April 1966: Rita Clark Trip Days 8-10

The following is a reprinting of the content taken directly from Rita Clark's Travelogue seen in the picture link below.

8th Day Thurs 4/21 - Morning city tour of Kyoto, classical city of Japan with Toshi accompanying us all through Japan - good guide.

4/21 - Here we saw the old Imperial Palace, Golden Pavilion, Higashi-Honganji Temple and other places of interest.  The meat in Japan especially the beef is very good, so I repeated the sizzling steak dinner in Hotel Miyako to-night - after returning from the theatre with Gertrude - many Geisha girls.

9th Day Fri. Apr. 22 - At 9:00 A.M. we left by motor coach to the ancient city of Nara visiting Todaiji Temple with the world's largest bronze image of Buddha, Kasuga Shrine with thousands of stone lanterns and Deer Park where we fed tame deer rice crackers.  Lunch at the Nara Hotel and then returned to the Miyako Hotel about 25 miles.  Before leaving Irene and Ward Sumpter introduced us to Mrs. Duncan Hines also from Bowling Green, Kentucky - she was returning from the South Seas and ran into her friends by mere chance.  Our last day in Japan we went to a private home for a tea ceremony and flower arrangement.  At 6:45 P.M. we were taken to a sukiyaki dinner party with Geisha girls entertaining us.

10th Day Sat. Apr. 23 - Breakfast at Miyako Hotel where the meals have been so good - Western style.  We transferred to the Osaka Intern'l Airport by private motor coach with Toshi and at 10:50 A.M. said sayonara to Japan.  The Japanese Airlines flight 601 took us to Taipei, Taiwan and we were taken to the famous Grand Hotel in Taiwan better known as Formosa.  The Nationalist Chinese government made Taipei it's capital in 1949 when they moved their government to this city.  We took a city tour and saw the National Historical Museum, Lungshan Temple, the Theatre district and Presidential Square where Pres. Chiang Kai Chek has his offices.

Well that's it!  A short ten days for my Great Aunt Rita in Japan.  She did and saw so much in such a short period of time.  I am jealous!!  While I did make a very special visit with my friend Ken to Kyoto which I blogged about here, I have not had a chance to visit the city of Nara.  It is definitely on my list of things I still want to do.  Rita went to the theatre, a tea ceremony and even made a go at Ikebana - Japanese flower arrangement.  I am so impressed.  This was obviously a first class tour judging by the itinerary and the hotels they stayed at.  Here is a picture of their group taken in Kyoto.  My Great Aunt Rita is the eighth person from the right, in the back row just to the left of the Geisha girl.

The other interesting thing to me about this page of entries, is the mention of a "Mrs. Duncan Hines" from Bowling Green, Kentucky.  In the United States, the name "Duncan Hines" is very famous as it is a brand for cake mixes and other food products.  Well I was a bit curious, so I Googled Duncan Hines.  I should not be at all surprised to find out that the original Mr. Duncan Hines hailed from where else - Bowling Green, Kentucky.  While he died in 1959, he was married three times.  His first wife died of cancer in 1938.  He married his second wife in 1939 and they divorced in 1945.  He married his third wife Clara in 1947.  Clara was born in 1904, which would have put her at 62 years old back in 1966.  My guess is it was her.

My favorite Duncan Hines product!!!

April 1966: Rita Clark Trip Days 4-7

The following is a reprinting of the content taken directly from Rita Clark's Travelogue seen in the picture link below.

4th Day - Sun Apr. 17, 1966 - At 8:00 A.M. we left by private motor coach to Asakusa Station with our Fuji Tour Guide "Toshi". At 9:00 A.M. we boarded the Tobu Railway's Dream Train known as the Romance Car for Nikko.  We saw cherry blossoms along the way - about 85 miles - the Express Train took exactly 105 minutes from Tokyo to Nikko.  Here we saw the vermillion painted Sacred Bridge, hand carved Yomeiman Gate and the Inner Shrine of Toshogu.  After lunch at the Kanaya Hotel where we had trout from the waters of Lake Chuzenji 4194 ft. above sea level we visited Kegon Waterfall.  Returned to Tokyo by the Limited Express train after a very cold but pleasant day - Had Cherry Jubilee in Hilton dining room with Jeanne.

5th Day - Mon. April 18 - After breakfast at the Hilton Tokyo we checked out and by private motor coach drove to Fuji Hakone National Park via Yokohama and Kamakura.  Passed Tokyo's residential district, stopped to see the image of Buddha (Daibutsu) and towns & villages along the Pacific Ocean.  Lunch at the Kasiero Chinese Restaurant all of us sitting on tatami's in real oriental fashion for a true Chinese meal.  Arrived at the Fujiya Hotel in Miyanoshita, Hakone late afternoon to stay overnight in this large tourist hotel half Japanese and half Western.  After a trout dinner I had a massage at 9:00 P.M. 500 yen ($1.40) for 45 min.

