TBT - Hiroshima

My first real job out of school was working for an offshore drilling contractor who was building a new drilling rig in Japan. I was hired to go to the shipyard and be one of the inspectors and owners reps. The rig was being built at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Hiroshima.

I arrived there in early July, 1975 and settled in to my new surroundings. Therefore, I was in Hiroshima on the 30th anniversary of August 6, 1945. In Japan, they have the Obon festival which honors dead ancestors. In Hiroshima, they hold in on Aug 6.

Hiroshima means "Seven Islands". The city is literally made up if separate islands on a river delta. Peace Park is near the center of the city and one main branch of the river flows past it. The families would make paper lanterns which they lit with a candle and then floated them down the river. The sight of thousands of paper lanterns floating down stream was an astounding thing to see.

As I walked around, I noticed that I was the only foreigner, or gaijin, around. I didn't feel threatened although I did get a few dirty looks from some of the older folks. I also noticed that a policemen was always near by. I was never sure if he was there to watch me or protect me.

I lived there almost 2 years. When meeting people for the first time their question to me was "Iwakuni?" Iwakuni was the location of a Marine Air Base about 10 miles south. When I responded that I was an engineer at Mitsubishi they visibly relaxed. Towards the end of my expat stay the local baseball team, the Hiroshima Carps, hired a couple of American players. I was always being asked if I was "Hopkins". I could have had a lot of free drinks, but I didn't take advantage.

Aug 6 Flashback

Here's an Aug 6 post from a few years ago.....

http://peripateticengineer.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/my-nuclear-troika.html

Root Cause Analysis

When engineers do a failure investigation one of the tools we us is called Root Cause Analysis. The idea is to get to the ultimate reason for the failure. One of the techniques used is called "The 5 Whys." You keep asking "why" until you cannot go any further. Usually about 5 times will do it. Here's an example of the 5 whys in practice.

In the mid-70's I was living in Japan as one of the owners representatives for new construction in a Japanese shipyard. I worked with an older Japanese gentleman who we shall call Ishimoto. Ishimoto was a pilot during the war and had a bad back. One day I asked, "Ishimoto-san, how did you hurt your back?"
"Plane crash" was the answer.
"Why did your plane crash?" I asked.
"Run out of gas." he replied.
"Why did you run out of gas?"
"American shoot holes in gas tank!"

And so we come to the root cause of Ishimoto's bad back.

Root Canal - REDUX

I was in the dentist this morning to re-do a root canal that was originally done in 1976 in Japan. When I first went to my current dentist he was intrigued by the porcelain crown and recognized it as "Made in Japan". That crown finally gave up the ghost and he replaced it in 2003. The tooth had been giving me problems from time to time. Last July, I had a root-ectomy performed on one of the roots.

Today he found that the Japanese dentist had left paper points, usually used to dry the canal, in the root canal. These were the source of the infection that was causing an abscess. We're not sure if was intentional or not but they were removed, the root canal redone, and then refilled with current dental technology. The whole process got my dentist very excited. He took photos of the paper points and of the before and after x-rays. I suspect that my mouth may be a topic at a future dental conference.

Tsunami Update

Here's a report from Rico's dad at Scripps:

Not to worry. It's arrival coincided with low tide in San Diego (about 10 minutes ago if NOAA got it right) so would be hard to notice. The only serious tsunami damage ever in California occurred from a Chilean and an Alaskan quake, both in the last century, and was limited to one coastal city (Crescent City) near the Oregon border. There is a unique bathymetry here which allows the excitation of oscillatory shelf waves which are shore parallel and are pumped by the tsunami (a classical induced harmonic motion). Southern California, fortunately, does not resonate so we just see a slow rise and fall that is difficult to detect because it is so gradual. Our wave buoys, which measure vertical accelerations, cannot detect the tsunami waves in deep water (order 15 minute periods -- so accelerations are two orders of magnitude less than wind waves). However, we have one pressure sensor left from the old days on the end of Scripps Pier and we have developed special software to filter out tides and wind waves and can record tsunamis as small as a couple of inches. I was very impressed by NOAA's tsunami model. They make a prediction for our gage and for the previous tsunami they hit the arrival time within a few minutes and the height was right on.

