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HISTORY AND HONORING FALLEN SAILORS IS A BIG PART OF TODAY'S NAVY. IN SHAMODA JAPAN, A
SMALL TEMPLE HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THAT HISTORY, IN ADDITION TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE US AND JAPAN. PETTY OFFICER MICHAEL STORY HAS MORE ABOUT
AN EFFORT TO PRESERVE FIVE GRAVE SITES OF US MILITARY MEMBERS WHO DIED IN THE MID 1800'S
WHILE ON DUTY IN JAPAN.
U.S. NAVY OFFICIALS VISITED THE GYOKUSENJI TEMPLE IN SHAMODA JAPAN IN APPRECIATION FOR
RESTORING AND PRESERVING FIVE GRAVE SITES OF US MILITARY MEMBERS WHO PASSED AWAY WHILE
ON DUTY IN THE MID 1800S KNOWN AS THE BLACK SHIP'S CRUISE GRAVE SITE.
"I THINK THE CARE AND THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND THE FACT THAT FOR A HUNDRED AND FIFTY
YEARS THIS TEMPLE HAS REALLY TAKEN CARE OF THESE GRAVE SITES. IT SPEAKS VOLUMES, I THINK,
TO THE RELATIONSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH JAPAN. WE'RE VERY THANKFUL, VERY THANKFUL AND APPRECIATIVE
OF THE EFFORT AND THE CARE THAT THEY'VE GIVEN TO OUR SAILORS AND MARINES."
THE TEMPLE HOLDS A SIGNIFICANT PLACE IN HISTORY AS THE FIRST US CONSULATE AND THE FIRST GRAVE
SITE FOR FOREIGNERS IN JAPAN BASED ON THE U.S.-JAPAN TREATY OF AMITY IN 1854.
"THE BEST EXPRESSION OF MY DEEP RESPONSIBILITY I FELT IS THAT I WILL LOOK BACK ON THAT I
WAS THE ONE WHO OVERSAW WHAT I CALL THE GREAT HEH SEH RESTORATION PROJECT FOR THE GRAVES
WHICH MEANS SO MUCH TO BOTH OUR COUNTRIES, BECAUSE AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THE GRAVES
ARE PART OF THIS TEMPLE WHICH IS SYMBOLIC OF WHERE THE FORMAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JAPAN
AND THE UNITED STATES IN THE MODERN ERA ACTUALLY STARTED."
TO WHAT WAS THEN, A TYPICAL COUNTRY TEMPLE, CAUGHT IN A WHIRLPOOL OF WORLD HISTORY, NOW
SERVES AS AN ICON OF PEACE AND ALLIANCE BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES. PETTY OFFICER
MICHAEL STORY, YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, JAPAN.