A new PX at the hotel, and a scheme to talk on the telephone

Hello again and apologies for not posting any letters since last week.  I was preparing the following letter for posting when I realized that I had recently come across a letter that Maj. Gillham mentions in this one.  It was from an old civilian friend of his named Glore, and I had wanted to post Glore's letter as well.  However, somehow in the transition from Crosswicks to Atlanta earlier this month the letter has been misplaced.  I searched everywhere I could, and my mother (Monty) did her best in Crosswicks as well.  I am sure the letter will turn up one day when I'm not looking for it;  in the meantime, I shouldn't hold up the progress of the blog any longer, so I'm simply going to post the next letter minus enclosures.  When the letter turns up, I will post it (probably as a retrofit) and let you know.

Tokyo
15 Jan 1946

Dearest Love,

Two letters from you came today;  one was mailed as recently as 7 Jan.  That was a quick one.  Also, the ribbons came today.  Thanks very much, and also thank Dan for getting them for me.

In your first letter you spoke of the flu breaking out.  In the one written three days later you talk of everyone being up and about, so I guess it wasn't so bad.  Did you all get the flu shots from the Army?  If you didn't, you can probably do it now without trouble.  I think it would be an excellent idea.  Your present crowded housing is a natural for an epidemic and the Army is afraid of a bad flu epidemic, so do this at once and without doubt.  I have gotten one since I came here.  Also, some smallpox has broken out and we all had to be vaccinated again; I tested immune.

At the time KW retired I was moving to California, so I didn't get the forwarded mail from the committee working up that book of letters for him until it was all over.  On my own initiative I did write him as nice a letter as I knew how at that time.  It went directly to him and didn't get bound, I guess.

I am sorry the girls couldn't go to NAPS.  And I am sorry you didn't get to Memphis at one time or the other, for I wanted your report on Mother's condition.  I can't believe anyone else on that subject.

I know you are busy and working hard.  Don't overdo yourself.  Try to get out some -- get a change of scenery and some exercise occasionally and you will be better to live with when you are at home.

The cartoon about the Jap clean-up rumor is a good laugh.  You will see when the boxes begin to arrive.

I got a letter from Glore today from Panama dated 2 Jan.  The world is getting small, isn't it?  We had so much trouble getting a room in Wickenburg once that I think he wants to build an auto court there so he won't have that trouble again.  I will enclose the letter.

We now have a gift PX shop here at the hotel.  It opened today and I got you a pair of stockings.  We can only buy one item each day, but I will see if I can pick up a few things for all of you.  Guess who is the main buyer for the PX system in Japan.  Our old friend Capt. (Wolf) Karsten.  It is a wonderful set-up -- for him.  He travels all over Japan and picks up choice silks, etc., which he trades (excuse me, I mean gives) to the nurses and WACs, etc.  He actually has a satiated look about him now.

The 14 Jan issue of Time has quite a write-up under International about MacArthur's first complete report, "written in typical MacArthur style."  I got quite a laugh out of that.

On the telephone call -- enclose a separate and complete letter to me telling all your troubles and asking for decisions -- to sell car?  to move Mother?  where to locate? etc.  Make their apparent solution require two-way discussion.  Be sure there is another letter in the envelope so I won't get too worried.  Then look out for a call about two weeks later.  Wright got one thru to Memphis and said it was swell.

I love you my darling.

Goodnight, Sweetheart,

Bill

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

The ribbons (i.e., medals) referred to in the first paragraph included some of ones I scanned and posted earlier.  I am assuming that since Frances' brother, Dan Holsenbeck, had been in the Navy and spent Christmas at 992 Washita with the family, she sent him to Ft. McPherson (which is just south of Atlanta) to pick up Maj. Gillham's medals. 

The "KW" referred to above is most likely Kendall Whittaker, a boss of Maj. Gillham's at Southern Bell Telephone.  It's hard to tell exactly what his feelings are for this boss, since it sounds as if he were writing "as nice a letter as I knew how" under some pressure to be kind.  He had some unbearable bosses at Southern Bell over his long career there, but the worst one by far wasn't to materialize until he was transferred to New Orleans in 1949.  Whittaker was probably not that bad an egg, since it was apparently through him that Frances later got a part-time position at the Fernbank Museum, in its infancy.

The Time article he mentions in this letter can be found online at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,886828-1,00.html.

Christmas Day in Japan, and details about working with Gen. MacArthur

Today we welcome two more followers, all the way from Dubai, which brings our total now to eighteen.

