In the previous two updates, I covered our work and experiences of March 19 in Japan. Early that morning, we went to the beach in Miyazaki and laid a wreath in the sea in remembrance of the men of the USS Franklin who were killed 79 years prior. Afterward, we traveled to Kanoya to film at the Air Base Museum. This newsletter will cover the time frame from departing the museum parking lot (after having eaten castella cake) to the two subsequent interviews we conducted, which wrapped up our filming in Japan.
We left Kanoya City and drove to the southern edge of Sakurajima on Kinko Bay, to the Sakurajima Seaside Hotel. I think this was my favorite hotel of the entire trip, because it was a traditional ryokan. That is, a traditional Japanese inn that features tatami-matted floors in the rooms, along with nemaki (robes) and a simple futon as a bed which was folded up with its bedding in the corner of the room. Like many ryokan, this inn had hot baths in the lower level, both indoor and outdoor, heated by the geothermal activity of Sakurajima.
(I’m going to spend a little time talking about this hotel, so please scroll past if you’d rather skip to the part about the interviews in Tokyo.)
Quoting the hotel website:
With Sakurajima towering nearby, we have safely lived with the ash-fall and sounds of eruptions for many years. Although it is noisy, it can also be said to be a place where you can have a very valuable geological experience. Why not take a special trip to feel the power of nature in an environment where you can safely enjoy an active volcano, which is rare in Japan?
Sakurajima is an active volcano surrounded by the seawater of Kagoshima Bay (Kinko Bay). In 1908, Arimuransen in Arimura Town, Sakurajima, a historic hot spring, won first place in a newspaper survey of summer resorts. Based on the surrounding geology and history, as well as the hot spring ingredients in our hotel, it is believed that the source of the hot spring is a reservoir of rain and seawater formed underground in the southeastern part of Sakurajima during repeated volcanic activity. It is thought that new water enters and circulates in the area where seawater and rain have matured over several decades.
Click Here to See the Website of the Sakurajima Seaside Hotel
We arrived in time to relax a little bit in our rooms and catch the recap of the big sumo tournament that had been going on in Tokyo that week.
Then we enjoyed an amazing dinner. We were served many different dishes that I have never eaten before, including shark and chicken sashimi. (Yes, raw chicken.) Please note in the photo below in the dish on the right (the one with the two prawns) was a group of beautifully arranged, delicate silver slivers of fish (sashimi). I am a lover of sushi and sashimi and the flavor of this little fish was incredible.
After dinner, we visited with the hotel proprietor in a comfortable area of the large, open lobby (another feature of ryokan). Zach was particularly taken with the sound system and collection of albums. The proprietor of the hotel seemed very happy to show off his system, a combination of retro components controlled with an iPad, and he played jazz music while we relaxed and reviewed the long day.
The next morning, March 20, broke as a sunnier day, but still chilly with a strong breeze. I took a little time to explore the ryokan. The hotel seemed to be frozen in time and almost looked as it might have in the mid-1960s when it was built. I didn’t get up early enough before our departure to use the hot baths, but I went to see them and thought that perhaps I could come back some day and spend more time here.
Regarding the baths, the hotel website states that the natural spring is composed of hypotonic sodium chloride water rich in magnesium and bicarbonate ions, geothermally heated to 108°F.
We checked out, thanked the proprietor for his hospitality, and drove around to the west side of Sakurajima to take the ferry across the bay to Kagoshima City. We dropped the van back at the rental office and went to the airport to fly back to Tokyo. Takayuki dropped us at our hotel in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo and then went home. Shibuya is a vibrant, bustling, crowded, hip area of Tokyo which reminded me of Manhattan, mostly like Times Square.
The morning of March 21 we had a jolting experience. We were each in our rooms on the 10th floor of the hotel waiting for Takayuki to come and pick us up when our cell phones started blaring. I grabbed my phone and saw a warning for an earthquake!
