Our Journey to Japan

To prepare for our trip to Japan I read/watched these books and movies to learn more about the history and culture of Japan.

These are the books I read:

Understanding Japan: A Cultural Survey by Professor Mark J. Ravina, Ph.D.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand 

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley and Ron Powers
Hiroshima by John Hershey
The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima

Ghosts of the Tsunami by Richard Lloyd Parry

These are the movies I watched:

Lost in Translation
Silence
Seven Samurai
Spirited Away
Departures
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters from Iwo Jima
Tokyo Story

Rather than go into detail about each of these books/movies I decided to share a few thoughts I found interesting.

Japanese history alternated between periods of seclusion and cultural assimilation. This shaped Japanese culture allowing it to have a significant influence on the world. Japanese culture has many popular exports in food (sushi, ramen, tempura, etc), film (Seven Samurai, Spirited Away, etc), manufacturing (Kanban, lean manufacturing), technology (CD, LED, and more), toys (Tamagotchi, Gundam, etc.), and video games (Nintendo, Pokemon, and more). As I read the books and watched the movies listed above I thought about all of the ways Japanese culture has impacted my life. I realized Japanese cultural influence has impacted me personally far more than I may have originally supposed.

One theme I noticed over and over again is the importance of honesty, hospitality, and kindness in Japanese culture. The people of Japan are considered some of the most hospitable people in the world. In the book Ghost of the Tsunami, the author tells the story of some of the hardest-hit individuals. These people literally lost everything they owned. Yet when reporters traveled to these hard-hit areas, to see the devastation, these people would try to give the reporters their last bits of food and water. Hospitality is so important that they wanted to give even when they had next to nothing.

It is next to impossible to think about Japan without considering World War II. Many of the books I read focused on Japan's role in the war. One of the aspects I find so interesting is that, unlike Germany or Italy, there was not a party or ruler who can clearly be blamed for pushing the war (the Emperor's role is very hotly debated). Rather, there is the sense that the homogeneity of Japanese culture allowed the Japanese people to get swept up in nationalism and a desire to spread their influence. This groupthink was no less evil than the Nazi Party or the Republican Fascist Party of Italy. The Japanese waged a brutal war in the Pacific. Using tactics of suicide and torture they offered no quarter and would not surrender. Despite this bitter fighting, once the war was over Japan was quick to move on. I find this to be another interesting aspect of the war. Japan has shown resilience throughout its history to be able to quickly recover from devastating calamities, be that earthquakes, tsunamis, or war. The culture of Japan likely plays a role. In Japanese culture, the welfare of the group often outweighs the needs of the individual. Because of this, the Japanese people are quick to organize and regroup. They also have a history of calamity and perhaps this ingrains into their culture the ability to move on. So much so that Japan was able to go from defeat and surrender in World War II to becoming a staunch ally of the US and experiencing an economic miracle that led them to become the second-largest economy in the World.

I learned more than I could ever share here from these books and movies. They make me really excited about our upcoming trip.

In addition to the books and movies above, I also thought a lot about the connections my family has to Japan. 

My closest connection to Japan is through my grandpa, Arno. He served his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan. He served in the Northern Far East Mission which included Japan, South Korea, and Okinawa. He served for 2 & 1/2 years. He left on June 17, 1961, from Iowa and traveled to Salt Lake City for training before embarking on his mission. This was in the days before the MTC was established. On June 27, 1961, he left the Salt Lake City airport by airliner for Tokyo, Japan. When we go to Japan it will have been nearly 60 years since he originally left for his mission. This will be the first time he has made it back to Japan since he returned home. The fact that my grandpa served his mission in Japan is really the impetus behind this trip. Last year Alison decided she wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland (because people who know apparently say it is the best Disney park in the world). She jokingly asked me to go, knowing that I would say no because it was not on our radar for potential trips this year. One day we were at a family event and I told my grandpa that Alison wanted to visit Japan. He lit right up and said he would love to go with us. After seeing his reaction, Alison and I talked and decided this was an important trip and we rearranged our plans to make it happen.

We have heard quite a few stories about my grandpa's mission to Japan. Especially as we have been talking about and preparing for this trip. He loves to tell two stories in particular.

