Settling into the Dai-Ichi Hotel

Just a quick note on the status of my blog.  The scanner portion of my all-in-one is not functioning, so I am not able to scan any of the 2D memorabilia that WTG enclosed in his letters.  That includes the beer bottle label  he talks about in this letter.  In two weeks I will be up in NJ and will be able to scan some items then and retrofit them into the blog.  I will keep you posted on the developments.

Similarly, this Tuesday I will be traveling out to Harlem, GA, to visit my aunt Emily, one of WTG's daughters.  Apparently she has boxes and Ziploc bags full of items marked "Japan" that she and Martha sorted out a few years ago, so we'll see what kind of gems we find there.  If I find anything of relevance that pre-dates the current blog entry, I'll edit the earlier blogs and let you know about it.

This letter is pretty self-explanatory.  If any of you family members recognize any of the names of WTG's friends that he mentions in these letters, please let me (us) know about it.

Tokyo, Japan
9 Nov 1945

Dearest Darling,

Enclosed is the label from the first bottle of beer that I drank in the Imperial Hotel several days ago.

We are getting better situated here in the Dai-Ichi all the time. Today I had new wall paper put in my room. We have an excellent orchestra that plays for us at dinner -- and the meals and service are excellent.

I didn't think much of the assignment that I drew in GHQ today. It is a sort of editor and rewrite man on official reports. I don't think I am cut out for it and told them so. I may get it changed. Lt. Col. Melane who was at Chicago with me and has been out here about a year, said he would give me a job in the industries section if I could get loose. Lt. Cmdr. Wilson is in that section and I believe it would be interesting work.

Everything here in Japan is built to a small scale. Tell Emily and Monty the drinking fountains and wash basins would be just the right height for them. All the chairs and tables are small and low. This hotel caters to American trade and the beds are long enough and they have stool-type toilets. But in some of the finest office buildings, including GHQ, you can go into a marble toilet and there you can find what one officer termed "a flush type slit trench." And that is just what it is, an enamel, flush type slit in the floor, over which you are supposed to squat.

I rode the subway yesterday and it is about like New York or Chicago, but the lack of papers thrown around everywhere gave me the impression that it was cleaner.

Met a Cmdr. Ling tonight of the Chinese Navy, and went to the picture show with him. (It was "Mrs. Parkington," a very good show.) Cmdr. Ling was on his way to Chungking from Washington where he has been a naval attache for the last year or so. Before that he was an aide to Chang Kai Shek. He did a lot of fighting in China. There was an article about him in the 31 Mar '45 issue of Colliers. If you get a chance look it up. Saw "Barron San" and Lt. Col. Franklin today. Both sent you their regards.

They are getting mail here from the states in 9 or 10 days, so I imagine that as soon as you start using this new APO I will get your letter fairly promptly. Everyone has trouble with their first batch of mail.

This is the longest I have ever been out of touch with you since I have known you. Its only good feature is that it makes me realize how much I love you. It is hard for me to have all these interesting experiences without you here to share them with me. It is less than a month since I left but already it seems like years.

Give all three of my sweet daughters a big kiss for me.

Lots of love,

Bill

P.S. Recognized a Major by sight here today as being a brother of Maj. Moore that taught us at Charlottesville. He was the missionary from Japan. When I asked him, he confirmed it. I had never seen him before, but noticed family resemblances -- how's that!

****************

The Tokyo subway system is actually two systems -- the Tokyo Metro, a private company jointly owned by the city and federal governments, and Toei, which is the regional transit authority.  Most rides within the city cost at least 170 yen (about $1.85).  Interestingly, the subway makes up only a fraction of the rail system in Tokyo, with 282 stations out of the network total 882 stations.  By comparison, New York has 468 subway stations, and Atlanta has 39.  The first Tokyo subway lines were operational starting in 1927, having been constructed while the city rebuilt itself after the great earthquake of 1923.

Below is a photograph of an occupation-era Japanese toilet, the kind which Maj. Gillham describes in his letter.  It is similar in concept to the Turkish squat toilets that can be found in certain countries in Europe and the Middle East.

Most modern homes and buildings in Japan now have the chair-style toilets, but, amazingly, many of the new toilets are fitted with two foot platforms on the sides of the seat area for those who prefer the squatting style (see below).

Maj. Gillham went to see the film Mrs. Parkington, most likely in a local theater under control of the occupation forces for use by U.S. servicemen.  The film was released in November, 1944, so it was already a year old by this time.  It's probably the most famous of the Greer Garson-Walter Pidgeon pairings from MGM, and it includes some of the studio's finest supporting actors, such as Agnes Moorehead, Edward Arnold, Dan Duryea and a young Peter Lawford.