6th Day Tues. 4/19 - Had the morning at leisure, then at 2:30 P.M. transferred by motor coach to Atami.  Largest hot spring resort, enjoying view of Lake Hakone, Ten Province Pass and Mt. Fuji on the way.  Dinner and accommodation at the New Fujiya Hotel where we donned Kimonas provided by the hotel and wore them to dinner as well as outdoors - both men and women in our party.

7th Day Wed 4/20 - Breakfast at the New Fujiya Hotel then we transferred by motor coach to Atami Station.  At 9:31 A.M. we took the "bullet" train for Kyoto which travels 130 miles per hour.  Arrived at Kyoto Sta. at 12:17 and were transferred to the Miyako Hotel - welcomed remainder of hotel afternoon to do some mending, washing, etc.  Lunch and dinner at the Miyako Hotel.

Well one of the amazing things to me about this post is that my Great Aunt Rita went to Nikko as have I and was mentioned in a previous post in this blog.  She also went to the Daibutsu in Kamakura which I also did during one of my early trips to the country (I will blog about that one day!).  She made it to Hakone which is still on my list of things to do.  I would also like to visit Atami one day as it looked cool when I saw it from the window of my Shinkansen on a past trip to Kyoto.  The most amazing thing though about this journal page?  The 500 yen equals $1.40 exchange rate!  Upon further research I learned that the yen was fixed at 360 to the dollar not long after the war.  It stayed at this rate until it was changed to 308 to the dollar in 1971 due to market pressures.  Finally it was allowed to float in 1973 with other major currencies of the world.  Wish I could get that 360 rate today!  I might move!!!

Yen to Dollar Exchange Rate

Also of interesting note, apparently the Fujiya Hotel is quite a beautiful and famous place.  It originated in 1878, and is a very popular place to this day for those heading to see Hakone's beautiful sites.  Here is an old picture of it from their web-site:

Here is a more modern look at this wonderful, historic property:

The New Fujiya hotel is still in Atami.  Lastly I would like to comment on the Shinkansen.  Japan's modern day Shinkansen was completed in 1964 in time for the Tokyo summer Olympics.  So when Rita took it in 1966, it was still a relatively new service.  There was only one line running at that time - the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka which operated the original "O Series" trains seen in this picture.

This original Shinkansen train was finally removed from service in 2008.  What a long run of incredible safety and service for this engineering marvel.  As Rita states, it traveled at 130 mph when it was introduced.  Today, there are a number of Shinkansen lines running all over Japan.  The current Tokaido Shinkansen train runs at a top speed of 186 mph.

April 1966: Rita Clark Trip Days 1-3

The following is a reprinting of the content taken directly from Rita Clark's Travelogue seen in the picture link below.  Please note the map at the top of this picture is different and incorrect from the one on the original post of this trip.

TRAVEL WORLD - 67 DAY ESCORTED AROUND-WORLD-TOUR APRIL 14, 1966

1st Day Thurs. Apr. 14, 1966 - Left Los Angeles by Japan Airlines DC-8 Jet for Tokyo via Honolulu.  At Hawaii we crossed the International Date Line and lost a day for we arrived in Japan at Tokyo the same afternoon tho it was
2nd Day Fri Apr. 15 - We were taken to the Tokyo Hilton Hotel - a beautiful hotel!  This capital city of Japan has a population of over 10 million.
3rd Day Sat Apr. 16 - Breakfast in room - then lunch with the group at the Gardens of Chinzan-so restaurant famous for its barbecue meats.  In the afternoon we visited the Imperial Palace Plaza, Asakusa Amusement Center, Ueno Park and Picture Gallery, Meiji Shrine Outer Garden and the Ginza famous shopping area.  At 7:00 P.M. we had a cocktail party for our group of 16 and here I met Dr. & Mrs. Laurence White and Mrs. Swanson of Canoga Park, Cathy Smith of Culver City, Bill Nordhoff of Santa Monica, Gertrude Bernhard of Seattle, Jeanne Eddy from Chicago, Mr. & Mrs. Ward Sumpter of Kentucky, Mr. & Mrs. Max Baele of Fla., Capt. & Mrs. Bert White from S.F.  Bob Davis of No. Hollywood joined us from Korea, and Ken Dunne, Australian Conductor.

My Observations:  First of all, I came across the following beautiful color picture on the internet (it was not in Rita's Travelogue) of a JAL DC-8 parked at San Francisco airport in 1968.  Just thought you might want to see what this plane looked like!

