Buy this book on-line

LT. BARLOW [?] : 1948 - 1949 SUPERB ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY DETAILING LIFE IN OCCUPIED JAPAN HANDWRITTEN BY A KEEN EYED, ERUDITE WAC LIEUTENANT

16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. On offer is a super, original 1948 - 1949 manuscript diary handwritten by an unidentified WAC [Women's Army Corps] while she was stationed in Occupied Japan. [The book proper is from 1945 has an ownership name stamped in gilt: James E. Barlow, perhaps a father or brother?] It appears she was a lieutenant in the Civil Intelligence Service, but was not happy with her job as a pool typist. She had been promised a different position and tried several times to be transferred, but that proved to be very difficult. Eventually she worked in the Motion Picture Division. The writer begins her service with travel on Oct 15, 1948 on the North Coast Limited to Seattle. After several days of rail travel and a stay in Seattle, the author left for Tokyo on Oct 26 aboard the General M. M. Patrick. She proves to be an excellent diarist making detailed descriptions of the people she met, her surroundings and intimate thoughts of post War Japan and the effort to rebuild its society. She has many unique insights into the effort given she was an officer in the typing pool but hobnobbing with high society. This is true throughout the journal. Her ocean voyage was not pleasant, she was seasick and described the terrible storm they encountered and the pitching of the ship which at times was dangerous. Here are some snippets: Oct 20 the talk of the train was a drunk who seemed almost crazy ("alcoholic psycho", an ex-army nurse & bride said - & she once worked in Norwich, Conn Hospital with the insane). I ignored him so he told me I was horrible - (He'd asked "Lemme talk to you, wouldn't you like to haf me talk to you?"). The dining room steward threatened to put him off the train & would have done it, he was so loud and incoherent & a pest - but he took reprimands so politely and apologetically & no one of the passengers would complain that they didn't do it. Even the Lt Col who had been his drinking buddy tried & tried to shush him. Oct 28 When I tried to go down the hall to bathe later, the man across the hall from me sat on the bed nearly naked, beer bottles around. I got Kathy to watch me in - luckily cause he tried to get friendly. Later knocked on my door and telephoned too. Glad he checked out very early. Nov 4 R.K. in our stateroom is the overbearing type of N Yawk - - - - with a greatly exaggerated opinion of herself. And she has a sweater with Hubba-Hubba above and below each breast and across the back. Nov 11 I didn't meet Helen Gibson's Major Kelly. The last I saw of the "leech" from Boston, she was snuggled up, pressed against one of the army officers on our ship and twisting a button on his chest & rolling her "bedroom" eyes at him (as Lana calls them) - oh yes, she had on her sexy shoes of course. I wonder where she'll wind up and how." The author is involved with a man named Bob, who was also in the army and stationed in Japan. They seem to be social with fairly high ranking officers and Japanese private citizens of some standing, often visiting their homes. They shop quite a bit in the Japanese markets, comparing prices to those in the PX. They seemed to be interested in purchasing items for their value, rather than souvenirs. She wrote about the army, and much of what she had to say was not very complimentary - the red tape, inefficiency, bad verdict in an army trial, pay reduction etc. On one occasion she saw General MacArthur: Nov 18 "On my way back, I saw a crowd gathered to watch MacArthur leave the Dai Ielia (?) Bldg - it was another half hour before he came out, but it was fun. All over quickly and away he went in a big black limousine - a few MPs clicking heels and Jap guards keeping crowd back, and Jap street sweepers getting leaves and dirt swept up in time. As a man beside me said, the "ceremony" is very important here and is less than any other country would do in similar circumstances. Yet it was "God descending from heaven and riding off in his chariot"" The author made every effort to explore Japan whenever she had the chance. For some reason she wanted very badly to pat Hirohito's white horse, and she finally managed to do so. She often mentions the damage from the bombing, and her descriptions are filled with the Japanese culture and customs she observed. Her detailed entries are sometimes so long, it is difficult to transcribe one here. This is an abbreviated entry of her comments on the handling of Japanese sewage. A bit gross, and not what you'd find in a travel guide: Dec 10 "Sometime I'll have to get on the subject of honey buckets - they're just unavoidable in Japan - wooden and luckily covered, they are carted in most anything, but usually a low flat affair drawn by a horse or bullock - maybe 10 or 15 to a cart. The man walks along outside - he "cheats" if he rides as it's against the law...there's always a stream of them along the main thoroughfare. At the ends of small side streets are frequently a cluster of honey buckets, probably set out as we would set out our garbage to be collected....of course we have modern plumbing, such as it is, but probably most of Japan doesn't and this is the sewage system, except when men and children use the sidewalk or open sewers....often there's not much odor but sometimes the stench is horrible......and the farmer carries a bucket plus a long pole with a dipper on the end of it and he ladles out the contents in his garden.....we saw a woman with a honey bucket taking out the contents by hand and scattering it in a garden - we think and hope it was earth she was dealing with that way." The author wrote about her voyage to Japan and the first few months after her arrival. After that, the entries become more sporadic, with long gaps between entries. She seemed to write when she had the urge, after a special sight seeing trip, event, social gathering, or when she just wanted to vent or put her opinion on a subject down on paper. All of it is very interesting, and the author presents an insightful and personal look at post-war Japan and the army occupation. There are about 123 handwritten pages altogether. The book measures 7" x 4" and is overall VG.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.