Navy Cafe Provides Lessons in Culture, Friendship for Sailors, Marines, Japanese

Photo By Kristina Doss | Sailors, Marines, and Japanese citizens participate in a cultural exchange at a pop up café on board U.S. Fleet Activities (FLEACT) Yokosuka on March 21. Navy Café, which takes place a few times a year, creates a comfortable environment where Japanese and Americans can get a better understanding of life on either side of the main gate. FLEACT Yokosuka provides, maintains, and operates base facilities and services in support of 7th Fleet’s forward-deployed naval forces, 71 tenant commands, and 24,000 military and civilian personnel. (U.S. Navy photo by Kristina Doss/Released by FLEACT Public Affairs)  

YOKOSUKA, JAPAN

03.21.2018

Story by Kristina Doss 

Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka

By Kristina Doss, U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka Public Affairs Office

YOKOSUKA, Japan (March 21, 2018) -- Chika Uemura, a Japanese nurse who traveled in 2011 to support relief efforts in the wake of the largest earthquake to ever hit Japan, remembers seeing U.S. military personnel supporting her fellow countrymen.

At the time, she didn't know anything about the U.S. military. But the experience in Kesennuma City, which was hit by a deadly tsunami after the East Japan Earthquake, sparked an interest in meeting and learning about the U.S. military service members who helped her country.

Uemura, along with 13 other Japanese citizens, finally got her chance on March 21 at the Navy Cafe on board U.S. Fleet Activities (FLEACT) Yokosuka. While there, the Navy Cafe guests, who came from nearby cities such as Zushi and as far as Toshima Island off the coast of Tokyo for the event, sat down with 10 Sailors and Marines to learn about each other over coffee and tea, as the soundtrack to the movie Top Gun played in the background.

"U.S. military service members appeared muscular and strong and kind of intimidating," Uemura said through a translator. "But at today's event, I found that the U.S. military was so friendly and easy to talk to and it was a great experience."

The Japanese Media and Public Relations Section of FLEACT Public Affairs hosted the first Navy Cafe in 2016 to create a comfortable environment where Japanese and Americans can get a better understanding and a glimpse of life on either side of the main gate.

Since then, the installation has hosted several of the pop up cafes each year due to its popularity. For the March 21st Navy Cafe, the installation received 56 applications from Japanese citizens to meet with the seven Sailors, three Marines, and a Navy spouse who volunteered to attend.

The goal of Navy Cafe isn't to provide attendees with a lesson in language, but to help both sides communicate their questions on everything from what life is like on a U.S. Navy ship or in a Japanese home to favorite hobbies and weekend activities. As the ice breaker game of charades proved, a lot can be expressed or even guessed with a few good gestures or mimes.

The point of this pop up cafe is that both sides walk away with a lesson in each other's culture.

"If you can understand the Japanese culture more, you'll have a better experience here in my opinion," said U.S. Marine Sgt. David Torres.

On a broader level, the Navy Cafe also helps strengthen the friendship between the U.S. and Japan, one individual at a time, according to Lt. Cmdr. Lance Lindley, admin officer on board the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). When Americans and Japanese get a chance to interact and learn about each other at events like the Navy Cafe, he said the conversation no longer centers on big, impersonal concepts like "host nation" or "U.S. military."

"Any chance we get to swing the pendulum to friendship I think is important," said Lindley. "It's not a faceless group of people behind a wall doing something that they don't necessarily understand but are told by their government that is good for them. But instead they see (U.S. military) as individuals and as a resource," Lindley said.

As the soundtrack to Top Gun faded away, the hum of conversation took over and both sides shared glimpses into their professional and personal lives, discussing topics such as uniforms, favorite foods, pets, world travels, and hometowns.

By the end, all of the attendees walked away learning about their differences, but more importantly how much they had in common.

• Date Taken: 03.21.2018
• Date Posted: 12.20.2018 01:57
• Story ID: 304500
• Location: YOKOSUKA, JP