- Thread starter
- #201
Tomoharu Tanaka participated in the Naval Battle of Malaya as a 1st-class Airman of Genzan Air Corps on December 10, 1942.
After the war was over, he opened a pachinko (pin-ball game) shop "Metro" in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (currently there is a building of Tokyo International Forum) under the railroad guard of Yurakucho town near the Tokyo station in 1951 when Japanese were still under occupation by the allied forces and the Korean War was going on.
As a former Imperial Japanese warrior, it was never fun for Tanaka to see GIs walking with Japanese girls for their joy. He was a determined man. To people's surprise at the time as his shop was located not far from the allied GHQ building, he set a large speaker outside and began to play the march of IJN in megavolume days and nights during his shop was open. This was his utmost resistance to the victor. He says "To my surprise, workers of the metropolitan government office across the street were very happy to listen to this because they also had same frustration about the occupied situation. This march was so cheerful that my shop was always full with customers and I could afford more shops in a few years soon."
This, however, had surprised an officer of the Marunouchi police station of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who minded the allies' impression. Tanaka had been taken to the GHQ building by this officer to confirm if the naval march for his business could be permitted or not. This was confirmed "No problem" officially. Originally, this march "Gunkan (Warship)" was composed by Tokichi Setoguchi (1868-1941) and premiered in 1900 to be known well in not only Japan but overseas. The allies might have thought it no problem as they were busy with the Korean War and did not want hostilities from the Japanese people.
Tanaka later retired from his pachinko shop business as owner and opened a two-storied 24-hour restaurant named "Akanoren (scarlet door curtain)" at the riverside of Meguro near the Gotanda station in Tokyo. With chair seats on the 1st floor and tatami (Japanese mat) seats on the 2nd floor, he catered lunch in the daytime and drinks in the nighttime. This restaurant became not only popular among Tokyo citizens but indispensable for the naval veterans in particular for their reunion meetings.
He provided a room on the 2nd floor for confidential meeting of veterans. The former naval captain Minoru Genda (1904-1989) often used this room with his old members of the 343rd Air Corps for his secret mission "Protection of the Imperial System" given by the IJN General Staff in case of the emperor's death but finally disbanded in this room on January 7, 1981. This restaurant "Akanoren" closed being regretted by his customers in July, 2003. Tanaka was a frank and cheerful good guy.
( Excerpt from : 英国の最新鋭戦艦を撃沈した攻撃機指揮官が遺した「意外な言葉」（神立 尚紀） @gendai_biz )
March "Gunkan" by JMSDF Maizuru March Band
Even Chinese kids play in Shanghai -
After the war was over, he opened a pachinko (pin-ball game) shop "Metro" in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (currently there is a building of Tokyo International Forum) under the railroad guard of Yurakucho town near the Tokyo station in 1951 when Japanese were still under occupation by the allied forces and the Korean War was going on.
As a former Imperial Japanese warrior, it was never fun for Tanaka to see GIs walking with Japanese girls for their joy. He was a determined man. To people's surprise at the time as his shop was located not far from the allied GHQ building, he set a large speaker outside and began to play the march of IJN in megavolume days and nights during his shop was open. This was his utmost resistance to the victor. He says "To my surprise, workers of the metropolitan government office across the street were very happy to listen to this because they also had same frustration about the occupied situation. This march was so cheerful that my shop was always full with customers and I could afford more shops in a few years soon."
This, however, had surprised an officer of the Marunouchi police station of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who minded the allies' impression. Tanaka had been taken to the GHQ building by this officer to confirm if the naval march for his business could be permitted or not. This was confirmed "No problem" officially. Originally, this march "Gunkan (Warship)" was composed by Tokichi Setoguchi (1868-1941) and premiered in 1900 to be known well in not only Japan but overseas. The allies might have thought it no problem as they were busy with the Korean War and did not want hostilities from the Japanese people.
Tanaka later retired from his pachinko shop business as owner and opened a two-storied 24-hour restaurant named "Akanoren (scarlet door curtain)" at the riverside of Meguro near the Gotanda station in Tokyo. With chair seats on the 1st floor and tatami (Japanese mat) seats on the 2nd floor, he catered lunch in the daytime and drinks in the nighttime. This restaurant became not only popular among Tokyo citizens but indispensable for the naval veterans in particular for their reunion meetings.
He provided a room on the 2nd floor for confidential meeting of veterans. The former naval captain Minoru Genda (1904-1989) often used this room with his old members of the 343rd Air Corps for his secret mission "Protection of the Imperial System" given by the IJN General Staff in case of the emperor's death but finally disbanded in this room on January 7, 1981. This restaurant "Akanoren" closed being regretted by his customers in July, 2003. Tanaka was a frank and cheerful good guy.
( Excerpt from : 英国の最新鋭戦艦を撃沈した攻撃機指揮官が遺した「意外な言葉」（神立 尚紀） @gendai_biz )
March "Gunkan" by JMSDF Maizuru March Band
Even Chinese kids play in Shanghai -
Last edited:
