Visit to Otsu

(Jan. 30, 2011) Most of the last week of my wife and my five-week trip to Japan last fall was spent in the old capital of Kyoto visiting my wife’s family. However, one day we went to the city of Otsu about 15 minutes by train to the east of her family’s home. We met in Otsu in the mid 1950s when I was stationed at Camp Otsu with the U.S. military. Not long before I arrived at Camp Otsu Columbia Pictures made a movie about a soldier stationed there. A couple years ago I was trying to find a copy of the movie and was directed to several people including a woman whose husband was stationed in Japan for a period with Britain’s Royal Air Force. Her name is Hiroko Ukai Palmer and she grew up in Otsu. Some years ago she and her husband returned to Otsu and has made their home there. She didn’t have a copy of the movie but as we exchanged e-mails I learned that her husband  who passed away several years ago had taught conversational English at Kyoto Gakuen University in Kameoka .Upon learning that we were going to be in Japan last fall she invited us to lunch at the Otsukan Convention Center, formerly the historic Biwako Hotel within walking distance of the camp where I was stationed. Part of the old hotel is now a museum and lists some of its former guests including Emperor Hirohito, Olympians from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and actor John Wayne who was filming a movie in Japan at the time of his visit. After a very nice lunch and visit, Hiroko and her friend, Mitsuko Nakajima, took us to Seikyoji Temple on the lower slopes of Mt Hiei to tour the temple. Mitsuko’s son is a Buddhist monk at the temple so we were given a very nice tour. It was a very old, very large and very beautiful temple and we had a wonderful visit and a great day as our time in Japan began to come to a close. In closing, I did get a copy of the movie from another person and it’s a really nice movie.