Friday, November 9, 2012

September 26 - 28, 1953 The Aftermath of a Typhoon, Shopping in Osaka and the Kwansei Gakuin University Founders' Day Events


Diary Entry:  Sept. 26, 1953

"What a mess.  Lost 3 big trees out of our yard--2 evergreens & the magnolia.  Yard is a litter of limbs, leaves & tiles off our roof.  Trees left no holes--no real big tap roots.  Everyone out to see the damage & the sun is beaming with light mist now & then--an aftermath of a typhoon.  People raking yards & Japanese women with carts are carrying away tree limbs.  B saw President Imada briefly today.  Have water once more but wires are down so no lights.  B & Kita-san went to Osaka today.  Really got groceries & a kerosene lamp so we have light.  Outerbridges came to cancel our dinner invitation--cook couldn't manage dinner on a hibachi."

Diary Entry:  Sept. 27, 1953

"Up early & went to Osaka to shop.  Kita-san went to church & then met us on roof playground of Hankyu Dept. Store.  Took cab to Daimaru Dept. Store, ate lunch & then Kita-san took children to roof to play.  Found silverware at last, a Turkish kimono for myself & a few odd things.  Plenty of water but still no lights.  Got good sheeting at Hankyu & Bob's slip-on shoes.  Bob lost a tooth today.  It was so loose B just lifted it out.  It was the left lower second incisor."

Dress pattern making tool kit

"The city of Osaka can be called the factory of Japan.  It is the second largest city in Japan and is the center of life for it.  Japan must manufacture goods and trade with other countries in order to support its people.  There are over ninety million people in this country which is smaller than California.  

The factories of Osaka turn out many products but the most important one is textiles.  This includes cotton, wool, silk, and synthetic fabrics.  The people of Japan use part of it but much of it is exported to other countries.

Many bicycles are made in Osaka.  Some of these are also exported but the bicycle is a popular method of transportation for the Japanese.  Postmen, workmen, delivery men and students all use bicycles.




A wide variety of glass products come from the factories of Osaka.  Your bag of marbles or the glass part of your thermos bottle might have been made there.  Other Osaka products are sewing machines, tools of all kinds, diesel engines, radios, nails, fountain pens, and many others."
(Dragon-fly Land:  Japan, by Bonnie Belshe, 1955)

Diary Entry:  Sept. 28, 1953

"B, Kita-san & Mr. Bray went down to Koyoen to register us as aliens.  Then got our rice ration--about 11 lbs. for a month, we think.  It may be only 2 wks. supply.  Bob went to Brays to play & stay for lunch.  We took Ann with us to University for Founders Day Program.  It was all in Japanese but Mr. McKnight told us what was said as it went along.  We were introduced & had to walk up on stage.  Then we went to luncheon in library annex.  Box lunch of red rice (rice cooked with red beans always served for festivals) & separate section filled with sliced cucumber, lotus root (white and dyed pink), bamboo shoots, chicken, beef cubes, fried fish, boiled egg halves, Japanese asparagus, fish paste, sugar potato, apple.  Speeches followed eating--on & on.  B's was short & nice.  Many complimented him on it.  After rests took children to campus with Brays.  Kita-san cooked sukiyaki for supper.  Chairman of Eng. Speaking Society asked me to judge contest (speech) on Sat.  I accepted."


Founders' Day at Kwansei Gakuin University, Sept. 28, 1953

NOTE:  Megumi Imada was the President of the University.  Use this link to see a time-line of his interesting career as a psychologist/educator.  http://psychology.okstate.edu/museum/japanese/i-j.html

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