In this letter we find out how Maj. Gillham spends his Christmas Day in Tokyo, and we also get to hear a little bit more about his work for MacArthur.  There is a family story about my grandfather's work which I had always assumed was somewhat apocryphal, but today's letter confirms the story's veracity to some extent.  The story went that Maj. Gillham had written a report of some kind that, as it worked its way up the chain of command, was corrected, edited and rewritten and was finally covered with red pencil by the time it reached Gen. MacArthur.  After reading the report, MacArthur apparently wrote at the top, "Release report as originally written."  As you will read, this practice was actually fairly commonplace.  We also find out that Maj. Gillham has nothing but praise for the general, despite the inadequacies of some of the brass surrounding him.

Tokyo
Christmas 1945

Dearest Love,

It is now 10 PM here and I imagine that about now you all are getting up and opening your presents.  About noon today I could imagine you hanging up your stockings on Christmas Eve.  This time change is something to keep up with.  You are now almost on the opposite side of the world from me.

This morning I got up and put on my blouse and pinks for the first time since I have been here.  I went over to the Dai-Ichi Auditorium to hear Kagawa, but he wasn't able to be there, so the chaplain carried on.  There was a choir composed of GI's and Japanese girls.

Last Christmas I sang "Silent Night" in Japanese in Chicago.  This Christmas the Japanese sang it to me in English in Tokyo.

It was a beautiful cold, crisp, clear day.  I walked around the Imperial Palace grounds and took some pictures.  After lunch I had a jeep come and got Wright, and then went over and picked up Johnson and we drove out to the football game at the Meiji Stadium.  The game was between the 1st Cavalry and the 11th Airborne.  There was a huge crowd of GI's, two good bands, and a splendid game.  The Airborne won.

We came home and opened up that bottle of whiskey that Lozier gave me in Chicago last Christmas.  If you see him tell him it was fine.  We had a sumptuous Christmas dinner and then went to a big public auditorium to hear Handel's Messiah.  The chorus was composed of 200 or 300, about half the men being GI's.  It was a wonderful performance and the very fact that it was accomplished seemed a miracle.

I am beginning to realize that I am seeing important history in the making and at first hand, and to feel that I am a part, if even a very small part, of the era in which I live.

My job is working out a little better, and although I wouldn't have chosen the work, it is a wonderful spot from which to observe.  I am head of the division that does the editing on all economic subjects.  That covers quite a field in a nation this size.  Among the subjects covered are agriculture, food, fisheries, forestry, mining, transportation, public utilities, communications, industry, exports and imports, money and banking, and the Zaibatsu.  I have access to all available information on these subjects and should be the best informed person around from the broad viewpoint.  When I get through with a document, it becomes MacArthur's report on the subject.  Things are checked by the high brass for policy matters, etc., but very little change is ever made.  I surely wish I could read faster and spell better.  The Col. told me yesterday that they were very pleased with my work.

I guess it is this broad picture that makes me feel so deeply about things over here.  I see too many little men handling jobs that are too big for them.  The fact that they wear an eagle doesn't enhance their stature or ability.  However, some are doing a fine job, and foremost in this category is MacArthur himself.  He has done a masterful job of handling a very delicate situation.  He has tremendous prestige with the Japanese.

The last letter I had from you was written about four days before you were to leave Robles.  I think a spell of bad weather shlowed up the air mail.  I am anxious to hear of your trip and hope you made it without trouble.  I want all of you to stay healthy in Atlanta this time.  I will send you some more money the 1st.

Darling, you are my greatest inspiration.  I love you more than pen can record.

Love,

Bill

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

The term "blouse and pinks" refers to the Army dress uniform, which included a nice shirt and pinkish-tan trousers with a stripe running down the side of each leg.  These uniforms were worn only during celebrations or official ceremonies, and this would have certainly been the first time Maj. Gillham would have been called on to wear a dress uniform.

Meiji Stadium, where Maj. Gillham saw the football game, was a sports stadium that was built in 1926 as part of the Meiji Shrine in a neighborhood in western Tokyo.  The shrine is a 175-acre park which was started in 1920 to commemorate the Emperor Meiji, who had died in 1912 and who had done quite a lot to pull Japan from its feudalist roots and into the modern world.  The stadium is now a popular baseball stadium, home of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

The Zaibatsu was the clique of monolithic, family-owned Japanese financial-industrial corporations that ruled the country's economy from the end of the Meiji period until after the Second World War.  These were true monopolies, similar to those of the robber barons in the U.S.  These companies included holding companies, banks and loan associations and industrial branches that all served to corner several specific markets.  After the Japanese surrender, there was a somewhat successful Allied attempt to dismantle the Zaibatsu (since such restrictive business practices were seen as ultimately undemocratic), but total dissolution was never achieved, primarily because the U.S. was intent on shoring up the Japanese economy as a buttress against the growing Asian communist movements.  Some of these corporations still exist today, such as Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Nissan.

