Prologue: Joy Copeland Lineback spent the first seven years of her life primarily in Fukuoka, Japan. In an earlier post, she described a few of her memories. In this post, she tells us what it was like to go to school on an American airbase in Occupied Japan.

Children of American military personnel and civilians alike attended school on the Itazuke Airbase, east of Hakata Station. Originally, the airbase had been built in 1943, largely using Allied POW labor. Following Japan’s surrender in 1945, American forces took control of the airfield. In 1946 the military opened the Itazuke Elementary Dependent School on the base, with two classrooms, thirty students, and two instructors. As the years went by, the school grew.

When my sisters Joy and Judy [pictured above circa 1950] began attending the school, it had grown to a large facility accommodating students from kindergarten to high school with enrollments ranging from 200 in 1952 to more than 650 students by 1955.

Whereas American civilian children were allowed to attend school on the base, they did not enjoy the same kind of privileges the children of the military enjoyed. For one thing, they did not have access to the special scrip or Military Payment Certificates (MPCs), which was the only currency in circulation on the base.

The US Government issued the MPCs as a way to keep American dollars out of the black markets.

For the missionary children, or MKs, traveling from their homes in Hoshiguma to the airbase involved a long journey across town with several changes of buses.

[Today, the Itazuke Airbase has been repurposed as the Fukuoka International Airport.]

Becky: What was it like going to school on the American airbase?

Joy: The base, Itazuke, fascinated me.

I remember being enamored with the base privileges of my military school friends, so much so that Judy tells me that whenever I was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I replied, “a base person.”

Becky: What was so special about the base?

Joy: They had so many advantages that we—who were living on the Japanese economy—didn’t have.

For one, they had military scrip [MPC], the only valid currency on the base.

With this scrip they had access to American movies and other fun recreational activities.

Once a girl in my first-grade class gave me a military scrip bill. It was brightly colored and enticing. I brought it home.

Military scrip bill

I recall having a sukiyaki dinner with my family that night. I pulled the scrip out of my pocket and showed my parents. I wanted them to take me to the base so I could spend it. My parents promptly instructed me to give the scrip back to my friend, that it did not belong to me, and I could not keep it or use it. I was so disappointed. (I still remember how disappointed I felt).

Becky: I can imagine how sad that must have made you. What did your friend say when you returned her gift?

Joy: I actually don’t remember giving the scrip back, but I’m sure I did!

Becky: What were your classes like on base?

Joy: Miss Dean, my first-grade teacher, was memorable for developing health issues that resulted (maybe a sinus infection?) in her leaving Japan mid-year.

She was replaced by a long-term substitute teacher whose name I don’t recall. The teacher once scolded me sharply (I think unfairly) for drawing a picture when the class was waiting for the school bell to ring so that we could go home.

I wasn’t the only culprit. Another girl was drawing pictures, too.

The teacher took our drawings and threw them in the waste basket.

As I was leaving class, I retrieved my drawing from the trash. The teacher then grabbed me and held my chin firmly in her hand. She insisted that I look her in the eye while she verbally reprimanded me in front of the whole class.

I can still feel the force of her hand and my resisting her eye contact. This experience was possibly my worst school encounter with a teacher!

Becky: She sounds like she was in the wrong profession!

Do you have any positive memories?

Joy: When the Itazuke school offered ballet lessons for students after school, I asked my parents if I could participate. Mother agreed, but this meant that I had to ride the “late” school bus home. My parents made Judy join the ballet class too so that she could chaperone my return on the bus.

I enjoyed the class, Judy dutifully tolerated it.

Becky: I understand that you and Judy had a fairly involved commute to school. What was that like?

Joy: It was pretty long and complicated. Judy and I usually traveled with our neighbor, Jack Garrott, who was also an MK (missionary kid).

Each morning one of our parents drove us to the Japanese bus stop where we purchased a bus ticket. From there we rode the city bus to the U.S. Army Hospital; then we caught the U.S.-sponsored school bus to the school at Itazuke AFB.

In the afternoon we reversed the route, walking home together after being dropped off at the Hoshiguma bus stop by the Japanese bus driver.

Even though we were just little children, our parents entrusted us to purchase our own bus tickets at the public bus depot.

They gave us money for milk, too.

Normally, I took my lunch to school and bought a token for milk once I was at school.

On one occasion, I forgot my lunch at home and didn’t have any way to get lunch. One of the teachers saw my dilemma and gave me lunch. I recall feeling so relieved and grateful for her kindness.

Becky: It sounds like, for the most part, you enjoyed going to school in Japan. Were you surprised when our parents decided to leave?

Joy: I was.

In spring of 1956 they announced that we were moving back to the U.S. after Judy and I finished the school year.

Becky: Did they tell you why?

Joy: They said that they had decided to resign from the mission field because Daddy wanted to teach seminary students in the United States to be missionaries. We girls didn’t understand this decision. We had been back from furlough only two years and the normal rotation was six years. We expected to live in Japan until 1960. Even so, we had to move.

Becky: And then, I made my appearance!

Joy: Yes! The spring of 1956 was a chaotic time. Mother and Daddy were busy with their preparations to leave, and then you showed up that March.

Becky: At least I was punctual.

Joy: Well, only because you were coerced!

Daddy had an extensive sixty-day trip coming up that spring—to travel to other sites in Asia and Europe where Southern Baptist missionaries were located. He was scheduled to leave shortly after our school year ended in April. So, they induced your birth.

Becky: Why was I born at home?

Joy: Because by then missionaries were no longer permitted as patients at the military hospitals in Japan.

You were delivered on the kitchen table by an army physician—an American Jewish obstetrician—, assisted by a Black Army nurse, with a single White female missionary, Lenore Hudson attending, and Daddy observing.

Mother handled the home birth beautifully, Daddy almost fainted!

Becky: Where were you and the other sisters?

Joy: Judy and I stayed with the Garrott family whose son Jack was in elementary school with us, and Beth stayed at the home of the Hays with their daughters, Ruth and Barbara.

I have a vivid memory of meeting you for the first time. They let us come home that afternoon, and we found Mother in bed holding you.

You were so tiny!

And, you had so much hair.

Most Copeland babies are born bald! I was thrilled to have a baby sister!

Baby Becky, Passport Photo, Fukuoka, Japan, 1956

Becky: It’s amazing to me that Mother was able to then pack up and travel so soon after my birth.

Joy: Well, Daddy left first—in April—and Mother closed down the house and followed in June on her own, with four little girls all under the age of ten.

Daddy’s departure was very emotional. Not just for his family, but for all the friends he was leaving behind.

I remember we all went to the train station to see him off. Throngs of Japanese and missionary friends had gathered to bid him farewell. The Seinan choir was there as well, and as he climbed up into the train, they sang the university song, “Ah, Seinan!”
This memory still brings tears to my eyes.

When Joy returned to the States with her family, she faced new challenges. While in Japan, her parents discovered she had cerebral palsy. Once back in the States, she began a series of treatments that were both physically and emotionally difficult. When this post continues, Joy will share more about her experiences with cerebral palsy.

For more on Itazuke Air base:
https://aoshs.org/collections/school-histories/as/jp/800/

For more on Military Payment Certificates:
https://learn.apmex.com/learning-guide/history/history-of-u-s-currency-mpcs/

For another version of the Seinan Gakuin School song with scenes of the early campus, check this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ5OvJQP3N8&list=RDNQ5OvJQP3N8&start_radio=1