Upon further research, I have come to find out that the original Hilton Hotel in Tokyo, which was the first global chain hotel in Japan, was built in 1963 not too much before Rita's arrival.  It was probably considered "new" at the time.  In 1984 the Tokyu Hotel Chain, Ltd. bought this property and renamed it the Capital Tokyu Hotel.  It ceased operation in 2006, due to the area redevelopment project of Nagata-cho 2-chome.  It reopened in October 2010 as "The Capital Hotel Tokyu".  Today the main Tokyo Hilton is over in Shinjuku.  Lastly, the Gardens of Chinzan-so, which were created in 1877, are still alive and well in the Bunkyo area of Tokyo.  While I have never been there, there appears to be seven restaurants on the grounds also known as "Camilia Mountain", and a Four Seasons hotel sits on a corner of the extensive 66,000 square meter site.

More Random but Related Trivia:  Just a short month and a half after Rita touched down at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), a famous group of people did the same.  Can you guess who they were?  If you said The Beatles, you would be correct!!!  They were there to play concerts at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo on June 30th, July 1st and 2nd.  And where did the Beatles stay during their only trip to Japan?  Why the Tokyo Hilton of course!!!!

The Beatles Haneda Arrival - June 29th, 1966

As long as we are talking about the Beatles trip to Japan, here is a little taste of their first concert on the evening of June 30th.


Interestingly the Beatles only played 30 minute sets in these concerts. I guess when your songs average only a couple of minutes that works out. They had an afternoon and evening show.  Notice how simple the stage is set up.  Quite different from today's major productions!  Shows you that if your music is so beautiful you don't need anything else.  Sadly just a short two months after these shows the Beatles would play their final concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park on August 29th.  Why couldn't those screaming girls just be quiet so everyone could hear the music?

My Great Aunt - Rita Clark

Ok I am going to add a few posts that are slightly off the regular path of this Blog, but they stay true to the main topic - Japan.  This is the story of my Great Aunt Rita Clark, who is the sister of my Grandfather Samuel Joseph Clark (on my fathers side).  Why a story on Great Aunt Rita?  Well, because she was a very interesting individual, who devoted a huge portion of her life to traveling all over the world.  Her travel exploits cover a massive span starting in the 1920's and going all the way up to the early 1970's.

So why or maybe the better question is "how" would I be able to transfer over to you the details of her various travels?  Well the answer is because she kept a diary of incredible detail of almost all of her adventures.  She called it her "Travelogue".  I asked for and received four of these massive books recently from my parents, who had come into possession of them from my Grandparents who had them after Great Aunt Rita's passing during the 1970's.  There is a fifth book that my parents are still holding onto.  These books are a fascinating look into a world of long ago.  Rita, whose own marriage to her only husband (Hamilton V.B. Riggs) lasted but a brief year or so, was really married to the world.  She was a fearless traveler, who utilized many different methods (air, boat - often freighters!, rail, car, etc.) and often ventured out either in organized tours or even on her own.  She also was an amazing reader, and had a thirst for knowledge about the world that she satisfied via her travels and her book reading.  Today as I look through her journals, I marvel at this woman I can only vaguely remember.

Of her many adventures, Rita did of course make it over to Japan!  The year was 1966 (which was later in her life and one of her last major trips).  It was part of what any ordinary person would call the trip of a lifetime, but for Rita, I suspect it was just another normal adventure.  The trip duration was 67 days, and it was basically an around the world (via air) excursion with a very small group of 16 people organized by "Travel World Tours".  Rita joined this tour on her own.

So I plan to dedicate a number of posts to the Japan portion of this trip, but let me start by showing you a picture of Rita , taken at the American Consulate General in Cape Town, South Africa when she renewed her passport there on March 15th, 1956.  As I said, she was VERY detail oriented!!!

Now, let me show you the scope of her full itinerary on this specific trip.  It started in Los Angeles, where she lived, and made it's way from east to west around the world.  The first international stop as you can see is Japan.

Does that look at little ambitious to you?  It is quite staggering to me.  Once you see the pages on her days in Japan, and then realize that there is this level of detail or more for each stop on the rest of the itinerary, then you will begin to understand the time she put into this Travelogue, and the size and extent of the books that are currently in my possession.  Ideally I would like to share them with others via some on-line method (perhaps a new Blog?), but at the moment I am struggling to find out who would be interested in reading them.  If you are reading this and have any ideas, perhaps you can help me?

So please enjoy the following posts about Rita's adventures, during a time not so long ago when travel was much more romantic than it is today.