One of the stories is about his arrival in Japan. He caught a flight to Salt Lake City and had a layover in Hawaii. He then flew from Hawaii to Japan. Because of a storm, the plane was diverted from Northern Japan down south. There were a handful of missionaries on the plane. When they arrived they were greeted by a group of excited reporters, but the missionaries had no idea why the reporters were there. They were whisked off to a nearby hotel. My grandpa likes to explain this is where he was first introduced to the concept of a Japanese toilet, which is very different than a Western toilet. He also had an adventurous breakfast. These new missionaries did not speak much Japanese. When a waitress came over to find out what they wanted to eat my grandfather had no idea how to respond. Until he heard her say something like hamuto eggo. Assuming this was ham and eggs he went ahead and ordered. He did in fact get ham and eggs. The only problem was the eggs were so runny they were still clear. When they returned to the plane the reporters were once again waiting for them. Sometime later my grandpa would find out the reporters were at the airport because a four-engine plane had never landed or taken off from this particular runway. The reporters were all speculating that there would be an incident. The pilot was showboating for the reporters and backed the plane up all the way down the runway against a fence. The pilot put on the brake and started the plane until it began to shake and then he took off at full speed. The way my grandpa tells it the pilot had the plane take off at a 45-degree angle by the middle of the runway.

Another story my grandfather has often told us about Japan revolves around the property he lived on during his time in Tokyo. This property was fairly close to Meiji Jingu. At the time it was apparently the most expensive property the church owned on a per-square-foot basis. On the property, there was a mansion. The mansion was used for church meetings. Inside there were also bathrooms and a kitchen the missionaries could use. They lived in another building off to the side of the mansion. The mansion was surrounded by a beautiful garden elaborately decorated with a stone boat and hand-carved stone lanterns. The lanterns were a Japanese national treasure. The previous owner had illicitly obtained and moved them onto the property. When the church sold the property they were not allowed to sell the lanterns. My grandpa has many memories about this property and has shared numerous stories about his time there.

My grandpa took quite a few pictures during his mission and had them made into slides. A few years ago my mom decided to get the slides digitized as a Christmas gift for my grandfather. We are so glad so did. It makes his pictures so much more accessible. My grandpa lost the original disc my mom gave him, so he had to get copies from her again. He was so excited when he received them that he called me up and had me come over to show him how the USB drive worked. When he saw he could access his pictures he dove right into many stories about his mission. It was great fun listening to him relive his mission. It is fun to see my grandpa as a young man and imagine what it would have been like for a boy from Iowa to travel across the ocean to a land where he did not speak the language to preach the gospel. My grandma had a great time giving him a hard time about the number of parties/festivals he took pictures of and attended on his mission. It certainly seemed like he took advantage of many opportunities to participate in cultural and social events. One of the places we are particularly excited to visit on our upcoming trip is Nara. While most of the places he visited/served on his mission will be radically different, Nara - a city with temples and parks will likely be very similar. It will be fun to visit a familiar place with my grandpa. We will even be able to see how the sites today compare to his pictures. One of the funnier stories my grandpa told us was about some pictures he has of a Sentō. A Sentō is a public bath and my grandpa very much enjoyed the public baths in Japan. They are kind of like a gym locker room mixed with a Jacuzzi. He even has a couple of pictures of himself and a few other missionaries in the public bath. My grandma found these pictures to be very scandalous (considering they were missionaries).

At the start of his mission hats were an official part of the missionary attire. This changed while my grandpa was in the field and he promptly rid himself of his hat. 

My grandpa told us that the water was so cold during this baptism that his legs were shaking and he could not stop them.

I also have another family connection to Japan. The pictures below are of my great-grandfather, Delbert L Johnson. I never met him - he died before I was born. I do not really remember learning much about him while I was growing up. Over the past year, I made learning more about my ancestry and during this process, I focused a lot of time and energy and learning about him.

Delbert L. Johnson served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He was inducted into the military on December 9, 1943. He was assigned to the 5th Marine Division. He was sent to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California for training. He became a communication specialist and was promoted to the rank of Corporal. After his training in California, he traveled to Hawaii with the 5th division to continue training.

