CHICHI JIMA BONIN ISLANDS
OGASAWARA
WELCOME
ROCK
Photo courtesy of John LaPlant
What better way to welcome you to
my Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands, Ogasawara web site that a picture of
WELCOME ROCK seen above. It sits just at the entrance of Futami
Ko, the harbor at Chichi Jima. The mouth of the harbor is to
the immediate right of this picture. As of June, 2006, this web
site, in some form, has been in existence for nine years, and has been
a source of considerable pleasure by allowing me to establish contact
with many individuals who have some type of Chichi Jima connection, and
others who are just interested individuals.
I was indeed fortunate to be able to spend two years on
Chichi Jima while serving as a Medical Officer at U.S. Naval Facility,
Chichi Jima from 1964 to 1966. I continue to consider these to
be the best two years of my life. I am now a retired eye surgeon
and live in Butler, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, with my wife Elsie
(Mayumi) who was born on Chichi Jima and is the daughter of Willie and
Nobuko Savory. She of course is a direct descendent of Nathaniel
Savory, one of the islands original settlers.
The primary value of this page is in the LINKS that
I have provided below. Some are authored by me, but most are
links to other web sites with some relevance to Chichi Jima. In
this LINKS section you can check the current weather on Chichi, track
the typhoons during the typhoon season, see some pictures of modern day
Chichi, and read some of the history of the island and its interesting
people. Remember that when you travel to one of these links,
you can return to this page by clicking the "Back" button of your browser.
I would also suggest that if there is any particular photograph or
article that has special interest for you, that you save it to your hard
drive, because many of the links belong to other people, and you can not
depend on them being there at a later date. In June 2006, I have deleted
some of the previous links that no longer worked, and added many others
that I have found since last editing this page. As of June 2006, all
the links are working.
LINKS THAT WILL INTEREST YOU
Joint Typhoon
Warning Center
Track the typhoons in the area
CNN Weather
for Chichi Jima
Check the weather on Chichi
Chichi
Weather by Weather Underground
Another source for Chichi weather
John LaPlant's
Chichi Web Site
Nice web site by a former Chichi Navy
Weather Man
Another
Old Chichi Guestbook (Inactive)
Check for someone you might know
Old
Chichi Jima Guest Book (Inactive)
Check for
someone you might know
Ogasawara
DXpedition
Japanese Ham Radio
Group with Good Pictures
Notes
From The Life Of Nathaniel Savory
Some early island history
A
Letter From Yankeetown
One Naval Officer's Wish
For The Future
Bonin
Islands Historical Event, A Missing Link
By a crewmember who was there
Home
To Chichi Jima
Additional early island history
History of
the Bonin Islands
Rare book on early history--doubt you
will find this in your library
Japan
Capitulates
Pictures of the surrender aboard the USS Dunlap
Bonin
Island Language and Culture Site
By Professor
Danny Long in Japan, world expert on Chichi Jima and its people
Dr.
Daniel Long's Lecture On Linguistics of Chichi
Information concerning the islanders version of Japanese
Chichi Jima
Marine Vignette--by Bill Monks
Relive the experiences of the Chichi Jima Marines
at the surrender
Background
Information On The Bonins
From a Chichi Jima
Marine publication written by Bill Monks
The Chichi
Jima Marine Webpage
These are the guys who demilitarized the Bonin Islands after
the surrender
Ogasawara Elementary
School
Nice site sponsored by Chichi Jima's Elementary School
Nuclear
Weapons on Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima
How much did Japan know?
