Japan

I was going to write about religious belief, a follow-up to the grandson post, but what is most on my mind right now is my forthcoming trip to Japan.

In 1956, a nice young lad from south Texas joined the US Air Force which, in all its wisdom and after both basic training and technical school, sent me to Johnson Air Force Base, about 25 miles NW of Tokyo. (JAFB is now called Iruma Air Base and is operated by the Japan Air Self-Defence Forces.)

Outside the front gate of JAFB was a "Christian Servicemen's Center", later renamed as Emmaus House. This was a serious attempt by the National Council of Churches to serve all the American military which had only recently given up its job of occupation of Japan and become a key in defending the world from "the spread of Communism." The Korean war was just over and there was serious threat of renewed aggression from the North Koreans. Moreover we were about to embark on the misguided adventure in Vietnam where we committed to promoting a corrupt regime in what was really a civil war.

The program at Emmaus House brought a group of young, American GIs into contact with a large number of Japanese young people. Some of them came to the center to practice their English. A few came because they were attracted by the Christian focus. Emmaus House had programs in Japanese culture, occasional dinners, parties and sponsored trips into the real Japan. Most GIs (That was the generic label.) who came to Japan only saw the base, a few bars just outside, perhaps a brothel or two, and if lucky, a few tourist attractions. Those of us who frequented Emmaus House were taken into Japanese homes, had a chance to see more of the "real" Japan and grow to care about the people, especially those who had become our friends.

A few of us even became very close with some of those we met through Emmause house. Sunao and Mihoko Yokobiki became like brother and sister. Suzue gave unstintingly of her caring. Hiroko, another young woman, taught me about haiku. Another person was a Kendo expert and shared his love of the sword culture. We went to Japanese churches, especially Shiloh church in Yokohama. I found myself spending two weeks in a Zen monastery in a ludicrous effort to discover what this religious understanding had to offer--and much later I hooked up with the Zen Christian community in Tokyo. (I am still learning much more about Zen. I am still just a beginner.)

I fell in love with Japan; a love I have never lost nor abandoned. So much of the culture touched my heart. I had been a child during WWII and the Japanese were the enemy. But that was the dehumanization that war brings. Getting to know real Japanese, I learned that their nation had been taken over by the military and the ultra-conservatives; that many Japanese had been imprisoned for opposing the war; that there were many heroes who welcomed the end and the victory of U.S. because it furthered a democracy that they believed in.

On one of the trips, we visited a new university, Kokusai Kirisutokyo Daigaku, or as it is known in the US, International Christian University. This university, situated west of Tokyo was a collaborative product of Japanese scholars and churches and the churches of the US. It was designed to be a contrast with other Japanese universities, which demanded that students begin immediately a narrow focus on their major area of study. This made for a student who was amazingly proficient in a particular field but who had a very narrow life philosophy or understanding. The new university would insist on competence of the student before graduating, but every student would have to read, write and speak fluent Japanese and English (English being the lingua franca of international exchange.); the student would spend at least one year in a liberal arts curriculum, arts, philosophy, history, civics, before being allowed to begin area studies. Finally every student would be required to write a thesis and defend it.

In 1960, I was re-stationed in the US at Seymor Johnson Air Base in N. Carolina for the last few months of my enlistment. I had joined the USAF with the intention of making it my career, but by this time, I knew that I wanted to get out and go to college. And I knew that the college of my choice was Kokusai Kiristukyo Daigaku.

I was amazed when I received my acceptance letter for I knew that there were many more applicants than openings. (23:1 was the ratio in my first year class.) It was not until much later that I found out that there was a sliding factor. If I could walk and chew gum, I was a shoe-in as a foreign student. The ratios only applied to Japanese applicants. Learning that took a toll on my hubris.

Not to bore you with details, in those four years I had a dual major, a minor in Japanese art, taught English to adults from Panasonic, Asahi Shimbun and other companies, worked for the English Language Exploratory Committee, teaching Japanese high school teachers. I married an amazing woman, fell in love with her mother, and became part of the family. (While we are now divorced, the family continues to treat me as a member. I have three marvelous nieces.) And I made an inordinate number of friends.

So here I am forty-five years later. I've made two quick visits to Japan, but could not spend enough time there.

Over the years, friends have lost track of friends. No matter how close we are, if we get busy and fail to nurture the friendship, it goes into hibernation--or dies. This is especially true with the great geographic distances involved. However, a year ago, I received a phone call. Sunao had gone to great lengths to find me. Sunao is probably the one Japanese in a thousand who doesn't have an internet connection. So he did it the hard way, phone calls to various organizations and people. With great tenacity he eventually found me. I was surprised to hear his voice. After all these years, I did not even recognize it.

The upshot is that next Tuesday, Tamayo (My ex), Don Sears (The "proprietor" of the Emmaus House) and I will climb aboard an airplane and head for Japan to renew old friendships and perhaps make new ones. While there, I intend to visit with many people including one of the nieces and my brother and sister in law, spend a little time in the special Japanese atmosphere of quiet meditation, and visit my alma mater.

Like my Japanese friends whose grasp of English conversation has deteriorated over the years, my once fluent Japanese skills are now such that I have been assiduously studying to regain at least a little.

I am coming home to visit the Japan I learned to love and the friends I learned to lovee. It will have changed. My friends will have changed. But I too have changed.

Some time in the future, I'll let you know how it went.