Working on MacArthur's first report to Washington, and a trip to a geisha house

This next letter was written four days after the last one, which is an uncharacteristically long interval.  He does mention that he is having to work hard to produce the first major report to Washington, and that he has been writing "into a void," with no letters from home since he left San Francisco, which must make it difficult to keep up the semblance of a correspondence.

This is also the first letter where Maj. Gillham uses new air mail stationery that he must have purchased at the PX.  It has horizontal red stripes on the top and bottom borders, with a stylized sketch of an airplane circling a blue globe centered at the top.  The words "Air Mail" run along the base of the globe.  I will scan an example of this as soon as I can.

Tokyo, Japan
14 Nov 1945

Dearest Darling,

I haven't heard from you yet, but don't give up -- just keep on writing and the letters will start coming through before long.  From all I can hear, I imagine you are getting my letters in about 10 days.  I hope so, for I have been writing into a void for some time now.  Everyone has the same trouble at first, but as soon as mail starts coming to the new APO it comes all right.

I haven't had any time off since I have been in Tokyo, as we have been working pretty hard trying to get out MacArthur's first official, complete report on the occupation for Washington.  Today I went down to the Civil Communications Section scouting for a job and found the head of the Wire Communications branch to be a Lt. Col. Jacobs, a Southern Bell man who was construction supt. in Georgia.  He is going to try to get me into that section if he can work it.

I got my laundry back tonight and it was beautifully done in three days and only Y4.20 or less than 30 cents.  It had my room number sewn into each piece with red thread in Japanese numerals:  roku roku ku, or 669.  I also had a pair of new pants shortened for Y4.50 by a tailor downstairs who did a fine job.  Such services are very reasonable here -- it is only goods, especially food and anything that can be used as souvenirs, that are sky high.  As I get a chance, I am trying to get a few little presents for you all, but I am afraid you had better not count on them for Christmas.  So will you get everybody Christmas presents for me?  I will get these things off as soon as I can, but the mails are so burdened with Jap rifles, etc., that are being sent home that I am afraid it will be January before it arrives.  I got Pop a little brass pipe type cigarette holder like the Japs use.

Last night several of us went over to a "Tokyo Officers Club" run by some Japs.  It is a cross between a pub and a Geisha house.  We took our own beer since they can't get any, and for a cover charge of Y10 we were entertained all evening by the various "hostesses."  Some wore Japanese dress and some Western style clothes.  All our conversation was in Japanese, and we found it to be an excellent way to practice Japanese.  That is really the whole story and all there is to it.

Every night the little floor boy comes down to my room and turns the cover down for me.  And did I tell you we have an excellent orchestra that plays for us at supper?  It's a tough life.  In fact there is a sign in the lobby reading, "It's Hell, Ain't It?"  With it all, I am already anxious to come home, and will do so at the first opportunity.

Lots of love,

Bill

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

Judging from Maj. Gillham's short description, the "Tokyo Officers Club" he writes about was probably not a traditional geisha house and was likely something set up just for American soldiers.  The geisha culture is very rigorous and structured and would certainly not be mixed with women in Western dress.

Traditionally, geisha start their training at a very early age and decide then to make it their life's vocation.  They are trained in dance, voice, literature, oration and what could be called hospitality -- serving food, pouring drinks, lighting cigars, making tea, etc.  All geisha are single and once they marry they must give up the profession.  The tradition got its start in 17th-century Kyoto, where men were the original geisha.  Women accompanied them and soon outnumbered them.  The okiya, or geisha houses, were very well respected and visited by the well-to-do.  The two kanjis, or Japanese symbols, comprising the word geisha mean literally "art performer," and a geisha's primary job is to entertain with dancing, singing and recitation.

Unfortunately, the international reputation of the geisha took a big hit after WWII when prostitutes in Tokyo began dressing like geisha for the soldiers, who didn't know the difference.   Soon the term "geisha girl" (mispronounced "geesha" instead of "gaysha") became synonymous with streetwalkers.  This is still a common misconception among Westerners.

The geisha today are very rare and usually cater only to foreign tourists.  It is estimated that there are only 2,000 geisha in all of Japan, most of them based in the spa resort of Atami, just south of Tokyo on the Pacific coast.

The decline of the geisha can be traced to Japan's general lack of interest in historical preservation, which is very different from attitudes in the West.  The Japanese embrace the new like no other country, and entire sections of Tokyo are routinely bulldozed and rebuilt into shiny glass-and-steel caverns without so much as a whimper of protest.  Anything of historical significance, such as temples, museums, and the geisha culture are generally sustained by foreign tourists.

Traditional geisha costume with ornate hairstyle,

face paint, kimono and high-soled shoes

Back view of a geisha, showing strips of unpainted nape, which act as a

sort of tease, like low-cut dresses in the West

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

Assigned to Gen. MacArthur's staff, yet still awaiting orders to move

In this letter, his last written at the U.S. Army camp in Zama, Maj. Gillham reveals that he is to be assigned to Gen. MacArthur's staff.  He does so with amazingly little fanfare or ballyhoo, and slips easily back into mundane questions to Frances about friends and family back home.  I am sure he was long aware that this assignment was a distinct possibility, since he had been trained at the School of Military Goverment in Charlottesville, VA, in 1940 and was taught Japanese language and culture at the University of Chicago in 1944 before being transferred to Fort Ord, CA.  Still, his announcement is startlingly brief, considering how famous MacArthur was at the time and in what great esteem he was held by my grandfather, who didn't hand out praise to army personnel lightly.

Zama, Japan
5 Nov 1945

Dearest Darling,

The last few letters that I have written you were done in a crowded room with much discussion taking place, and they may not have made much sense.  It is now 1300 and nearly everyone is out on pass.  My group couldn't get a pass so we may be going to move soon.  I hope so, for I have about seen enough of this place.

However, I believe I have a good temperament for being shipwrecked on a desert island.  I don't tend to get the "whim-whams" in a place like this, as some do.  I guess it may be because I spent a lot of time alone when I was a child.

I just drank the last of my California water.  That seems like a long time for one canteen of water to last, but I find that when I drink all the liquid they pour at us at meals, I don't want any more water.  I have had practically no indigestion, and very little rheumatism since I left, I am glad to say.

I understand that our mail goes to Manila and that is probably the reason we don't have any yet.  I don't know my section yet, but you may start addressing me as follows:

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

As soon as I know my section I will give you that also, and it will probably speed up delivery a few days.  SCAP stands for "Supreme Command Allied Powers," so it looks like I will wind up on MacArthur's staff.

I hope that you all are getting along all right.  Did you get the stove cleaned?  How is the weather there?  Is the car doing all right?  Has Martha walked yet?  I would love to see her step out.  How are all the neighbors?  How are Nelly and Cousin John?  Have you heard from Ellen?  Did Jack get home?  What do you hear of Mother?  The time-space factor between us is getting too big.  I would love to be with you.  I prefer our double sleeping bag with you in it to the one I am using now.  I need you to keep my feet warm, and to divide a bottle of champagne with me.

Lots of love,

Bill

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

Douglas MacArthur graduated at the top of his class of 93 at West Point in 1903 and went on to become one of only five men to be named General of the Army (i.e., five stars).  He served in World War I and was promoted to Brigadier General just before the Armistice, at age 38;  thus he was often referred to as the "boy general." At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he was the Allied commander in the Philippines and was soon forced to retreat to Australia when the Japanese captured Manila.  It was in Australia that he made his famous pledge to the Filipinos, "I shall return," which he did in October, 1944, leading the Allied recapture of the island nation.  In Manila he formulated plans for "Operation Downfall," an air and sea invasion of Japan similar to the one in Normandy.  However, the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 made this plan unnecessary, and on September 2, he accepted the surrender of Japan aboard the U.S.S. Missouri.

In his role as Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, MacArthur was, in effect, the leader of the Japanese nation from 1945 to 1948.  His decision to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and the royal family of any charges of war crimes was severely criticized in the West yet endeared him immensely to the people of Japan.  With this good will he was able to begin a primitive democratization of Japan, and in 1946 he and his staff drafted a new constitution that is still in use today.

One of MacArthur's initiatives was to have dozens of copies of the film Gone With The Wind flown to Japan and shown in theaters around the country.  The idea was to illustrate to the Japanese how a nation devastated by war and defeat could rebuild itself with what Scarlett O'Hara called gumption.  The film is still very popular in Japan, which explains why over 25% of the visitors at the Margaret Mitchell House are Japanese.

Gen. MacArthur's 130th birthday is next Tuesday.

The iconic image of Gen. MacArthur,

with open collar, sunglasses and corn cob pipe

The meeting between MacArthur and Hirohito, Sept. 27, 1945,

one of the most famous photos in Japanese culture