Documentation
Concerning Chichi's Nuclear Role
Shows how our politicians were thinking
Abel
Savory Windsurfs to Haha Jima
A Tremendous Feat, especially for his age
Major
Horie's Plan For The Defense Of Chichi Jima
Courtesy
of Sgt. Patrick Finelli, USMC
In
Memoriam to Frank Curley
Pennsylvanian lost near Haha Jima--WW
II
Childress,
Texas Vet Lost Near Chichi Jima
Another sad story
Connie
Christuk's Story
Connie was a crewmember
on the USS Dunlap
Chichi,
The Way I Prefer To Remember It
Copy of a Navy brochure sent
to incoming personnel
Pacific
Wrecks in Chichi Area
Wreckage from the war
Wrecks
of Ogasawara
Article by Charles T. Whipple--good pictures
Captain Beechey's
"Discovery" of the Bonins
Another early historical account
Commander Naval Forces
Marianas
Keep up with
Navy activities on Guam
Pacific
Daily News
Guam's Daily Newspaper
Marianas Variety
Publication out of Saipan
Bouchan's
Chichi Pictures
These pictures supplied
by Clint Nirdlinger
USS Banner
AKL-25
A Ship
Transformed
Maruhi
Site
In Japanese--just click
on blue links to see lots of nice pictures
Chichi
Adventure Girl
Narrative of this Canadian teachers trip to Chichi--pictures on
next link down
Adventure
Girl's Pictures of Chichi
Takes time to load--Excellent pictures of modern day Chichi Jima
More Chichi
Pictures
Language
unknown--just click on the small pictures for a real treat
Ogasawara
Down Range Space Communications Station
Click on the pictures to enlarge--beautiful
island photos
Institute of Boninology
In Japanese--nature pictures
Commodore
Perry's Visit to the Bonins--June 1853
More
information for the history buffs
Commodore
Perry's Document
Very interesting reading
Pictures by
Ham Radio Operators on Chichi
Click their photo gallery box
Giant
Squid Photographed at Chichi Jima
From National
Geographic Magazine
More
Island Photos
Just click on the Links and Thumbnails--you don't need to
read Japanese to view
It's Wonderful
Ogasawara
Japanese site with good pictures
Women
of the Isles
By Charles Whipple (I knew the Ikedas)
Pasco's Ogasawara
Diving
Good pictures, and a lot of good links
on this site
Landscape of
Ogasawara
More Chichi pictures
Ogasawara Tourist Association
In
Japanese--they should have an English version to promote U.S. tourism
PERSONAL
OBSERVATIONS
The U.S. Naval Facility on Chichi Jima was closed down when
the islands reverted back to Japan in July 1968. I must admit
that I certainly had mixed feelings about this event when it happened.
However it now seems obvious that, on balance, it was a good thing
for the Bonin Islanders. The Japanese government built the islands
into a national park and made many infrastructure improvements that I
seriously doubt that our U.S. Navy would ever have provided. This
also allowed much easier travel for the islanders to Japan and elsewhere.
It also made the attractions and natural beauty of the islands available
to tourists which allowed some of the islanders to become involved in businesses
associated with tourism.
When I served there as Naval Medical Officer, there were essentially
two groups of people on the island, ie., the military and civil service
people, and the Bonin Islanders, ie., those that had been allowed
to return to the island after the war. These essentially were
those who could prove descendency from the original island settlers.
There were approximately 120 "Bonin Islanders" living on Chichi
when I was there. Many of the islanders who were middle aged or
elderly when I was there have since passed on. At the time of the
reversion in July 1968, a window of opportunity for immigration to the
United States was opened to those islanders who desired to immigrate. As
a result of this, some of those islanders who were teenagers and young
adults did choose to immigrate, thus reducing the "islander" population.
Others chose to migrate to mainland Japan. It would appear
that those who chose to remain behind have gradually been absorbed into
the Japanese society, with the result that the "islander" group as we in
the Navy knew them, will soon be extinct. I have to say that this
does sadden me in that the "islanders" were a very unique group of people
with a very unique history; a group that had to take enormous risks and
overcome many hardships. I wish for those that still remain, the best
things that life can give, and that the wahoo never stop biting.
Those who are interested in Chichi's history as related to
World War II, should try to find a copy of the book "George Bush:
his World War II Years", by Robert B. Stinnett. The ISBN numbers
for this book are 0-02-881043-0 and 0-02-881048-1 . I understand
that this book is no longer in print but some libraries do have it and
I have even seen it for sale on E-bay on several occasions. It
has quite a few pictures of wartime Chichi as well as a detailed description
of George Bush's shoot-down and rescue there.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Please be assured that we are interested in hearing from
ANYONE with an interest in the islands, whether they be current or
prior residents of Chichi, U.S. military personnel, or individuals
who have immigrated from Chichi to the United States, or elsewhere.
Also, note that there is a
"Guest Page" associated with this site where one can
leave a message and view messages that others have left. There
are two old, inactive guest pages listed in the LINKS section that can
be checked for possible acquaintences. We would be glad to receive
e-mail, postal mail, or even telephone calls.
E-Mail chichidoc (at) gmail.com
Insert the @sign in place of the word "at". I do
this to foil the spammers.
Postal Address: John L. Wick, M.D.
Amateur
Radio Callsign K3HPS
1000
North McKean Street,
Butler,
PA 16001
Telephone
724-679-7211
GUEST BOOK
View
My Guestbook
Sign
My guestbook
As we used to say
CHICHI IS PEACHY