Maj. Gillham's acquaintance Commander Ling from Chungking (now known as Chongqing), had been an aide to Chiang Kai-Shek, leader of nationalist China, who at this point was continuing his war against the Chinese Communist Party.  As a part of the Japanese surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, Japan ceded the territories of Formosa (later Taiwan) and Manchuria back to China.  When Chiang Kai-Shek was eventually defeated by the Communists he retreated to Taiwan in 1950, which is now the main island of the Republic of China.

Meeting Gen. MacArthur, "the old man," while moving into new offices

Wow, I now have seven official Followers of my blog.  Glad you all have made it here, and feel free to leave comments, if you'd like.  The decoder rings should be in the mail soon, as well as instructions for the secret handshake and coupons for a free oil change at Sears.  Talk up the blog with any friends you think might be interested; the more the merrier.  Okay, on to the next letter.

This is Maj. Gillham's first letter written in his permanent digs in Tokyo, the Dai-Ichi Hotel, which is not to be confused with the Dai-Ichi building, where he worked.  Just a quick lexical note:  when a soldier is placed in a private or non-military room, such as at a hotel, he is billeted.  The more general term quartered can be used for any assigned living situation.

Tokyo, Japan
7 Nov 1945

Dearest Darling,

Well, I finally got moved in to Tokyo and will start working tomorrow.  We came in trucks from Zama and it took us most of the day, even though it was only 40 or 50 miles.  We wound around over many little narrow Japanese roads, through little country villages, etc.  We didn't have any lunch, but that didn't bother me.  We had a flat tire in front of a little native shoe shop and I got you and Emily and Monty each a pair of tabe (the big toe sox like you used to have).  They are worn in the house, or with the clogs outdoors.

We arrived at GHQ just as Gen. MacArthur was coming out, so I got a good look at him.  We were all covered with dirt and dust from our trip.  I signed in and am to work in the "Statistics and Reports Section" of SCAP.  A good many of the other staff sections are located in other buildings, but ours is in the GHQ bldg with the old man.  It is the best looking office building in Tokyo, naturally.  I understand it belonged to an insurance company.  It is right across from the Emperor's Palace.

I was fortunate in getting billeted in the Dai-Ichi Hotel, which, next to the Imperial, is about the best place to be quartered in Tokyo.  Only Field Grade officers are quartered here.  The room I have doesn't have a private bath, but it does have hot and cold running water and showers are available just down the hall.  The hotel is about on a par with an average good commercial American hotel, but is one of Japan's best.  The mess here is excellent, and every night we get a beer ration for a quart of Japanese beer, which is excellent.  We also have a bar in the basement, where beer and whiskey can be purchased in limited amounts.

I had dinner tonight with Maj. Raul and another major that used to teach at Charlottesville.

Remember, my address now is:

Maj. W.T. Gillham 0-272207
GHQ-SCAP Adv. Esch.
S. & R. Sect    APO #500
c/o P.M. San Francisco, Calif.

Tokyo is pretty badly bombed and burned.  Worse than I had thought at first.

I got here with all my baggage intact, which is something to be proud of.

Am looking forward to hearing from you before long.

Lots of love,

Bill

***************

In September, 1945, Gen. MacArthur's staff, known by its official acronym GHQ-SCAP, began moving into the Dai-Ichi building located on the southeast corner of the Imperial Moat.  The building had been built in 1938 as the new headquarters of the Dai Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company, the oldest mutual insurance company in Japan, founded in 1902.  Dai Ichi Life continues to occupy the building to this day, and in 1993 the company built a skyscraper addition, the DN Tower 21, behind the original building.

Dai-Ichi Insurance Building in 1938, on the Imperial Moat,

later headquarters of SCAP

Aerial view of the Imperial Palace Grounds,

with the blue X signifying the location of the Dai-Ichi building

The Dai Ichi Building as it looks today,

with the new DN Tower 21 behind it

Maj. Gillham was billeted at the similarly-named Dai Ichi Hotel, which, along with the famous Imperial Hotel, was located in the Ginza section of the city.  The Ginza has long been a famous shopping area in Tokyo, similar to Fifth Avenue in New York, with high-end shops, hotels and restaurants.  The area became well-known in the 1870s when, after a sweeping fire, the neighborhood was rebuilt with many European-style buildings designed by the Irish architect Thomas Waters.

The most famous building in the Ginza today, the "Ginza Wako," was built in 1932 for the Hattori company, a watch and jewelry establishment.  During the Allied occupation, this building was used as the PX (or post exchange) for Allied soldiers.

