Yokosuka was an interesting place, but not one I’d like to visit again. As soon as we left the train station (backpacks in tow; we couldn’t find a locker big enough to put them in) we noticed a definite change in the attitude of the Japanese. All over the rest of Japan, we were perceived as tourists and the people had been very friendly and accommodating. In Yokosuka, we were perceived as Americans; only visiting this place because of the American war machine. I can’t blame them – I would be resentful too. Yokosuka was definitely a much dirtier, grimier town than anywhere else we’d been in Japan, and the Americans were responsible for stationing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in this town, approximately 825 km from where the Americans were responsible for devastating the city of Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb.

David met us at the entryway to the Naval Base and got us hooked up with visitor passes. (The little guard guys were not at all excited about the size of our backpacks). We left our backpacks in David’s car, and then went on a tour of the USS George Washington. It is certainly an impressive war machine and kinda cool to visit (although I wouldn’t want to live there).

on the flight deck

in the shop my bro worked at

Afterward we went out to eat at TGIF with David and his girlfriend (who came down from Tokyo). It was kinda weird to eat American food in Japan but we had a pretty good time (and Whitney got a vegan salad!). Then we went barhopping with Dave & several of his buddies. My favorite part was Whitney, walking down the street, not drunk yet but asking every single navy guy in uniform she saw for a picture. (hah, David was horrified!). We ended up at a karaoke bar where David sang karaoke and the rest of us sang backup. Eventually everyone was super toasty and we went back to Dave’s buddy’s apartment to crash on his very comfortable recliners. I stayed up talking to Emily via google chat until about 4:30am.

Around 7:30 we got up and headed back to David’s place to breakfast and showers. (David had gone to the fruit stand down the street for breakfast and it was DELICIOUS). We hung out until just before our train was to leave, and then literally ran to the train station (but we did make it on time). From there it was easy peasy beautiful, all the way back to Birmingham.

In conclusion: Thoughts About Japan

Related posts:

1. Japan Day 1, Tokyo
2. Japan Day 2, Tokyo
3. Japan Day 5, Kyoto