Despite early limitations on the facilities available to Australian personnel for leave, eventually an effective system came into being and in effect further enabled social contact between the Australian and Japanese communities.

AMENITIES

    By July 1946 the previously ad hoc arrangements for leave were placed on an organised basis and nine properties were purchased for conversion to leave centres for BCOF personnel. The formal military organisation of what was referred to as amenities included appropriate staff appointments on HQ BCOF and at HQ Britcom Base, and included such units as the 1st Australian Cinema Unit, the 1st Australian Entertainment Unit, a broadcasting unit and a transit hotel located in Kure.1

     Elements of the Australian Cinema Unit arrived in February 1946 and using mobile or static facilities opened a series of cinemas at various locations. Familiar theatre names such as the Royal, the State, the Empire, the Rex, the Regal or the Victory graced these establishments situated around the BCOF area for showings on a regular basis. In the early days of the occupation these cinemas provided the principal means of entertainment of BCOF personnel in their off-duty time.

THE CANTEEN SERVICE

    The acceptance by Australia of the responsibility for the maintenance of the BCOF after the first 90 days meant that the Australian Canteen Service became responsible for the canteen requirements of the whole force. This major undertaking was bedevilled in the early stages by the paucity of essential information; the significant differences between the operating procedures of the national components of the force; insufficient and ill-trained staff; the lack of basic infrastructure and necessary equipment; the vagaries and priorities of the supply chain and, very directly the ramifications of the non-fraternisation policy. This last imposition in effect meant, officially at least, that the Canteen Service provided the accommodation and services to occupy and entertain BCOF personnel when they were not on duty.2

     The cumulative effect of these shortcomings and the demands placed upon canteen staff in turn further diminished the quality of service provided. Nevertheless, slowly the situation was brought under control by improvements in operating procedures and alleviated in part by the arrival of eight female civilian staff on 22 August 1946 and a further ten male civilian staff on 30 October 1946. These civilian staff were not formally accredited to the force or included in the BCOF establishment and therefore enjoyed a greater degree of personal liberty. Nevertheless, they were subject to the military stringencies of the Occupation.

     During the early period of occupation much of the canteen work was undertaken by British female staff, but the opening up to participation by Australian female and male civilians eased the strain on staffing of the Canteen Service. The female staff were accommodated at the ‘White House’ in Kure in comfortable conditions in contrast to the crude warehouses where they worked five and a half days a week until December 1946 when more appropriate accommodation became available. The arrival of another 39 female staff led to a greater range of employment as sales assistants, clerks, receptionists and managers. Higher quality facilities were developed at the Marunouchi Hotel and at Empire House in Tokyo.3

     The extent of the canteen organisation and contribution to the morale of the force can be measured in part by the summary of the BCOF’s canteen installations as at 30 September 1946: five warehouses, 13 issue points, seven canteens providing supplies of dry and wet goods and light snacks, seven clubs providing cafeteria and recreational facilities, one aerated water factory, two bottle yards, one bakery, one gift train and seven gift shops. By June 1947 there were about 60 installations, including hotels, freezer stores and shops for dependants. By September 1948 the BCOF Canteen Service employed around 244 service personnel, 62 expatriate civilians and almost 2300 Japanese nationals.4

    Traditionally, army canteens were places to get supplies of beer, cigarettes and tobacco, available on an agreed scale per person (when the supplies were available). One consequence of the concentration in one force of a number of national components was the necessity of adjusting to common agreed entitlements. One example was the increase in cigarettes and tobacco for Indian personnel to accord with the standard issues to ‘white’ British troops of 75 cigarettes and 2 ozs of tobacco per man per week. The supply of Japanese beer was the subject of early attention and proved troublesome until arrangements were negotiated by the Assistant Director, Canteen Services, HQ BCOF, with the Hiroshima Brewery in order to control the supply and distribution of beer throughout the BCOF area.

     The Canteen Service in the BCOF became in effect a ‘universal provider organisation’ supplying the many items routinely available in Australia but not available locally. This situation resulted from the combination of a number of factors, including the state of the Japanese economy, the initial lack of Japanese suppliers and the SCAP directive that the occupation forces were to be completely self-sufficient with regard to food and make no demands whatever in this regard on the Japanese economy. Moreover, the very poor quality of Japanese water and the quantities of chlorine used in that supply encouraged high usage of alternative liquids such as soft drinks and consumption of the low-alcohol Japanese beer. These factors led in time to a major expansion in the usual role of the Canteen Service and their organisation of the many facilities necessary to provide services over and above those provided by the military system in terms of accommodation, rations and personal items.

