Brian McCarty:
CLASS OF 1971
Yoyogi Elementary SchoolClass of 1971
Tokyo,
Brian's Story
I was one of the lucky brats that got to stay in that magical place called Washington Heights for almost 6 years (until in was closed for the Olympics). We lived in 116-B for most of that time so I rarely got out to the 500 or 600 blocks until I was in Jr High. The teachers I had in Yoyogi Elementary School were 3rd-Mrs Bell, 4th-Ms Warner, 5th-Miss Brockman, 6th-Mr Prado, 7th-Miss Kunze (homeroom), 8th-Mr ??? (English teacher). In the summer of '63, our area was closed down and we moved to Kanto Mura, where I became a member of the first freshman class at Kanto Mura HS (go Vikings!)(Remember going to classes in the Intermediate School for several months until the High School was finished?)
THINGS I REMEMBER ABOUT WASHINGTON HEIGHTS:
1. Chocolate popcycles from a vendor that rode through the area
2. My street (Yoyogi Ave) lined with cherry trees filled with pinkish-white blossoms.
3. The ground covered with the blossom petals until it looked like snow
4. Little league ball as teams from each of the areas (blocks) played each other.
5. Ground that would crunch under your feet after each frost.
6. Snow that covered the ground for several days one winter.
7. Making forts out of old Christmas trees and having snowball fights
8. Colored chicks that my parents bought for us one Easter (and we raised until they grew to big and we gave them to a farmer)
9. Bamboo...Expand for more
fences that most of the end units had so they had their own yard.
10. Playing baseball in our court
11. Climbing the huge ginko trees by Shingeku(sp) gate and being able to see the Ginza signs at night as they changed color
12. Going off-base to "Mama-san's" (a little store just past the same gate) and buying:
a. Bubble gum that had an indian firing an arrow at a target. If he hit the target, you got a free piece of gum. I would usually end up with 4-8 pieces of gum in my mouth playing that "game"
b. wooden tops
c. soda pop that would require you to insert a wooden device in the top, slap it and push the glass marble out of the opening so you could drink it.
d. strikers
e. small bamboo cages to put your rhinosarus beetles in
f. cinnamon drops
g. sembei(sp)or rice crackers
h. dried squid (got them right off the clothesline, where they were drying in the sun)
i. milkies
j. Look chocolate
13. Learning to swim in O Club pool
14. Learning to dive in Sr Enlisted pool (had the high dive platform)
15. Catching goldfish with rice "nets"
16. The taste and warmth of hot chestnuts
17. The arrows you could get each new years in Meiji Park
18. The call of hundreds of cicadas in the trees next to Meiji Park
I could go on for a long time but I would love to hear about some of your memories. Write me when you get a chance.
Brian
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