tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76530522011-04-22T05:38:47.038+09:00Japan Brat stories, photos, rumors, lies and nostalgic whimsy down memory dori. Some may bring eyes to your tears, while others a smile of recognition, maybe a laugh or two and fond memories.Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1124663730488957902005-08-22T06:49:00.000+09:002005-08-23T07:08:10.460+09:00

The Hyatt residence at Yamashita Park in 1947.By JIM HYATTI lived as a dependent in "quarters" (#522 to be exact) in what is known as Yamashita Park in Yokohama from 1947-48. The park consisted of 37 single-family, single-story dwellings located on the waterfront (Yokohama Harbor in Tokyo Bay) just south of South Pier, adjacent to "A" Ave and directly across the street from the Grand Hotel,

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1124082357083195292005-08-15T13:54:00.000+09:002005-08-15T14:48:33.346+09:00

Here's a short essay about an unintentional whitewater trip down the Nagatoro-gawa (River) or how a couple of hapless Grant Heights brats got soaked. It was written by Narimasu alumni Bob Carels (Class of '57) and originally published in the school's alumni newsletter. He passed it on to us... perhaps as a cautionary tale.By BOB CARELSA group of us from Grant Heights journeyed to the Nagatoro

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1123876205580810642005-08-13T04:25:00.000+09:002005-08-13T05:04:27.486+09:00

By TOM BARRYForget it, kid. Lassie may have had an uncanny sense of direction and keen eyesight and all but even with flippers and a snorkel this would've been a tall order for any pedigree. This time, your master is really lost -- some 1,900 miles across the Pacific in a strange, foreign land where Kibbles & Bits is a box of dried squid and octopus.In 1957, RKO released Escapade in Japan, a

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1123872797746496362005-08-13T03:35:00.000+09:002005-08-13T05:08:23.450+09:00

By TOM BARRYSheesh! Some of the oddball things we brats tend to recall. For some of you they run the gamut from eating surume-ika (squid), bathing in a unisex ofuro (bath) or onsen (communal bath) for the first time... with other hotel guests no less! Or remembering how quaint it was to see people wearing getas (wooden sandals).One of my earliest recollections of uniquely Japanese icons or

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1123869291980550632005-08-13T02:08:00.000+09:002005-08-13T05:10:24.030+09:00

Politics aside, former vice presidential candidate John Edwards has good taste. He married a high school cheerleader. Can you blame him? After all, not only was she a stunner she Rah-Rahed with the best of them at Zama American High! But all of the alums want to know.By TOM BARRYZama American High School produced many outstanding alumni who went on to successful careers and pursuits, but perhaps

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1113207211469608282005-04-11T17:13:00.000+09:002005-08-10T07:52:49.286+09:00

Tipin and Mark LitkeBy TOM BARRYSpending a part of his childhood as an Air Force brat in the Far East wasn't enough for Mark Litke. He returned in 1978 as a freelance producer for ABC News and has, for much of his career as a newsman, remained.Litke is an Emmy Award-winning network TV correspondent of more than two decades, much of it reporting from and about Asia for ABC News. On any given night

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1112780973632762362005-04-06T18:16:00.000+09:002005-04-11T13:56:32.556+09:00

Hardy Barracks and the Akasaka Press Center serve as a backdrop for Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo's largest public cemetery. The cemetery-park serves as a tranquil buffer from the Roppongi district's dense urban environment in which one of the oldest U.S. military installations in Japan is located. By TOM BARRY The Stripes. For most American military personnel and dependents overseas the word needs

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1111140522170747292005-03-18T19:08:00.000+09:002005-10-16T08:41:25.396+09:00

Arthur MacArthur IV, age 4By TOM BARRYPROLOGUE Since the beginning of the occupation in 1945, there have been scores of military brats from Japan who have risen to heights of fame or somehow distinguished themselves as "famous brats."They include Yo-Hi standout alumni Mark Hammill of Star Wars fame; the late singer-songwriter John Denver, whose real name was John Deutschendorf, Jr. from Johnson

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1110947660967007862005-03-16T13:34:00.000+09:002005-03-16T14:20:51.343+09:00

Japanese poster for "You Only Live Twice" (1967)By TOM BARRYHere's something I dredged up from my Japan journals to take up some space in my web log. This entry goes back about a dozen years:Here I am winding down after an 18-hour trip sipping a Dewar's in the lounge at the Hotel Okura, just up the street from where the old Sanno Hotel once stood. Glancing at the table tent sitting on the bar, I

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1110042785322223812005-03-06T02:13:00.000+09:002005-03-06T03:35:08.996+09:00

Main gate at Grant Heights DHA circa 1971By TOM BARRYIf there's one thing we military brats have in common it's our resilience, a seemingly innate ability to transform and adapt to just about any environment or circumstance. We were chameleons.Yet, having been uprooted many times in my youth, I must confess that it still was difficult to say goodbye. To friends and to school -- what someone once

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1109403845276152192005-02-26T16:44:00.000+09:002005-02-26T17:34:03.530+09:00

By TOM BARRYYes, it's another movie based on a best-selling novel by James Michener. But this one has to rank as an all-time Top 10 brat favorite. Korean era, Japan, gorgeous Grace Kelly, dashing William Holden, and throw in a little Top Gun for added thrills.But long before Top Gun enthralled audiences with its aerial photography and dogfights there was The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1957).With the

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1108500064394677352005-02-16T05:41:00.000+09:002005-02-16T05:58:21.793+09:00

Gaijin "tarento" hawking Calpis, an oddly named beverage.By TOM BARRYEvery serviceman and woman ever stationed in Japan has heard of the milk-laced drink "Calpis" and how it got its name. Most of the stories have become urban legends.Calpis is no doubt the oddest consumer brand name in Japan (and there are many). It is a line of soft drinks and beverages that's been around since 1919. The

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1107845693740418822005-02-08T15:54:00.000+09:002005-08-22T05:26:10.163+09:00

The Army's Yokohama Center Pier in the 1950s. Photo courtesy of James Hyatt, www.yohidevils.netBy TOM BARRYDuring the post-war occupation era, the Marshall Plan implemented under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces, undertook the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Japan's war-ravaged economy and infrastructure. Tens of thousands of GIs and American civilian personnel

Japan Bratsnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1107255032197386842005-02-01T19:50:00.000+09:002005-02-01T23:29:23.153+09:00

Nikko-Kanko Hotel on Lake Chuzenji circa 1956.By DON SCOTT I arrived in Japan during the first part of January of 1951 (in the middle of my 7th grade). I remember that we crossed the International Dateline on New Year's Eve (on the USS General Gaffney), but can't remember how long it took to get to Yokohama from there. I've also never figured out if I gained or lost a year that New Year's Eve.

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1107023789679437962005-01-30T03:36:00.000+09:002005-02-01T21:49:45.666+09:00

By JIM CUNNINGHAM Here I am again, sitting in the quiet night, tapping away on the keyboard, talking to my faithful companion, the monitor. I am leaning forward, straining my middle-aged eyes to see images Tom Barry has generously placed on the screen. In particular, I am drawn to the older photos of dilapidated buildings where we once had colorful, real lives ("Now, only a distant memory" --

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1106732523620342272005-01-26T18:42:00.000+09:002005-02-15T17:13:20.630+09:00

Pachinko's allure holds many gaijins transfixed.By SID ACKERWhile slot-machine parlors are gaining in popularity, Japan's main answer to casinos still is pachinko, a game that involves skill, chance, flashing lights and noise.So much noise.Pachinko -- which came to Japan in the 1920s -- lures millions to spend hundreds of dollars a night, or more, to stare endlessly at ball bearings weaving their

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1106516737581348542005-01-24T06:45:00.000+09:002005-02-01T21:59:03.573+09:00

Mount Fuji looms over Atsugi NAFOn-post housing offered an insular but surreal lifestyle. It resembled smalltown America in the heart of an exotic land By TOM BARRY In his best-selling novel, author Thomas Wolfe coined the phrase "You can't go home again." This is especially true for those military brats among us who lived in Japan some years ago. Sadly, little remains of what we once

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1105781701336182982005-01-15T18:35:00.000+09:002005-01-17T01:36:15.980+09:00

Tachi-Johnson brat Robert P. "Bob" Ryan really put me through the paces for this one. If not for his keen attention to detail, I'd never have known the 1964 film "Flight From Ashiya" was a misnomer. Additionally, I would not have learned of the rich and glorious history of the USAF Air Rescue Service (which was central to the story) nor that that of the Grumman SA-16 Albatross seaplane

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1105066215252171122005-01-07T11:50:00.000+09:002005-01-17T01:37:28.646+09:00

"Sendai is known as the City of Trees," says Barbara Thomas, a young American teacher who has lived in Sendai with her husband, Todd, since 2001. "It's the third or fourth greenest city in the world, and it certainly shows." But that would be a far cry from Army veteran Abraham Lincoln's (yes, that's his name) recollections. As a young sergeant arriving at Camp Sendai in 1954, he noted, "Sendai

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1104102991902492902004-12-27T08:16:00.000+09:002005-01-17T01:44:24.056+09:00

Tachi and Johnson Air Base brat Robert P. "Bob" Ryan, MD is a man on a mission. Several years ago, his passion as a lifelong aviator led him to California, where he rescued an aircraft that very likely could have been consigned to a scrap heap -- a well-worn Grumman SA-16B Albatross seaplane that had seen better days.The Albatross, affectionately known by those who flew it as "Dumbo", has a

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1103930959695194792004-12-25T08:29:00.000+09:002004-12-25T08:38:56.513+09:00

The following was originally published in 1960 in The Marauder, the official Tachikawa Air Force Base newspaper. It is provided here courtesy of Mike Skidmore, whose father Charles E. Skidmore Jr. was the managing editor of The Marauder at the time. `Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house The cold would awaken the sleepiest mouse. The stockings were hung by the space heater

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7653052.post-1103597633140953852004-12-21T11:53:00.000+09:002005-02-01T22:42:00.786+09:00

Stateside, they're regarded with disdain, often objects of derision among fellow students. Social outcasts and losers. But here they constitute the "in crowd," the "It" people. They're rad, they're cool, they're hip. And they constitute the majority.They are "The Bus People." (Is there a song here somewhere?)At least by the time you're a junior, it's expected that you'd have your own wheels

Tom Barrynoreply@blogger.com0