     Furthermore, the Canteen Service, cognisant of the depressed state of the local market and the appeal of exotic, albeit scarce products such as silk and local souvenirs, also set up a gift and souvenir network. Seven gift shops were organised and as a service to personnel in isolated areas a further initiative was the fitting out of two railway carriages as mobile gift shops. Experience in Japan was to demonstrate a threefold increase in canteen purchases by individuals as compared to the wartime experience.

     Not surprisingly these arrangements were extended to the growing number of British Commonwealth civilians and families of BCOF personnel unable to obtain necessary items readily through the local Japanese market. Eventually a fortnightly train service was organised to outlying areas from which a range of basic services was provided.

     The attractiveness of canteen supplies and the fragile and inadequate distribution system combined to produce a situation ripe for exploitation by individuals and organised groups. Moreover, official steps were taken to close off or at least limit the opportunities for BCOF personnel to trade canteen goods on the black market and exploit the advantageous yen currency arrangements then in force.

WVTV

     A particularly valuable initiative in the maintenance of morale was the establishment of a local broadcasting station for BCOF personnel. Bill Fietz and Bruce Pritchard served with the 22-member Broadcasting Unit, which arrived in Kure in April 1946 to set up a radio station, known initially as WVTV. The station began operations on 20 June and was officially opened by the C-in-C, BCOF, on 30 August 1946. Upon arrival the unit’s equipment comprised a three-ton truck and a ten-watt transmitter. Within two years Radio WLKS, as it became, had expanded into a two-acre site with a 20 auditorium for talent quests and live shows and was broadcasting 18 hours a day seven days a week from three transmitters.5

ENTERTAINMENT

   Initially formal arrangements for the provision of entertainment for BCOF personnel relied upon local performances by bands of units contributing to the occupation. The amenities units organised some 18 visits from Australian entertainers with the ‘Kangaroos’ Concert Party arriving on 9 April 1946, completing their first tour in August and commencing a second in October. The Beverley Neyles Concert Party arrived in January 1947 and later a complete dance band toured. The Australian entertainers became part of a wider contribution by national performers from the UK, India and the US and increasingly small groups organised from within the force.6

LEAVE

   The principal leave centre for Australians was the Kawana Hotel on the Ito Peninsula. The Kawana Hotel, described as ‘one of the finest in Japan’, become available for Australian use when the first batch of 110 spent a week’s leave there in February 1947. The C-in-C’s stated intention was that the same leave facilities should be made available to all occupation troops and the transfer of the Kawana from the Americans was the first step in this direction. The C-in-C said that ‘every soldier who comes to Japan should do either one tour of duty in Tokyo or have six days’ leave in Tokyo. In addition to that we shall aim to give him six days’ leave a year at one of our leave centres at Beppu, Kyoto, Lake Biwa or Kobe.7

     The Kawana Hotel was managed by Australian service personnel. Those on leave usually travelled by train to Atamis station in railway carriages set aside for occupation personnel and then by bus to Kawana. The hotel possessed an outstanding golf course and sporting facilities with an exceptional panorama of the majes tic Mt Fuji. It was also a convenient base from which to explore the local area.

     As well, by mid-1948, there were 30 members of the Australian and New Zealand YWCA running hostel and recreation centres at Chofu, Miyajima, Eta Jima, Hiro, the Sumitono Villa, the centre at Empire House in Tokyo, the Muriel Wilson and transit clubs in Kure, a holiday camp at Mino Point and the Dew Drop Inn at 130 AGH. The largest of these facilities was the Muriel Wilson Hostel, which provided accommodation for 70 Women’s Services personnel.

    Those wishing to take their leave in Tokyo usually travelled in one of the special carriages set aside for BCOF personnel. The journey to Tokyo station averaged about 20 hours and on arrival personnel were driven to Ebisu Leave Camp prior to spending their leave period sightseeing around Tokyo. The more alert Australians usually managed to miss the BCOF train for the return journey in order to engineer themselves a much more comfortable trip on the far superior arrangements available to US personnel.