Life Lesson

I've been frequenting a Japanese restaurant in Houston. I usually sit at the sushi bar and talk to the sushi chef. It gives me a chance to practice my Japanese. In our conversations I found that he comes from Osaka. I explained that I lived in Hiroshima for 2 years. He has been a sushi chef for 30 years. When I expressed awe at this accomplishment and commented that he must be a sushi master he said, "No. I am not master. I am still studying. If I call myself a master, then I will stop learning and I still have much to learn."

I thought he had a good philosophy. Endeavor to never stop learning as long as you live.

VJ Day Plus 65

I attended a lunch time lecture at the WW II Museum today about the surrender ceremony on the USS Missouri and I learned the following facts and trivia:

The USS Missouri was chosen out of respect for President Truman as Missouri was his home state and his daughter christened the ship.

The ceremony was decreed by MacArthur to start promptly at 9:00 AM, Sept. 2. The uniform of the day was khakis and not dress whites. (MacArthur said we fought them in khakis, they could surrender to us in khakis) There was a little confusion over proper protocol for having two 5 stars (MacArthur and Nimitz) on board at the same time. It was decided that their flags would fly at equal heights and be broken out as each one boarded the Missouri.

The ceremony lasted less than 30 minutes.

Everything about the ceremony was designed to intimidate the Japanese. For example, the OD wore a side arm. He chose 8 side boys that were all over 6 feet tall.

The flag on the bulkhead behind the group was the same flag that flew on Commodore Matthew Perry's ship in 1854 when he sailed into Tokyo Bay and "opened" Japan to foreign trade. (The other flags flown that day were brand new and had probably just been picked up in Guam by attendees in transit. Nope, not flown on the Arizona on Pearl Harbor Day.)

The pens used by Foreign Minister Shigemitsu and Chief of Staff Gen Umezu were given to Jonathan Wainwright and Arthur Percival who had surrendered the Philippines and Singapore, respectively, and had just been released from POW camp.

One pen went to MacArthur's wife.

The parchment the agreement was printed on came from Manila.

The first table that was set up to hold the book of surrender documents was too small. At the last minute, they had to bring a table down from the galley and throw a table cloth over it. The table cloth had coffee stains on it but were hidden when the documents were placed on the table.

The ship's antiaircraft guns were loaded and ready for action. There was still a level of distrust about the Japanese.

After the ceremony there was a 450 plan flyover.

The Missouri's crew made up cards that were given as "certificates of attendance" to the ceremony. They were only given to those on board at the time.

Commutes

I was driving to the office the other morning when I realized that my daily commute was rather unique. I cross the Mississippi River on the Crescent City Connection,the 5th most travelled travelled bridge in the country. After I park, I have a short walk to the New Orleans Street Car, the oldest public transportation system in the country and a national historical landmark. That got me to thinking about other commutes I have taken.

I once had a temporary assignment that caused me take the ferry across the Mississippi River just south of English Turn. I would usually be on the ferry right at sunrise. With the city obscured by the bend in the river, all you could see of the opposite shore was trees. It was easy to imagine how the area might have looked to Bienville.

In London, I would catch the tube from Paddington Station to Kensington High Street. I would then transfer to a bus to complete my trip to Hammersmith. The best part was the return trip where my bus leg was usually on one of the historic Routemasters. There was something magical about riding that old bus during the Christmas season when London has its street light displays in evidence.

In Hiroshima, my main transportation was a motorcycle. I would drive a route that had me taking a left turn off the famous T bridge aiming point, travelling past the A Bomb Dome and Peace Park and on to Mitsubishi's shipyard.

