1956 Dodgers Goodwill Tour in Japan Remembered

60 years ago this month, the then Brooklyn Dodgers (prior to the move to Los Angeles) made a Goodwill tour of Japan in October 1956. It was while we were researching Dodger history for our upcoming WWII historical fiction novel DIAMOND IN THE PACIFIC that we came across this unique moment in time that captured the Japanese nation. The then Brooklyn Dodgers had just lost game 7 of the 1956 World Series to their crosstown Yankees rivals when they were put on a Douglas DC-7 plane headed west to Los Angeles then onto to Hawaii before reaching Japan. 

If you could go back in time to any great Dodger game, this would have been one tour to remember. This had legendary players such as Duke Snyder, Pee-Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Don Demeter, Billy Herman, and legendary Color-Barrier breaking baseball great Jackie Robinson. This was Jackie Robinson's last year with the Dodgers marking the end of what has been called The Jackie Robinson Era. They played several games including against the Kanto All Stars at Miyagi Stadium and their final game against the Yomiuri Giants at Korakuen Stadium. 

While we don't have the complete details of the tour, we have enough to fit this historical gem into our novel's storyline. In it, we tell the fictional tale of two baseball players one from Japan and the other the United States whose lives are disrupted by the outbreak of war. Our fictional 1st Baseman Kenshin Yoshimoto of the Yomiuri Ginats and Pitcher "Meteor-Mike" Murphy of the Brooklyn Dodgers will face each other in THE DIAMOND IN THE PACIFIC. But how this ties into this real life 1956 Goodwill Tour is quite unique. While our two war time foes respected each other as players on the field, they do not become friends until after the war when Yoshimoto encounters Murphy posing for photos with Japanese school children and his team mates at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. What many people may not know is that legendary Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda was a second year player who happened to be on that tour. He plays a fictional part in our story and this tour serves as a vehicle for how we tie our story arc together. We hope you stay tuned for updates on our Amereican Mishima novel. We believe both baseball fans and WWII buffs alike will enjoy our upcoming epic to be published in 2017. 

A Tale of Two Propagandists

Earlier this month we had learned that the infamous Vietnam War Communist Propagandist Trịnh Thị Ngọ better known to former American GI's as "Hanoi Hannah" had passed away in the former Saigon at the age of 87. There has been much said among many American Veterans who many found her choices in music and outrageous exaggerations of the Communist efforts to be entertaining and infuriating. Her broadcasts were largely heard in what was formally known as I-Corps and largely heard by the US Marines who fought in Quang Tri Province along the former DMZ that separated the north from the Republic of Vietnam.

It has been said by those who do not harbor hard feelings that she did her job to incite mistrust through her Communist propaganda. As the son of a Vietnam Veteran I have little sympathy for her. She is said she believed in the NVA written statements she broadcast. It is not believed that anyone deserted by her broadcasts but it has been said that many Marines would often toast beer cans when she would mention their exact unit names as being destroyed or captured. Her broadcasts ran for 8 years and ended at the end of the American Withdrawal from Vietnam. She died on October 2nd 2016 at the age of 87.

Moving back a bit earlier, we at American Mishima had set out to write about American & Japanese interaction and in doing so we are able to tie this article to a better known Japanese Propagandist named Iva Toguri better known as "Tokyo Rose." Often we hear comparisons of Hanoi Hannah to Tokyo Rose but here in lies the difference. Where as Trịnh Thị Ngọ was an unapologetic die hard Communist who believed in what she was doing, Ms. Toguri was in an entirely different situation. You see Ms. Toguri was an American born Nisei from Los Angeles who in 1941 left for Japan to visit an ailing relative. Once war broke out she was pressured by the military government of Hideki Tojo to renounce her American Citizenship and participate in broadcasts denouncing the United States. She refused their demands and subsequently was denied a ration card for food. By 1943 she was forced to broadcast the "Zero Hour" show where she called herself "Orphan Annie" often referring to her "fellow Orphans" aka Americans. She along with captured Americans who smuggled her food made these broadcasts but never denounced the United States. 

After the war Ms. Toguri was charged with 8 counts of treason based on some shaky prejudiced evidence. They convicted her on one count and she served 6 years of a ten year prison sentence. Talk about a raw deal! She was later granted a full pardon by President Gerald Ford in 1977. She ran a small grocery store in Chicago and died there in 2006 at the age of 90. By evidence, there is no real comparison between Trịnh Thị Ngọ and Iva Toguri. Some would say Ngo's broadcasts were a cheap imitation of Toguri but that would not accurate or even close. Both women had a job to do but their motivations were entirely different. While we do feel sympathetic to the indignities of Ms. Toguri, In regards to Ms. Ngo I would best quote my late father in who once spoke of his Vietnam experience as leaving him feeling nothing. The war is long over and hard feelings do subside over time. Perhaps in time, so will ours. All we can wish for these two ladies is that "May they both have found peace."