     Leave in Australia was also granted to individuals according to category, duration and extension of service with the BCOF. This leave entitlement of 28 days was exclusive of travelling time, and the first draft sailed for Sydney on HMAS Kanimbla in November 1946. As well, from September 1946, arrangements were in place for the turnover of Australian personnel, and by October some 840 personnel a month were involved; 1378 Australians accepted a second tour of duty ranging from 15 to 20 months.

SPORT

     Sport, long seen as an integral part of Australian national and military life, was to continue as a feature of occupation life. The early practical problem was the lack of suitable sporting grounds given that all flat ground was usually pressed into service for the production of food. However, with time suitable areas were devel oped and soccer and Australian Rules matches became a popular pastime. As well, other sports were being played at unit or formation facilities. By October 1946 the first major athletics meeting was conducted in Kure with special trains used to transport some 1000 competitors and spectators.

POSTAL SERVICES

     Postal services, essential to the maintenance of morale of BCOF personnel, had a difficult start to their operations in Japan. A field postal office had arrived in Tokyo in late 1945 to service the requirements of British Commonwealth personnel associated with the initial occupation activities. However, the 8th Australian Base Postal Unit, raised in Morotai in November 1945, did not arrive in Japan until late February 1946. This weakness in planning was to hinder a rapid adjustment to the already turbulent communication network.8

      Added to this initial problem was the fact that each national element had to contend with the problems of unqualified staff and shortages in equipment, and this compounded the demands placed elsewhere in the system. Underlying these difficulties, especially in the early days of the occupation, was the necessity to be quite independent of any facilities the Japanese were able to refurbish. The reputation of the postal service was further tarnished by the losses of mail in transit due to the air force practice of jettisoning cargo in difficult flying conditions or losses due to crash or mishap with the aircraft transporting the mail. With time the air links between Japan and Australia improved to some degree, in stark contrast to the continued inefficiencies in the air links to the UK.9

     Despite these difficulties, the 8th Postal Unit, 34 Brigade Postal Unit and the RAAF Postal Unit were able to bring into operation 19 local postal facilities to service the Australian components of the force and to contribute to the general requirements of the BCOF generally.

THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OCCUPATION NEWS (BCON)

     A most persuasive influence on the morale and education of BCOF personnel was what was known as BCON (British Commonwealth Occupation News), a newspaper for service personnel in the tradition of Salt, Table Tops and Guinea Gold. Early in the occupation General Robertson called in Major Donald Greenlees and told him ‘to bring out a newspaper for the troops in Japan’. The policy was straightforward: ‘Tell the troops as objectively as possible what is going on in the world. Tell the troops what is happening in their home countries. Tell the troops in this area or that area what the other fellow is doing to make the Occupation a success. Tell the troops about the country they are helping to administer and about its people.' '10

     Captain King Wood was given a small staff and set up in the Mainichi Shinbun offices in Osaka, which had some English lino type and ready access to the railway network for distribution. The first edition, a two-page sheet published on 9 April 1946, was later to become a sixteen-page daily newspaper until its closure on 6 April 1950.

THE AUSTRALIAN EDUCATION SERVICE

     The work of the Australian Army Education Service was aimed at improving both the education of Australian service personnel and, as the occupation developed, their families. A key initial staff appointment was that of Major A.W. John as Deputy Assistant Director Education on HQ BCOF. John arrived at Kure on 8 April 1946 and quickly coordinated the work of the other education officers allotted to the force or appointed within it as an extra regimental appointment. British teachers set in place the early schools before the arrival of the first Australian civilian teacher, Miss J. Michie, in July 1947. A further contingent of Australian teachers followed in January 1948. It comprised a total of 25 civilians, the majority females, and served with the BCOF at schools established at a number of locations and for students of various nationalities.

      Important work was also undertaken by individuals on a voluntary basis providing English lessons and educational activities to Japanese nationals. In the year ended June 1948 the AES delivered 361 lectures to 24,472 persons; arranged 544 screenings of documentaries to 39,703 persons, lent books to 69,312; distributed magazines, pamphlets and newspapers to 292,000; taught 19 subjects to an average monthly enrolment of 750 and arranged correspondence courses for 518 students.11

The AES also issued from August 1946 a magazine, the GEN, and operated the Technical Trades Training Centre at Hiro where army students were taught woodwork, sheet metal work, fitting and turning, mechanical drawing and building drawing. Given the wide circulation of the GEN and the emphasis in its contents on educating its readers about the many complex aspects of Japanese life, it played a valuable role in improving the social awareness of the Australians serving with the BCOF.

