We were talking yesterday with some neighbors, and the subject of my Navy days came up, and I was reminded of an incident that took place on one of my many visits to Japan. I was on a transport ship, and we pulled in to Japan on a regular basis.
A shipmate, Harold Hunt and I took the train from Yokohama to Tokyo, to spend the day sightseeing. Now remember, this was 1954, not too many years since the war had ended, so there were still installations and damage from the war.
We visited many interesting places, temples, museums, some landmarks that we had studied in school, and some of the government installations that had been used during the war. I grew up hearing about the war, so it was still quite fresh in my mind.
We took a tour bus, up the mountain, to the Shuragachi Temple, which was surrounded by some beautiful gardens with ponds and bonsai trees, little bridges connecting the ponds, it was very lovely, and quiet.
We were in a group as we entered the Temple, and the only sound in the temple, was our shuffling feet. We had to take our shoes off as we entered, and left them on rows of shelves that surrounded the walls.
As we were quietly strolling through the beautiful Temple, we kept hearing "crick, crick." We weren't sure if we or someone had picked up something on our socks or not, but every once in a while, we would hear that "crick."
As we were leaving, after we had retrieved our shoes and put them on, we started talking with an Army Major, who had taken the tour with us. He was accompanied by a Japanese guide, I think his name was Moshi. We were walking out the giant Ivory Temple door, and Harold and I were talking about the strange noises we heard in the Temple.
Moshi told us, "That is the noise a Japanese camera makes."