Nov. 2010 Japan Trip - Post #12: Furosato Dinner and Cha-Cha's

After a day of sightseeing around Matsushima, my friend Sam had arranged a nice dinner for us at one of our mutually favorite spots - Furosato (Country Home) in Tagajo.  I have posted about this small, unique and friendly place before here.

Sam invited some of our co-workers to come over, and it was a very nice group of welcoming people.

Looking back, this was a very special dinner.  It would be the last time I ever set foot into the beautiful Furosato, as it was destroyed by the Tsunami four months later.

It makes these pictures extra special as they are my last reminder of what used to be.

The Mama-san can be seen in the photo above behind Sam.  Get a good look at this place as I will be posting in the future about a dinner at the "new" Furosato.  Yes thankfully they have re-opened a new restaurant just down the street from the old one.  They are quite opposites in terms of style though, but more on that later.

As for this meal, it was very enjoyable.  Mary stayed away from the house specialties - "guts", and opted for cuts of regular meat and chicken.  Good beer and good conversation flowed.  Little did I know that it would be my final meal in this tiny, beautiful, character filled box.  After our dinner, we all headed over to Cha-Cha's for some more drinks and a few songs.  While Cha-Cha's did indeed also feel the power of the destructive Tsunami, thankfully it would not be the last time I set foot in that building.  I do regret though only having one picture from that party at Cha-Cha's - the following group shot taken at the end of the night.

This is my last reminder of Cha-Cha's before the Tsunami.  Mary and I really appreciated everyone who came that night to make this evening a great time.

Don't Worry! Japanese Curry!!!

Ok.  Ok.  It has been a while now I know.  Happy New Year to all of you as this represents my first post of 2012.  Don't worry.  Don't worry.  I have not forgotten about this blog, nor about Japan.  In fact, I think about it all the time.  Just busy doin' other stuff during and after the holidays.  I hope you enjoyed the end of your year and are off on good footing in this year of the Dragon!

So the purpose of this post is to talk about Curry.  I remember the first time I tried a Curry.  It was in the mid 1980's at a small restaurant/bar on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, California called the Calcutta Cricket Club.  It was part of a bar they shared a wall with next door called McGinty's.  Sadly both of these places are long gone today.  Anyway, as you can image from the name of the establishment, it was an Indian Curry.  I ordered their chicken dish, and I had my choices of different degrees of hotness for the spices.  Since I was a big fan of spicy foods, and thought I had a strong ability to handle heat, I ordered it with an "extra hot" spice level.

To make a long story short, I could only eat half the dish.  The heat was far too intense.  My forehead was sweating like I was in an oven.  As I drove home I felt like my face was beginning to melt.  Wow!!!  Unfortunately due to the intense heat I really couldn't taste the flavor of the Curry.  I also never forgot from that point forward to be more careful with how hot I would order any spicy dish.

So fast forward to the mid '90's during my early trips to Japan.  I was fairly ignorant at the time about Japanese food.  I did not care for sushi as I had not developed my palette for it yet.  While I was over on those early trips I experimented with different foods.  One thing that caught my eye was the fact that a lot of Japanese really liked Curry.  That was cool I thought, so I decided to try the Japanese version as I was certain I would like it as long as I had the heat index in the right spot.  Early on I found a small restaurant called Sher Curry that was located inside of the Takanawa Tennis complex in the Shinagawa area of Tokyo.  It obviously catered to the tennis and golf crowd that used their sports facility.  It was never very crowded.  I ordered many of their different Curry plates, starting with a mild degree of heat.  The food was always very fresh, tasty and delivered to your table quickly.  The price was also reasonable.

Through the years, I have had many nice, relaxing and enjoyable meals at Sher Curry Restaurant.  A lot of times I have even gone there by myself (sometimes on a flight arrival night if it was still open it gave me the perfect convenience).  Of course I came to really appreciate the taste of Japanese Curry, which is different from the Indian version.  I do appreciate both, although I find the Japanese style more to my liking.  It is smoother and a little darker that the Indian Curries I have had.

The photos above are from 2001 and 2002 respectively by the way.  When I returned home from those early trips to Japan, I found a great restaurant called (appropriately) Curry House, right down the street from my office.  Me and my coworkers used to eat there regularly while we still worked in that office.  Their Curry was fantastic, just like it tasted in Japan.  It is still there, and is part of a larger parent company called House Foods.  I am sure my Japanese friends have heard of it.  Here is their U.S. web-site:  http://www.house-foods.com/CurryHouse/default.aspx.  What a great place.  I need to go back!!!

Anyway finding out that I really liked Japanese Curry allowed me to add another popular type of Japanese food to my preferred list.  This was comforting, and while unfortunately I have not been back to Sher Curry in many years, I am grateful for the memories and good food they provided me.  One day I may return again.