GETTING TO KNOW THE COUNTRY

     With the 1946 summer approaching, BCOF personnel began to take an interest in the recreational potential offered by the Inland Sea, which was in the centre of their area of operations. By mid-July over a thousand BCOF personnel had travelled by launch to witness the Japanese Festival of the Lanterns at Miyajima. Such activities carried with them both a recreational and an educational benefit as the soldier turned tourist and expanded his or her knowledge of Japanese culture and the local Japanese were exposed directly and extensively to Western influences, often for the first time.

      Another example of the leavening effect of contact between occupier and occupied arose out of the administrative necessity for the BCOF to employ large numbers of Japanese civilians on tasks associated with the occupation. This official, formal employment was a practical step, albeit on a lesser scale to that of the US occupation, in the rehabilitation of the Japanese economy at the time in ruins. The demand for Japanese labour, voluntary in its imperative, had a flow-on effect in terms of wages and conditions, which in turn enabled those so employed to undertake the re-establishment of an employment cycle. It also provided a further means of everyday contact and the concomitant exposure to Western attitudes and practices.

    Provision had been made in the war establishment of the BCOF for a Labour Group Headquarters (HQ 6th Australian Labour Group under Major H.M. Joss) but it was soon apparent that these arrangements were inadequate and new local provision was made. The most immediate requirement for Japanese labour, under Australian supervision, was to man what became a 24-hour continuous shift at Kure Port in order to process the seemingly endless arrival and despatch of personnel and stores to their respective locations. Despite the appalling damage to the local infrastructure and, at least in the early months of the BCOF occupation, harsh weather, the urgency of the demands meant that solutions to these problems of handling incoming cargo, re-establishing basic and essential facilities and clearing away the residue of war just had to be found.

     These measures also opened the channels of communication at all levels between occupation and Japanese organisations and between individuals. The labour pools initially drew upon a range of skilled and unskilled labour which had increased from 7978 on 23 March 1946 to 42,270 in the week ending 19 October 1946, only dropping to 36,017 for the week ending 17 May 1947. Increasingly, much of this work was subcontracted to Japanese companies with the demands on military supervision thereby reduced.12

      Invariably, these arrangements drew BCOF personnel of all ranks and circumstances into day-to-day working situations. Initially, there were problems with regard to language and the conduct of activities; however, with the passage of time SCAP agreed to a common policy for the employment of those working for the occupation forces. This policy included the introduction of agreed Western practices and a number of them were ahead of their time even in those countries whose personnel were involved in the occupation. Typically, the conditions included a 4 week, provision for overtime, 24 days’ sick and recreational leave and compensation for injury. Remarkably, the principle of equal pay for equal work without discrimination as to either sex or age was also introduced and a union for Japanese workers established.

THE CHANGING NATURE OF THE OCCUPATION

    As the pace of the military occupation slackened, the demands of the civilian occupiers increased on the military resources of the remaining BCOF forces. As early as May 1946, SCAP announced that from the 1 June 1946 the US would cease to provide administrative support to foreign nationals on duty in Japan. This decision threw into stark relief the range of goods and services being provided through US sources and the extent of the demands the BCOF would have to meet from its own sources. At that time there were 230 personnel, including 60 civilians and 20 females working at one or other of the various British Commonwealth agencies in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. Of these about 70 personnel were accommodated in US billets. The overall staffing figure was expected to increase rapidly as was the range of services not normally part of military requirements. This situation was clearly beyond the existing capacity of HQ BCOF.

     The urgency of the requirement accelerated as did the numbers and the range of services. By June 1946 HQ BCOF put a proposal, based on likely numbers of 340 adult males, 50 adult females and 15 children, for a first-class hotel; improved transportation based on a civilian car fleet; a hospital in the Tokyo area and numerous supplementary demands. This in turn would require an increase in the existing military staff of a further 275 personnel. By April 1947, with the matter still unresolved, the increase required had risen to almost twice the numbers required to support the military personnel in the Tokyo area.13

     It was not until early 1948 that a new arrangement came into being whereby a Japanese civilian agency was to meet the bulk of the requirements of the civilian agencies, thereby relieving the extraordinary demands placed on HQ BCOF. It was also indicative of the growing foreign civilian presence in Japan and the diminution of the hitherto dominant military presence.