Yesterday in Yokosuka

Our first morning in Kamakura found us taking the non-JR train from Gokurakuji to Kamakura station from where we departed for Yokosuka (pronounced yoh-kus-ka). Although a relatively short distance, for some reason the train trip required two stages, as the first train did not go all the way, meaning we arrived after our fourth train ride of the day.

Departing from the train, we headed straight towards our first destination, the aptly named Mikasa Park, where the pre-dreadnought battleship Mikasa resides. Built in the late 1890s, Mikasa served as Admiral Togo Heihachiro's flagship during the Russo-Japanese War. Sunk two days after the war when her magazine accidentally exploded, she was salvaged and eventually repaired and participated in World War I. After the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 Mikasa was decommissioned and converted to a museum ship at Yokosuka where she resides today. After severe neglect following World War II, an effort to refurbish the ship (championed by Chester Nimitz, an admirer of Admiral Togo) was commenced and ultimately completed.

We found Mikasa park flooded with tourists as some sort of musical event was going on in the park. Fortunately the ship was high ground in this touristy inundation and we did not have to wait long to board. Shortly after boarding we were greeted by a English-speaking volunteer who is a retired captain in the JMSDF. He gave us a brief history of the ship and pointed out the post WWII renovations that can easily be identified by welded seams (as opposed to rivets). After wandering around above decks we proceeded below where we encountered a number of exhibits. There were several models of the Mikasa as well as of other museum ships including HMS Victory and the USS Constitution. Several high-tech exhibits were also present including an interactive simulation of the Battle of the Sea of Japan, digital diagrams of the ship which users can explore, and some sort of VR experience whose prohibitively large lines prevented us from experiencing it for ourselves.

Leaving the ship we walked into the nearby US Naval base at Yokosuka, where we found lunch in a burger place at the bowling alley. We ate in a nearby park in sight of the Mikasa across the bay and finished our day after stopping at the commissary where we picked up some needed groceries.

-Nathaniel

Theodore and The Author in front of another gun from the Mutsu on the way to Mikasa park.

 

The Author and Theodore in front of the ship.

 

The only remaining portion of the original wood deck of the ship.

 

The Author at the bow of the ship.

 

Maryrose manning one of the forward three inch guns.

 

Natogo, Maryroshima, and Theosaburo 

 

Theodore, Admiral Togo, and Maryrose 

 

Lunch in sight of the ship.