December 2017 Life in Japan, Part 1

Excerpt from JARCC Entertainment & Culture Newsletter - December 2017 Life in Japan, Part 1 - By Akemi Tsutsui, JARCC Board Member Docked in Yokohama’s Yamashita Park, there sits a long retired ocean liner named the Hikawa Maru. Once hailed as state-of-the-art in its technical, as well as artistic design, the ship now serves as a floating museum to document her years at sea. The Hikawa Maru was originally debuted in May of 1930 as a passenger and cargo liner whose route connected Yokohama to Vancouver and Seattle. However, as world conflicts unfolded across the seas, the Hikawa Maru would play a much more important role in the lives of those affected by war. As it so happens, the ocean liner also has a place in my own personal history as my grandmother boarded the Hikawa Maru in 1955 at age 24 to immigrate to America. During our recent trip to Tokyo, I introduced Kendall to my grandmother’s relatives. While they no longer live in my grandmother’s home district of Asakusa, they now own a kushiyaki restaurant nearby. We met them at their restaurant, Torishige, to share a dinner of skewered and grilled chicken, tongue, cartilage and gizzards (of which, the last two I had some… difficulty with). While I was familiar with the Hikawa Maru name from my grandmother’s stories, I did not realize the significance of her voyage in relation to international historical narratives until my great-uncle tipped us off to the Hikawa Maru museum. The next day we ventured to the nearby city of Yokohama to take a step back into the past. The Hikawa Maru was one of three ships of the same class, all named after Shinto shrines (the others being the Heian Maru and the Hie Maru). For ten years since its introduction to the seas, the Hikawa Maru served as a passenger and cargo liner, carrying the likes of the Japanese royalty and celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin. It was regarded as the “Queen of the Pacific” by some (a title commonly bestowed upon beloved ships that sailed the Pacific Ocean) who enjoyed the extravagance of the ship’s design and attentive service of the staff. The journey was also shared by those escaping Nazi persecution, as hundreds of Jewish refugees boarded the Hikawa Maru to seek safety in Vancouver between 1940 and 1941. In preparation for Japan’s entry into World War II, in the winter of 1941, the Hikawa Maru was converted into a hospital ship along with many other passenger liners. During the war, she carried over 30,000 wounded soldiers back to Japan. Despite being damaged by mines on three occasions, she is the only large passenger liner to survive World War II. After the war, the Hikawa Maru was used to repatriate Japanese soldiers who were stationed around the Pacific. In 1947, she was refitted as a domestic passenger and cargo liner and in 1953 the Hikawa Maru was restored to its former glory, in function as well as form as Japan’s only transpacific liner on its original Yokohama to Seattle route. In 1960, the Hikawa Maru retired from the seas and was docked at Yokohama Port. During her 30 years of service, the Hikawa Maru made 254 Pacific crossings and carried more than 25,000 passengers during times of peace. The Hikawa Maru docked at Yokohama harbor. The present-day Hikawa Maru is open to the public where the museum exhibits her long and impactful history. The engine room of the ship demonstrates impressive naval technology, while the passenger floors display her fine art deco decor. Visitors can view the cabins, dining saloon and lounges as they would have looked to the passengers travelling between Yokohama and Seattle. With large stone fireplaces, boiserie, stained glass and leather armchairs, I can see how my grandmother would have indulged in the luxury of first-class voyaging. In the museum, I connected my grandmother’s stories of dances and sukiyaki parties to the photos on display. Similarly, the images from my grandmother’s photo collection came to life as I was standing in the same place where they were taken 62 years ago. My grandmother, Miyo Case, at a sukiyaki party aboard the Hikawa Maru. As Japanese Americans our identity is inherently transnational. Although many of us would proudly claim America as our own, it cannot be denied that our very existence in our nation is due to greater historical narratives that pulled and pushed our families to leave Japan. Whether they were dekaseginin intending to work temporarily abroad, or younger sons looking to find their fortune outside of Japan, or brides in a photo arranged marriage, or - in my grandmother’s case - as the love of an American serviceman, the Japanese American immigrant story is not comprised of a single narrative. There is great diversity in our backgrounds and the Japanese American immigrant story is changing even today as many Japanese come to study in American universities. In our side trip to Yokohama I gained great insight into my grandmother’s immigrant experience. While my grandmother rode first-class (an experience many were not fortunate to have), she was unaccompanied by her new husband, was alienated by her family for marrying an American and was leaving her homeland for the first time. It would be thirty-some years until she returned to Tokyo, but by then she had settled for good in Colorado. Being only a few months younger than she was when she left Japan, I would imagine that her time on the Hikawa Maru would have been exciting in many ways, but also terrifying because of what she was leaving behind and the uncertainty of what was to come. In many ways, she was entirely alone. On the Hikawa Maru, I empathized with my grandmother’s journey and felt the value of visiting sites of importance to my past. I found my time aboard the ship to be very intriguing and if others have the opportunity to spend time in places of personal historical significance, I would encourage them to take it as well. .

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