That’s when I realized, I really don’t know what I’m supposed to do when I’m on the 10th floor of a hotel during an earthquake. About 15 seconds later, the building started gently swaying. I figured at that point it was too late to run downstairs to the lobby, so I went into the small bathroom, which was next to the entry to the room, away from the windows. A man’s voice was repeatedly making an announcement over the loudspeaker that was located in the ceiling of the room (which I hadn’t noticed until that moment), but he was speaking in Japanese so I couldn’t understand him. I don’t recall how long the earthquake lasted, but it wasn’t long, fortunately. I made a mental note that if I ever came back to Japan, I would learn beforehand what to do during an earthquake.
After all the excitement, Takayuki picked us up and drove us to another part of Tokyo, to a traditional Japanese house hidden in a quiet neighborhood. The house was rented out as a studio by the owners, an older married couple who lived in the newer adjacent house. The man had grown up in the studio house and he told us that his parents often talked to him about the war and how horrible it was. They taught him that war should be avoided. He said they would be happy that their home was going to be a part of this documentary.
The owner said that the house was 110 years old and we needed to be careful with it. He had us bring in the equipment through the side door where he put a tarp on the floor rather than through the front door to avoid the old wooden platform of the step-up foyer. He had many sizes of slippers to wear because, like the rooms of the ryokan and also Mr. Nishiguchi’s house, the floor of the large central room of this house was covered with tatami mats. We were to leave our street shoes by the door (which we did in all homes we entered while in Japan, and in hotel rooms as well) and the slippers were there if we wanted to use them. He asked us to open and close the translucent sliding panels by holding the edge of the wooden frame and not the delicate lattice because there was no one available who knew how to fix them if they became broken. He gave Tim and Zach cut tennis balls to slip onto the feet of the light and boom stands.
The couple told us to feel free to use the entire house and garden, including the kitchen. It was a beautiful space and we wanted to leave it as we found it, so we were careful.
While Tim and Zach were setting up, we were joined by Natsuko who had traveled there from her home in a town outside of Tokyo. She has been a freelance researcher on the project, conducting research at the National Defense Archives and National Diet Library of Japan. Together, Natsuko and I and another researcher in the U.S. have been endeavoring to determine which squadron, plane and crew bombed the Franklin in 1945. In addition to researching documents, Natsuko also spoke to historians about the different bases, squadrons and types of planes used by the Special Attack Units on Kyushu. She has provided valuable information to the project. We interviewed her about her research and her findings. She gave a riveting and passionate interview.
After Natsuko’s interview, we took a lunch break. Natsuko and her husband have a restaurant – her husband is a cook. She brought us rice balls with plum in the center that she had made, and fresh, sweet apples. It was a great lunch, thanks to her and her thoughtfulness.
Next, we interviewed Takayuki. He set up the interviews with Mr. Ueda and Mr. Nishiguchi and the filming at the monument next to the Kokubu base and at the Kanoya museum. He coordinated pretty much our entire trip in Japan, such as reserving the filming equipment, booking hotels, and lining up the rental vans. He also did all the driving.
But that’s not why I interviewed him. He is also an expert for the film. He is a researcher and filmmaker with NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai), Japan’s public broadcasting corporation. He has completed five films for NHK about members of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps from WWII and their families. And like Natsuko, he has provided important research and input for this project. His interview was very informative, insightful and thoughtful.
With the completion of Natsuko’s and Takayuki’s interviews, our film production for the documentary in Japan was complete. We packed up our equipment and said our thanks and goodbyes to the owners of the studio house and to Natsuko. Then we went to the rental house and dropped off the rented filming equipment. Takayuki dropped us off at our hotel and went home to his family.
The next morning, Takayuki met us at the hotel and walked us to the bus stop for the bus that would take us to Narita Airport for our flight back to the U.S. Our film trip in Japan was a huge success because of him. He coordinated everything perfectly, managed the hotels, the rentals, the Bullet Train, the flight and now the bus ride, not to mention making contacts with the families, the officer at the base and the people at the museum. Then there is his research and knowledge that he provided to the film. I am grateful to him for the excellent experience we had in Japan, for his generosity and hard work, and for his contributions to the film.
And then, on the 12-hour flight from Tokyo Narita to Chicago O’Hare, I was seated next to a very well-behaved Belgian Malinois military police dog with a giant head. My whole left side was covered with dog hair by the time we landed. 😂
