A Certain Encounter: Emperor Hirohito

Japan is one of those countries that a foreigner either likes or dislikes. This might depend upon the age of the person and the time that they spent there. I was intrigued by Japan. My uncle Raymond Hipkins probably disliked Japan. He had a good reason. In April of 1945 he found himself hunkered down in a foxhole clutching an M-1 rifle as if it were an extension of himself. It was during the battle for Okinawa. He was a member of the 174th Combat Engineers out of Fort Devens Massachusetts. In 1987 I found myself on "The Rock" as it is called by those who have ever served there. Unlike my uncle Ray, I did not have to worry about being shot by Japanese soldiers, or burned alive by a flamethrower. The war had been over for 42 years. It was peace time, and I was merely there to do my duty. Although 42 years had elapsed since the Japanese surrender, the residue of war still lingered in the air. I found the residents of Okinawa to be very pleasant and kind, although somewhat cautious and perhaps a bit weary of the United States military presence. Most of the Marines stationed there did not want to be there. When not on duty, or on some field operation they typically spent their time carousing in the red light districts that naturally gravitated outside of the camps like a plague. Pay day was like Mardis Gras, and a lot of guys went through their whole paychecks in one night. The streets were patrolled by both MP's and JP's (Japanese Police) who traveled in pairs and carried batons to subdue unruly jarheads. Most Marines traveled in groups and occasionally fights broke out in a bar or out on the street. One night I chanced upon a dead body lying in the street. It was a Japanese man that had apparently been beaten to death. A small crowd had gathered around the body, and I decided not to stick around. Another night I found myself involved in a bar fight that involved everyone who happened to be in the bar whether they liked it or not. I am not a big guy so I naturally attempted to find a hole out of the bar. Unfortunately, for me, I found myself grappling with some dude that seemed to have just materialized in front of me. I am not even sure how it happened but I ended up on the ground. I somehow managed to get this fellow in a headlock using the wall as a brace. He was bigger than me so I was careful to prevent him from escaping to set me up for a series of strikes. I can remember thinking to myself that I could keep him in that hold all night, but that if he got loose he would kill me for sure. I tried to put him to sleep, but he had a big thick neck. It wasn't long before the MP's and JP's were in the bar swinging their big sticks. I don't remember how I got out of there unscathed, but I somehow managed it.

      One evening I was hungry and decided to set out in town to find a bucket of Yakisoba. Unfortunately, I happened to come upon a brawl in the middle of the street. I was not sure what the hell was going on, but from afar I watched as one huge corn fed looking Marine seemed to be fighting off a whole gamut of men, and seemed to be enjoying himself while doing it, cursing and challenging all comers. He reminded me of the Viking who held off a good portion of the English Army at Stamford Bridge singularly holding the bridge until a cunning Englishman rowed a boat underneath it and sent a lance up through one of the chinks killing him. I guessed that somebody would have to come up through a man-hole to take out this Hercules, but then I remembered that I was in Japan, there were no man-holes, only open sewers. I prudently decided not to oblige this beasts challenge and took a side street to avoid a possible confrontation. It was a dark alley, and it wasn't long before I heard someone hissing at me. I turned to see a buxom, middle aged woman standing in a doorway. She beckoned for me to come nearer, but since I adhere to the old maxim that caution is the better part of valor, I decided to ignore her knowing full well her intentions.
Although the night life consumed a large part of most Marines liberty I sort of went against the grain and would occasionally head out into the country to meet people and see the scenery. On one of these occasions I happened to cross paths with the subject of this post, Hirohito, Emperor of Japan.

                                             Emperor Hirohito (1901-1989)

     It was about the time that the cherry blossoms were out. I took the bus to Naha on the south part of the island. I intended to check out the city away from the corrupted influence of my own countrymen. I spoke almost no Japanese except for the occasional phrase that I had been teaching myself. I surely could read nothing, but fortunately a lot of signs are written in English. The farther one ventured from the military camps, the less anyone understood my native tongue. I found myself wandering the streets and was surprised to see a "Mr. Donut." I had to smile when I saw the familiar orange and white logo of a chef. I even pulled some yen from my pocket and scoffed one of them down. They were nothing like they were back home, less sugar, and not as fluffy. I soon found myself attracted to a huge crowd that had gathered in a park. I wondered what all of the commotion was all about so I decided to have a look. Straining to get a good view I was uncertain of what the crowd was looking at when I suddenly became aware of what it was. There was an old man being carried in a litter. He was stoic and regal-like wearing a pair of spectacles that came half way down his nose. What was this?... Who was this? The litter was borne aloft by 4 or 6 burly men, I forget the exact number, for my attention was on the gentleman in the litter. Was it Toranaga? If he was Toranaga than I was surely Blackthorne! I couldn't understand what people were saying, but it was somehow implied that this man was the Emperor of Japan! Was this possible? Was I staring at Hirohito? I watched as the litter was placed down and the elderly man was helped inside of a car. Soon, the car and it's convoy of police vehicles departed the area and the crowd slowly dispersed leaving me to wonder what I had just witnessed.

It has been 25 years since this insignificant observation made by a 19 year old youth who still to this day remains in the dark as to what he actually saw. I have done searches to see if Hirohito made a visit to Okinawa in 1987. I have found nothing. Was it Hirohito? or was it perhaps someone else...another dignitary? It looked like Hirohito to me...but perhaps it was not ...perhaps it was his ghost, or maybe I imagined the whole thing, or dreamed it, and now believe it to be true! My memory is chopped and only fragments of this day survive in my mind. Does it really matter? I left Japan a few months later, and as of this writing a quarter of a century later I have not been back...Why would I go back...how could I possibly beat this memory...this illusion... of something that might or might not have been!