In Lagos, we would all board a company bus. A chase car with armed guards would follow us. We would make a short drive to a boat dock where we caught a boat for a run down the river to Snake Island, where we were renting office space. The river was the safest route as you could avoid any hijackings that occur on the roads. Sights along the way might include the odd dead body.

In Dubai, my commute took me on the Sheik Zayed Road and past such landmarks as Ski Dubai, the indoor ski slope, and Burj Al Arab, the only 7 star hotel in the world and Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world. But the traffic was the fastest and most dangerous I have driven in.

In Paris, I would catch the RER from the stop near the Eiffel Tower and ride it to Versailles. (Not the palace but across the river from it).

And occasionally I would have to commute by helicopter to an offshore platform.

Freedom Bird FAIL

I left Seoul for Tokyo and the cross Pacific hop. The notice board said "New Date"next to my flight connection. I thought it was a Japanese mis-translation for "New Gate", but I was wrong. The plane was not there due to mechanical problems in Houston and we then stood in line at the connection desk waiting for the airline to make new reservations. After about 2 hours I button holed a supervisor to ask what was going on and could they make a general announcement. I was told that the flight would leave tomorrow and that they would put us up in a hotel for the night. OK, but since we have to enter Japan no, could you pass out the entry forms for us to fill out while we wait? Three hours later, I finally get to the hotel. In short, the whole episode was poorly handled by people who are supposed to be the most organized in the world.

Obama and the Bow

Obama's bow to the Emperor of Japan is getting a lot of play. Most folks seem to think that its a simple gaffe and of no consequence. But what they don't realize is that all of the President's actions (or non actions) have consequences.

The bow in Japan is a formal greeting and has many rules. Generally, those of lesser rank bow lower and longer to those of higher rank. The bow becomes more than a greeting but also is a marker for your place in the social structure of the organization. Equals may give shallow bows to each other , or even head nods. Someone apologizing for something will give a low bow, bending from the waist almost 90 degrees, or even kneel on the floor with his head touching the floor. Obama's bow was a bow of apology. And you can bet that other nations saw it and took note.

If you want to read the ultimate treatise on how Asia thinks, read "How Communists Negotiate", by Adm Turner Joy. He faced the NKs for two years at Panmunjom. Even the smallest thing can have significance. You can bet that the ChiComs saw his bow and realized that he was weak , subservient and that they would hold the upper hand in any discussions.

Now you have to ask yourself, is it smart to go into talks with China with the perception that you are weak?

Hiroshima History

It is a little known fact that American POWs were in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. While the numbers vary, 12 seems to be the count that most agree with. They were from the air crews of the bombers "Lonesome Lady" and "Taloa", two planes that were on a bombing mission to Kure on July 28. The pilot of the "Lonesome Lady", T.C. Cartwright, was sent to Tokyo for interrogation on August 1, leaving his crew behind. He didn't tell his story until the 70's. A short version can be found here. There is also a book written by a Japanese historian that confirms the story. A link to a book review is here.

Japanese Delicacies - Fugu

In the news today we learn that 7 people have been hospitalized in Japan with poisoning from eating Fugu - the Japanese blowfish.

Fugu is usually prepared as sashimi and must be done by a chef specially licensed to prepare fugu as one slip of the knife can pierce a gland and release poisons into the flesh. The poison, tetrodotoxin, is 100 time more lethal than potassium cyanide. In 2007, 3 people died and 44 were hospitalized from Fugu poisoning. Most of these people used the DIY method of Fugu preparation - not a good idea when dealing with deadly fish.

Eating Fugu is Japanese Machismo. The idea is that you are brave enough to tempt death by eating the dangerous delicacy. It is usually done by executives on expense account as it is too expensive to eat it on your own nickle. I guess it also give the execs bragging rights back at the office. Who knows, eating Fugu may also be used as a team building exercise or to test the courage prospective promotees.

PE has eaten Fugu twice in his life. It has a delicate taste. The flesh is sliced thin so that it is tranparent. Now I won't eat raw oysters. I did it and survived my "wild years". I proved my machismo to my Japanese colleages and I don't need to do it again.

