Japan
Marie Green

When I was 8 years old we lived in Sapporo, Japan. It was on the northern most island Hokkaido. We went to a small village called Engaru, where my father was the American military advisor and liason to the Japanese army.

When we arrived, Daddy's interpreter, Harrada-san, met us with a Jeep. He took us to our typical Japanese home. We had to take our shoes off at the front door and put on slippers or "tabis" (Japanese socks). All the floors in the house were made of straw mats called "tatami". The walls were sliding paper doors. "shoji". It was all very exciting to me.

The kitchen had a "hibachi" for cooking and a large wooden barrel for bathing. I don't remember what Mother cooked, but she is so creative, I'm sure it was good.

We did have a western style dining table and while we ate supper, the children outdoors would watch us through the windows. It bothered my father enough, that he got up and closed the curtains. Then the Japanese children took tiny sticks and poked through the screen so they could pull the curtain aside and see our funny eating habits.

Another thing that was hard for them to understand was the color of our skin and hair. We were all blonds with blue eyes and when we went out to play, they would rub our heads to see if the color would come off!

I remember asking my Mama if we could go to a friend's house to play, because they invited us. "How do you know? You don't speak Japanese," she replied. "Oh, we just use our hands and point." we said.

The mayor of Engaru had three daughters, who were as lovely inside as out. They took us to their home to see the beautiful music boxes in their father's jewelry shop. I remember a photo taken that day which shows me squatting (like Japanese children do) while holding one of those wonderful boxes. I was oblivious to the fact that when you squat in a western dress, everyone can see your panties!