By early spring of 1946 my acquaintances in Kamoi had extended to include the principal of the Kamoi grade school. I do not remember how it came about. Only two or perhaps three of us made the connection. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that we had a good relationship with several families in town. In any case, we were occasionally invited to visit the school and have a cup of tea. At least once, I went alone.

The children had been preparing for the annual Spring Festival and we had been invited to attend. Then we got orders to close the signal tower. The principal scheduled a special dress rehearsal for us a few days before we left. It was made clear the invitation was to us, personally, and not to the crew of the Harbor Entrance Control Post.

It was truly a memorable event. I think there were two of us. We sat as honored guests in the first row. The children sang and danced, all clad in colorful kimonos. The music was exotic and strange to our western ears. The dancers moved gracefully from one pose to another with immobile faces. Afterwards we were invited to have a cup of tea in the Principal’s office, where we expressed our thanks and said our farewells.

It was a significant cultural lesson and an expression of friendship (strange under the circumstances) which I will never forget.