their color changes from red to blue. I learned later that they are polygamous. It is a very tasty fish when baked on a charcoal fire. Another memory is scooping crabs as they are coming ashore to lay eggs and mating under moonlight. Dad, my two younger brothers and I caught 5 bucketfuls of crabs. This was on the sandy beach east of Imabari, an experience similar to the one I encountered during a Grunion run in California described later on.

I never imagined that Shikoku Island would be connected with Chugoku (the part of mainland Japan facing us across the Seto Inland Sea) by a series of bridges, eliminating all the ferries that thrived once in my day. It is called the Shimanami Sea Route that spans 80 kilometers. The shuttle bus runs every hour on the hour between Imabari and Fukuyama, a traffic innovation of the century.

2. Sagamore (Oyster) Bay / Jones Beach, Long Island, NY

We took our children to swim at either Oyster Bay or Jones Beach when we lived in Long Island. We were young, go-getters. Because of my work, I was unable to go fishing with my son, but he was happy to go out fishing with our retired neighbors. They drove to Montaulk Point more than once and brought back lots of porgies. Even my dad didn't bring home that many porgies at one time. Today I saw sadly the following warning on the Long Island Web site:

"Long Island's Beaches Are Unsafe for Swimming. If you live on Long Island, don't bother going to the beach for a swim over the next couple of days. Almost all the beaches are closed, which is what health departments are forced to do after a big rain storm, because our streets are so dirty and our sewers are so riddled with holes that storm-water is too dangerous to swim in."

3. La Jolla Shores / Mission Bay, San Diego, CA

My wife says that the most memorable beach to her was La Jolla Shores. She and our daughter would sit and wait in the evening until the golden red and purple sky succumbed and the setting sun sparked the last blinking lights of green and dipped into the horizon. It is a most peaceful vision.

Unforgettable to me while living in San Diego was the grunion run I encountered, similar to the crab catch in the Seto Inland Sea. I've heard that many people would listen to the radio forecast to find out when the grunion would run and where. They have to be well prepared to run and be on the spot to catch them. There are two species of grunion. First, the California grunion, and the other, the Gulf grunion. Both are sardine-sized fish and are found only off the coast of California and Baja California, Mexico.

Grunions are known for their very unusual mating ritual. At very high tides the females come up onto the sandy beach and dig their tails into the sand to lay their eggs. A group of males then wrap themselves around the female to deposit their sperm. For the next ten days the grunion eggs remain hidden in the sand, and at the next set of high tides, the eggs hatch and the young grunions are washed out to sea.

One night during the '80s, we were entertaining guests from Japan in a North County restaurant facing the ocean. About the time we finished dinner and were ready to leave, we saw a grunion invasion right before our eyes. We were the first that noticed it happening and we all went out barefoot to scoop up the small fish. A flock of sea gulls dove down overhead to feast. It happened so quickly that the fish were gone by the time a group of catchers arrived.

Two things I remember well on the sportsfishing boat off San Diego and Coronado Island. We caught salmon! The proof that the cold current comes down to Southern Cal. Someone brought a brand new Motorola Micro-Tac phone and surprised all the fishermen on board chatting with friends on land. It is nothing new these days, but that's the way it was back then.

4. Hermosa Beach / Portuguese Bend (Rancho Palos Verdes), CA

I met U.S. Air Force Captain Armour stationed in FEMCOM Air Base in Tachikawa, Tokyo and came to know his wife and children. They are a wonderful American family. I had frequent trips to the West Coast while living in New York to meet with the Armours in Los Angeles.

One day, they took me to Hermosa Beach and I rushed into the water. "Ouch!" After a few strokes, something invisible hit me in the water and I suffered acute pain. My lower body got swollen and left a red stripe upon my skin. Then I went totally numb. I was ambushed and stung by a monster jelly fish. Captain Armour mentioned that it may have been be a Portuguese Man-of-War, the name derived from a Portuguese war ship of the 15th century. Urine is commonly used as a first-aid remedy and I jumped into the men's room immediately. Ever since, I have opted for swimming in a pool, abandoning ocean swimming.

There's a place called Portuguese Bend in Palos Verdes, near the famous all-glass Wayfarers Chapel designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright. I somehow associate these two Portuguese words. A Google search revealed that Portuguese Bend means "green stick", by which I interpret (I may be wrong) green stick fishing method, popular among the Japanese fishermen.

5. Morro Rock, San Luis Obispo, CA

Heading north from Santa Barabara, Goleta and the awesome Gaviota Pass, you pass Nipomo and Pismo, known for clam beaches, and then enter San Luis Obispo, acronymed as SLO, where people enjoy a slow life, or sometimes referred to as the good life. The destination of my first trip was not SLO but San Simenon, although I later found out they are both located in the same county. San Simenon is where one of the richest men in the world built his castle. His name was William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper king. My wife and I were then accompanied by my daughter's family.

As we exited 101 and took old Route l, I was immediately charmed with the chain of volcanic "plug dome" peaks, the unique step-stone volcanic formation. They make up such unforgettable picturesque view that I got hooked on them and I knew I'd be returning again and again. Local people call these peaks "7" or "9" peaks, depending on how many of the peaks are included in the count. Whatever the count is, it is a looming sentinel guard isle, known as Morro Rock. In 1542, a Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo, called it "El Morro", as it resembled the turbaned head of the Moor. "El Morro" replaced the Chumash word "lisamu" meaning a shrine on the coast. I can only visualize how Morro Rock looked originally, because photographs of the isle were only available after the 1890s. The isle became the main source of quarry for sea transportation. What we see today should be 581 ft or 177 meters in height, but is now a wrecked isle after centuries of quarrying to provide materials to construct breakwaters. The practice was finally called off when the U.S. Congress listed it as a State Landmark. However, the isle still stands firm in magnificent shape and color, attracting visitors, such as myself, a foreigner from Japan. Today, the area is a sanctuary and the serene bay view - with sand dunes, rows of anchoring yachts and boats - is unbeatable when compared to other marinas.

6. Nishinagato Resort Beach

Upon our return to Japan from the U.S., we sold our house in Tokyo and relocated to Kitakyushu. Kiyoko, my wife's sister, took us to the Kanmon Strait lookout where we enjoyed watching large boats cruising the narrow strait of one kilometer under the Kanmon Bridge. Moji Port nearby reminds us at night, of San Diego Harbor, as we see Shimonoseki well-lit across the strait. In San Diego, you'd see naval vessels instead, sometimes even an aircraft carrier such as the Kitty Hawk.

Kiyoko also gave us rides to nice beaches here and there in Kyushu, but whenever we had the chance, we returned to Nishinagato Resort Beach. It takes 2-1/2 hours to get to crossing the Kanmon Strait and driving up on the Japan Sea side of the very southern end of mainland Japan. This is our 10th year anniversary living in Kyushu and we have made more than a dozen visits, including our Golden Wedding Anniversary last year. We have taken our son from New York as well as our granddaughter from Santa Barbara and they both just loved that beach. There is a small island called Tsuno-(horn) Shima in front which protects the Nishinagato Beach from the outer Genkai Ocean, from the sometimes fierce winds and waves from Siberia. A bridge was built seven years ago and crossing it feels like driving over the Chesapeake Bay. The color of the ocean is emerald green and gorgeous. I can only compare it to Nago Beach of Okinawa or the Phuket Island beaches facing Andaman Sea. You see nothing but the wide-angled open sea from the Resort Hotel and the hot springs of the hotel.

These are the Summer Memories I treasure.