NARIMASU HIGH SCHOOL - The Beginning
Submitted by Geoff Smith, class of '49

Narimasu is really an offshoot of the older American School in Japan (ASIJ) then located in Meguro, founded just after the turn of the century. It fell into American military hands at the end of WWII and became a school for a variety of students - military and civilian dependents, children of missionaries and students from foreign "missions". Embassies were re-established later. The number of languages heard in the corridor was dazzling, with many students proficient in Japanese and English as well as their native language. Students were bussed in from all over the area, including Grant Heights.

For whatever reason - it may have been because ASIJ became overcrowded - Narimasu was built over the summer of 1948 to handle 7th-12th grades. It opened in the fall of 1948 with about 250 students and sixteen teachers. The principal was Lt. Col. Milan B. Steig. Unlike ASIJ, Narimasu's student body was almost totally made up of civilian and military dependents. They came from Grant Heights, Camp Drake (home of the First Cavalry Division), Tachikawa, Yokota and Johnson Air Force Bases. Some came also from China in the wake of the communist takeover there.

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Youngsters living in Grant Heights had already formed the "Samurai Club" which met to plan parties and outings - an ascent of Mt. Fuji was one such trip - and a newspaper called the "Samurai Sword" was published weekly.

Before the school opened that fall, Vice-Principal Marjorie Crouch met with three students to discuss plans. Asked what some of the new school rules would be, she said they would come as needed. But she looked (with clear disdain) at the students slumped, smoking in her new office and said "Rule #1 would be no smoking". (ASIJ permitted smoking on the grounds)

Mrs. Crouch agreed to allow the "Samurai Sword" to become the official Narimasu school newspaper; Geoff Smith, who started the paper, was editor the first semester and Margie Baum took over for the second. Elections were held to pick the school mascot. Frankly, it was rigged by the seniors. The Dragon was chosen; colors to be blue and white. Many thought green and white more appropriate, but since no one had ever actually "seen" a Dragon of either color - even after an evening on the popular Australian beer - the vote for blue and white stood.

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Class officers were elected, clubs and teams were formed, and pupils used to the gum-chewing, candy munching informality of ASIJ found themselves in a somewhat more rigid, stateside-type environment. As with any school, there were dances in the gym, a sock hop in the Rotunda, Jr/Sr and Senior Proms, various class entertainments - even a student boxing match. Students continued to drive to Washington Heights for the regular, free Saturday night dances. A live orchestra played requests for the popular music of the day. But the number one hit on our Hit Parade was "China No Yoru", or "China Nights"...I remember the words today - in Japanese!

There were excursions to various sites like Nikko, Karuizawa and the Emperor's beach at Hayama - then a small thatched roof village - as well as Kyoto and the sights of Tokyo. In the previous summer an adventurous few worked on merchant ships. Students went deep sea fishing off PT boats at Zushi, attended Kabuki and the opera. They saw outdoor movies in Hibiya Park.

As a part of post-war reparations, all modes of Japanese transport up to 100 miles was free, so the trains were often filled with young people going to games, to Yokohama to visit friends, shopping at the big downtown PX, going to the Ernie Pyle theatre - whatever; students likely saw more of Japan than their parents or the GIs. They enjoyed the freedom of movement inconceivable in any major American city.

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For some, a burger and a coke at the A&W "back home" became dinner at the world famous Imperial Hotel. Because it was a military billet they charged billet prices - forty-five cents! Orchid corsages were $3, gasoline was 10 cents, movies were 15 cents, and a carton of cigarettes was a $1. A $3 allowance went a long way.

A high point of the first year was the first basketball game against the Red Devils of Yokohama - a roundball powerhouse. They had fancy uniforms, they actually changed at half-time. Narimasu players - all seven of them - appeared in what they had: bathing suits! They lost the style matchup - but won the game by one point. And the National Championship as well, also by a point, beating ASIJ, St. Joseph's, Gifu, Siboney, Kyoto and fourteen GI teams along the way. Teams also competed in football, volleyball and track.

The 33 seniors attended the first ever graduation ceremonies at the Mitsui mansion, then an Officer's Club. Diplomas were handed out following a reception in the garden and a dance at the club. And they all scattered to the winds by summer's end.

Narimasu is gone now (closing in 1971), ASIJ is once again a private school that still gets annual donations from it's lost battalion of military era students. It holds reunions, as do the well-organized alumni of Yokohama High School

Many things made Narimasu different from stateside American high schools but one thing stands out. There was a constant turn-over as men rotated home with their families. This went on all year. Relationships forged in those tender years took a heavy battering of the kind teenagers in civilian schools never endured, nor could match in heartache - most of those people losing and never regaining contact.

Now, with reunions and widespread use of the Internet, those broken ties are being mended. Last year I got an e-mail that said: "Are you the Geoff Smith I knew in Tokyo?" It was from a classmate of mine I had not heard from in almost fifty years.