The 5th division was nicknamed the Spearhead. They were assigned to one of the most difficult and bloodiest battles of World War II – the battle of Iwo Jima. The 5th Division landed on Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945. My great-grandfather was part of the amphibious invasion force. He received a telegram, while he was fighting on Iwo Jima, with news that his daughter (my grandmother) was born. Miraculously, he survived this battle. The 5th Division fought on Iwo Jima from February 19 until  March 26. In total, the 5th division had 2,482 killed in action, 19 missing in action, and 6,218 wounded in action. The 5th Division had the highest casualty rate of the three Marine divisions involved in the battle. Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the world. My great-grandfather wrote this letter at the end of the battle:

Dear Grandmother & Grandfather,

I’m writing this from the beach on Iwo Jima. We’re waiting to board the ship to go back to some island & reorganize. The past 25 days have been like some terrible nightmare coming to life. I’m sure glad the island is secured now.

I’m feeling fine. I am well. I sure hope all the folks back home are feeling as well as I do now.

Patricia was blessed a couple weeks ago. I would sure like to see her & Barbara.

Did Kenneth or Cecil get a chance to get home? Sure, hope they both did.

Lester is in action now from the way he writes.

Love, CPL DL Johnson

March 29, 1945

One of the books I read as I prepared for this trip was Flags of Our Fathers, which tells the story of the now-famous photo of a group of Marines raising a flag over Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. This book has been on my list of books to read for a long time. I became even more interested in reading it when I found out my great-grandfather fought in the battle of Iwo Jima. I am deeply moved by the heroism and valor of the 5th Marine Division. The inscription found on the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington DC rings true for these men: Uncommon valor was a common virtue. As I read the stories of 6 members of the 5th division I could not help but think of how their experience would have been similar to my great-grandfather's experience. He would have seen the same horrors and been willing to sacrifice his own life for his country and for his fellow Marines. I am exceedingly grateful for individuals like him, who were willing to sacrifice everything to fight hatred and tyranny. In a very literal sense, they made this world a safer and better place for all of us to live.

After Iwo Jima, the 5th division was sent back to Hawaii to regroup. When the war ended they were sent to occupy Sasebo, Japan. My grandfather would have spent roughly 3 months occupying Japan. I wonder what he must have thought of Japan, and I wonder what he would think now of this trip where his son-in-law, granddaughter, and great-grandson are visiting Japan.

I thought and read a lot about the atomic bombing of Japan. One of the sites we are planning to visit will be Hiroshima. The bombing of Hiroshima is so tragic. I understand the calculus, that the number of Japanese and American lives projected to be lost in an invasion of Japan was staggering. However, it is so hard to rationalize the catastrophic results of the decision to use weapons of mass destruction on a group of human beings. I cannot even imagine how heart-wrenching that decision must have been to make. That decision had a potentially significant impact on me personally. The 5th Marine Division was slated to be part of the invasion force sent to mainland Japan. If the war did not end when it did, my great-grandfather would have been part of what I can only imagine would have been a brutal and bloody battle. The likelihood that he would have died in combat would be high. If he died in battle my grandmother would have grown up never knowing her father and may have had a very different life. Fortunately, the war ended and my great-grandfather came home. He got to meet his little girl - my grandmother. How sweet that first meeting would have been.

As we were preparing for this trip I read, The World as It Is by Ben Rhodes. This is a fantastic memoir of life in the Obama White House. One of my favorite moments in the book ties into our upcoming trip. This particular moment discusses President Obama's speech at Hiroshima. I listened to the entire speech after reading about it in this book:

There is a lot to love about this speech, given by a President who spent time pondering war, peace, and humanity. In this speech, I see a man who cared deeply about the human race and is committed to improving the world. My favorite part of this speech is when he says:

"My own nation’s story began with simple words: All men are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Realizing that ideal has never been easy, even within our own borders, even among our own citizens. But staying true to that story is worth the effort. It is an ideal to be strived for, an ideal that extends across continents and across oceans. The irreducible worth of every person, the insistence that every life is precious, the radical and necessary notion that we are part of a single human family — that is the story that we all must tell."

As this speech points out, there are two stories of Hiroshima. One is the story of the dawn of a new catastrophic method of warfare. The other is a story of a more peaceful world. In a very real way, each of us influences which story wins, through the leaders we elect and the policies we support. The world needs more individuals who tell the story of the irreducible worth of every person. Let us all strive to do our part to create a more peaceful world.