Yokosuka was very different than anything I had seen before. I've been to military bases before, both at home and abroad, but I think there is a stronger sense of community here due to the great distance from the US. The hospital brief was given by the commanding officer of USNH Yokosuka, which was greatly appreciated. The greatest takeaway was the strong partnership that is needed between his facility and the Japanese facilities in the event a sailor comes in with an injury they are unable to care for. USNH is fully staffed with about 50 beds and has a variety of specialties. However, they do see many cases that they are unable to provide care for. When serious cases present, they will Medevac to Kameda. These relationships with community hospitals allow them to operate with only critical staff and ensure that the individuals on base are still safe and will have somewhere to be cared for in the event of a catastrophe.
A very interesting arrangement that I learned about while I was visiting was the purpose of the overseas troops in Japan. They are an industrialized country with means of their own, but we stay by invitation of the Japanese government to defend Japan. Therefore, any attack on Japan is considered a direct attack on the United States as well. Because of this, Japan spends just over one percent of their GDP on defense (while we all have a good idea what the US spends). Japan does build and maintain all the facilities on base and staff many of the positions on base, all paid for by the Japanese government (still, they are getting a pretty good deal).
After the brief, we did a quick tour of the base but unfortunately we were a bit behind schedule so we only had enough time to grab some essentials and get a quick haircut. Naturally, I bought Coors, Chips Ahoy, Chex Mix, and Starburst. That all sounds normal. John plans on heading back over before I depart so we can go to Chilis. He likes to go with the students, I certainly wouldn't mind a REAL American burger. I'd go tonight if that ferry would run a little later...
From Yokosuka, I took the train up to Tokyo to spend the weekend with a few friends from work. Friday night I spend some time looking around Ginza, a higher end shopping district that was right near my hotel. It was late though, so I didn't have too much time. This area has the highest priced real estate in the world (it can be several million dollars per square foot!). Just inside Ginza designers would have multiple locations, of course for shoppers convenience. Two or three Burberrys, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Chanel, Botegga Vanetta, and Matsuya Ginza, similar to Saks.
On Saturday, Sachie and Yoh picked me up to take me sightseeing. Though they are both long time Tokyo residents, they rarely go sightseeing or know too much about the town. Our first stop was the Imperial Palace, also a couple blocks from my hotel. Because we were unable to find the residence among the gardens they were convinced the Emperor and Empress no longer lived there (seriously), but we asked before we left and found out all was well and there are very few views of the household itself.
After the Imperial Palace, we headed up to Asakusa. This is the site of an old temple and also a lot of small shops that line the streets. Temples involve a lot of rituals such as inhaling smoke before entering (this is supposed to make you smarter or enlighten you), and washing in a fountain so you are cleansed before praying.
Also there, five story pagoda:
And a good view of Tokyo's new Sky Tree, which will replace Tokyo Tower. The Sky Tree will be the tallest tower in the world, for a few months until something beats it. It is used for broadcasting, and of course you can go up and experience some good views inside.
After Asakusa, we took a boat tour down to Akihabara (actually we went to a random station then took the subway to Akihabara). Akihabara is known as the electric city and has a ton of duty-free shops and high-pressure salesman. It is one of the more frequented areas of Tokyo by tourists. Many people buy items thinking they will work well in the US and they are getting the cutting edge technology, but really we get things in the US just as quickly and depending on what you buy, it might not work in the US. I avoided buying electronics.
After Akihabara we went south to Akasaka. We had dinner here in a traditional Japanese restaurant. Dishes are ordered throughout the meal and shared by the table. Two others joined us from Kameda after work. The dinner lasted for a few hours and I headed back to the hotel.
On Sunday, we had another aggressive day with a switch in tour guides. Today was Motoko and Oshimoto. We started off at Ueno Park, an area with the Tokyo Zoo, National Museum, Science Museum, etc. We went to the National Museum before lunch.
After lunch, we walked through a market area that was crowded with people that sold anything you might want, or not want. From shoes to raw fish. It was a very interesting experience.
After the tower, we met a few more people in Shinagawa, had dinner, and headed back to Kamogawa.
Today is the Fourth of July. It's difficult not celebrating in style in the US as I'm sure I would be doing if I were there. It is a typical workday, though not as busy as usual. I have convinced John to seek out some American food after work with me, which will help ease the pain of not being on American soil on this awesome holiday.
God Bless the USA!
Mikey...everyone knows that Scranton, PA is the elctric city. Stop spreading these lies!
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