My Nuclear Troika

I have been so busy lately that I almost forgot that today was August 6.

I used to live in Hiroshima back in 1975 and 1976. My first job out of college was working for an offshore drilling contractor. They were having two drilling rigs (the “Ocean Ranger” and “Ocean Bounty”) built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Hiroshima, Japan. I was on the owner’s site team for the “Bounty”. I was single and had a small apartment just north of the center of the city. I passed the “Hiroshima Dome” and Peace Park every day on my way to work. I walked in the park during the memorial ceremonies on the 30th anniversary and saw the river filled with thousands of paper lanterns floating downstream. These lanterns represented the souls of the dead.

Hiroshima was a bustling city back then. It held many attractions for a single twenty-something. But at no time did I feel any animosity from the Japanese except for the occasional hard stare from one of the older residents of the city. In fact, I was often mistaken for one of the American players on the Hiroshima Carps, the local baseball team. (I guess we Americans all look alike) This was good for getting more than a few free drinks on a Saturday night.

About 20 years later I happened to be in Washington, DC at the same time that the Smithsonian had the controversial “Enola Gay” exhibit. I had time to kill before my flight, so I stashed my luggage and caught a taxi to see that famous aircraft.

Then, a few years ago, Col. Tibbets was doing a book signing at the D Day Museum in New Orleans. I was almost the last person in line but I finally got to spend a few seconds with him and his wife. He had been signing books for several hours and yet he was as gracious as if he had just started. You always think about what you should have said after the fact and this was no different. I should have thanked him for ending the war, thereby sparing the life of my future father-in-law who would return to the US, get married and produce my future wife.

So that’s my nuclear troika: Hiroshima – Enola Gay – Paul Tibbets

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Over

My wife and I took Niece Godchild to a Japanese restaurant the other night. It had opened recently and it advertised teppanyaki. To my knowledge, it was the first and only Japanese restaurant on the Westbank of New Orleans that served teppanyaki.

When we arrived, I noticed the continuation of a disturbing trend – Japanese restaurants are owned and operated by the Chinese! I first noticed this several years ago when the staff in the restaurant we frequented for sushi didn’t understand the Japanese language. (I lived in Hiroshima for two years and speak Japanese pretty well for simple issues) I tested the issue at this new place by saying the only Mandarin phrase I knew, “ni hao”, upon the chefs arrival. He immediately responded. I suspect that if I had said “kon nichi wa” he wouldn’t have understood a word.

Is there some school in Shanghai that trains the Chinese in Japanese cooking? Is there a Chinese conspiracy to use Japanese cooking skills as the way to justify giving visas to Chinese immigrants? Is there some loophole in a trade agreement somewhere that allows Chinese to enter the USA but not Japanese? Why aren’t Japanese restaurants owned and operated by the Japanese?

And they must teach some sort of caricature of Japanese cooking style in their cooking school. Somehow they all think they must put on a Benihana type dinner show. The cart with the raw food arrived with a guy honking a clown horn. The chef juggled some raw eggs and started cooking fried rice amidst a storm of knife clanking and jangling. He used his spatula to toss bits of rice into our open mouths. It was all so unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the flavor of the food (which was very good, by the way).

I am a traditionalist. I am more impressed by fast and accurate knife work in slicing and dicing than I am with a lot of noise making antics. Show me some rapid machine gun slice-o-matic action instead of a lot of meaningless juggling and clanking. I prefer a meal where I can watch a skilled chef prepare food in a unique style without a lot of corny theatrics. The essence of Japanese culture is to find beauty in simple things. Teppanyaki cooking should emphasize the skill of the chef, the artistry of his food arrangement, and maybe even a little decorative vegetable cutting. Teppanyaki cooking as done in the US today has devolved into some sort of Barnum and Bailey circus act.

And when I go to a Japanese restaurant, I want to be able to practice my language skills, with Japanese people.