The Ginza during the Occupation, including the Wako building

(with clock tower), which was the Tokyo PX.

Maj. Gillham noted that the city was badly bombed out, much more than he had originally thought.  My guess is that up to this point he had only seen the western sections of Tokyo, as he had been coming to and from Zama, which lies to the southwest of Tokyo.  Most of the damage to the city was in the eastern sections, which were highly industrial and included the port area on Tokyo Bay.  About 50% of Tokyo was totally destroyed during the war.  There were 14 major Allied bombing raids on Tokyo between February and June, 1945, carried out mainly by B-29 bombers.  The worst attack was on March 10, when about 25% of the city was destroyed and over 100,000 civilians were killed.

The bombed-out area of Tokyo near the port, 1945

A day on the town: The first trip into Tokyo

From his quarters at the Army post in Zama, Maj. Gillham took a day pass into Tokyo and describes some things for the first time that will soon be very familiar to him.

Japan
2 Nov 45

Dearest Darling,

Got a pass yesterday and went into Tokyo.  It was quite a day.  I haven't had so much fun since I was in college.  This place is about 45 miles S.W. of Tokyo right out in the country.  Five of us, all majors who shared the same cabin on the ship, went in together.  We left here about 1000 and walked about a mile to the nearest electric railway station.  Only Maj. Chun and I could talk much Japanese and we were rusty.  We had no map and no idea of how to get anywhere, but we just kept trying to talk Japanese to everyone we saw and figured out how to get to Tokyo by making two transfers.  I had heard that the Japanese were the train-ridingest people on earth and now I believe it.  All trains were packed so that people had to climb in and out of the windows at stops.  They all carried either a big bundle or a baby or both.  We pay no fare and ride anything we want to.  I was amazed at the the electric railway system around Tokyo.  It is on a par with the I.C. in Chicago, only much more of it, and it is functioning smoothly in spite of tremendous bomb damage all around.  Yokohama is nothing but burnt out ruins and Tokyo was hit bad in spots.  The industrial areas are the worst, naturally.  The people have salvaged the burnt, rusty sheet metal from the roofs of the plants and constructed thousands of little huts out of them.  Chun and I talked to all the Japs near us and they were very interested in the fact that we could talk a little Japanese, and tried to be very helpful.  The rural areas are just about like I expected them.  Right now they are harvesting the rice.  In Tokyo I was a little surprised at how modern it was.  I knew it was a very large city, but I didn't expect wide, clean streets and beautiful modern buildings.  Some of them have been burnt out, but others are intact.  We went to the GHQ and there I saw several that I knew, including Col.  Dillard, Col. Clark from Chicago, Lt. Cmdr. Wilson, Maj. Raul (just out of hospital at Manila) and others.  They are all set up and you might think you were in the Pentagon Bldg in Washington, D.C., just to look around.  Most of them are living in the Dai-Ichi Hotel, a nice big modern hotel.  The big shots live at the Imperial Hotel.  The desk clerk, a Jap, told me there were 20 generals there at present.  It was about 3 PM when we were there but we talked our way into the kitchen and got them to fix us sandwiches and coffee.  Only field officers and above are allowed in the place.  We went back there for dinner that night -- the only thing we paid for during the whole day.  We went to a supply depot and drew two wool shirts, two pants, a sweater, and a combat jacket -- no charge.  Nearly everywhere we went we would hail a jeep and get a ride.  Kimonos are very high right now, Y500 to Y1,000, but the native population looks very well dressed, and I know they don't pay those prices, so after I get established I imagine I can get some cute things.

I don't know where I will be assigned yet, but may find out this afternoon.  A large per cent of this group is to go to Korea.

I washed all my dirty clothes this morning and took a sponge bath -- all this in my helmet.  I am ready to move now when I get the word.

I am afraid that your mail may be slow in catching up with me.

I want to get you one of these rigs for carrying a baby on your back.

Lots of love,

Bill

**************

The Imperial Hotel was the jewel of Tokyo hotels and was not damaged significantly during the war.  It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright to replace the original hotel built in 1890.  Wright's hotel was completed in 1923 and was damaged slightly that same year in an earthquake.  It was designed in the "Mayan Revival" style that incorporated a pyramid motif and other features prominent in Mayan temples.  It was the primary billet of the upper echelon of the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers during the occupation of Japan.  After years of gradual demise, the hotel was demolished in 1968, although several sections, including the famous main entrance, were restored in local museums.

The Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, in the 1930s

Below is a clipping from the Pacific Stars and Stripes from October 1945 that Maj. Gillham included in a letter.  Across the top he has written, with his trademark misspelling, "This is no exageration."  You may have to click on the cartoon to get a bigger image.