Flight of the Three Reisen

It's incredible to think that 70 years after the end of WWII that only a handful of A6M Reisen Zero Fighter planes survived the war. Currently there are only three that can fly and of those three, only one retains it's original Sakae engine. Well thanks to the Planes of Fame Museum and the Commemorative Air Force this rare three Zero formation was able to take to the skies for us to enjoy. If you are a Zero affectionado as we are, you will enjoy this rare video where one could see Jiro Horikoshi's vision take flight. Please enjoy!

Third Times a Charm: Japan's New Reginonal Jet Reaches the United States

Earlier this week, Japan's first domestically produced passenger jet arrived in Washington State after two unsuccessful attempts. The Mitsubishi Regional Jet of MRJ arrived in Grant County International Airport after making a series of stops for refueling from its initial Nagoya starting point. The MRJ has three more long range test flights to the US planned and some potential software upgrades. It is said this plane will hold up to 80 passengers. While this plane will not be delivered until 2018, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has received 400 orders. Keep your eye out for this plane. I'm certain we'll be seeing more of it soon.

Playing With Fire? Beijing Talks Tokyo

In what seems to be the latest round in the never ending South China Seas disputes, Chinese Military Spokesman Yang Yujin made some pretty bold threats to Tokyo this week. Apparently, the PRC objects to the recently announced plans on the part of the Japanese Defense Ministry to conduct Joint Patrols with the U.S. Navy in the disputed South China Seas. Yujin alleged that Tokyo was "Playing with fire" and that his military was not going to sit by and watch idly. To what purpose do such threats serve? The International Community has already ruled against the PRC in The Hague. Not only does China's artificial island building in international waters which they now claim based on some 500 year old map has little legitimacy, it's bad for business. Let's face it, the economic boom and rising wealth among Chinese under 30 would have never occurred under the Communist Rule of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. This is only because China has embraced limited Capitalism which has made many Chinese very wealthy. To date, China now has more millionaires and billionaires than any other country combined meaning they rely on business and business happens when you use trade. That's why none of this makes any sense. Militarizing International Waters threatens commerce and trade for the entire region upsetting the delicate balance of trade between nations. It's clear that someone in Beijing feels that to take it all for themselves at the expense of others offers China some short term economic advantage but ultimately this just sets China up for more problems than they solve. It's unfortunate that their leaders have embarked on this path. I suppose the grand irony is that while the Communists love to bash Japan for it's past  military aggression of 80 years ago, it engages on some of its own. We have long said we hope such saber rattling will cease with cooler heads prevailing but the ante has been raised and some people as we have read want a confrontation that will serve no one. Until either the PRC backs down from this course of action or adheres to the international court ruling, Japan will exert its right to protect its sovereign islands and participate in internationally conducted patrols with its most important ally the United States. As we say in America, Bullshit Talks and Bullshit Walks. Let's hope nobody gets killed over this. Peace out!

JMSDF Chief Calls for Resumption of Chinese Port Visits

Seen here is the Chinese Navy Missile Destroyer ZhenJiang on her last voyage to Japan. As everyone knows, relations have been less than friendly these past few years between Japan and the PRC largely over the disputed Senkaku Islands and the South China Seas tensions. Well most recently, JMSDF Admiral Tomohisa Takei called for the resumption of Chinese Naval Port of Calls to Japanese ports. At a time of much sabre rattling between the two Asian Powers, Admiral Takei's proposal has some merit. He believes that such exchanges of Naval Personnel by visits of warships are a healthy way to improve relations between their two competing armed forces. To date, no PRC Naval vessel has visited Japan since 2011.

In recent years Admiral Takei has criticized Beijing's artificial island building calling it “a deliberate attempt to unilaterally change the status quo and undermine existing norms.” In regards to the Senkaku Islands incursions by the PRC Navy, he has accused Beijing of attempting to invade Japanese Territory.  And so after talk, the call for the resumption of Port of Call visits to Japanese ports is rather unexpected. We at American Mishima believe Admiral Takei is correct in his assertion that such personal exchanges could reduce tensions. We would like nothing more than to see peace prevail between the two nations. While no word has been made by the Ministry of Defense or from the PRC, Admiral Takei maintains;"Our door is open." Let's hope he is right.

Japan's F-35A Rollout

In a recent lavish celebration held in Texas, American Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin and the Japanese Ministry of Defense has announced the official roll out of the first of 42 F-35A Lightning Stealth Fighter planes for Japan's Air Self Defense Force.Lockheed has partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other Japanese Contractors to tailor the new Joint Strike Fighter to Japan's specific defense needs.Initial assembly will take place at Fort Worth while final assembly will take place in Nagoya Japan. Japanese pilots will train with other pilots and maintenance personnel from Norway and Italy at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The planes will eventually be based at Misawa which is home to the USAF's 35th Fighter Wing flying older F-16's.

All fanfare aside, it is our hope that Mitsubishi will resolve the issues plaguing this controversial 5th Generation fighter plane. While it has its stealth and vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, it's two missile and 1200 round gun limitations are cause for great concerns. It will be up to Japanese engineers to make this work. We at American Mishima wish them all the success. がんばって ください!