 The GaJoEn was a great place to go that first weekend. It was just before payday and all four of us were almost broke. Meals were: breakfast 10¢ - lunch 15¢ - dinner 25¢. We had to sign in to eat there. We had to give name and military unit. I believe the hotel charged the different units something for our food. The dinning room very elegant. The menu had a large choice of items and we could have as much as we wanted to eat. On Sunday we watched movies in one of the smaller dinning rooms. We sat at tables and had beer and popcorn served to us. On the third floor there was a lounge and we could listen to live violin music. The top floor had a huge dance floor surrounded with tables and booths. In the evening they had a full orchestra. I don't think we had our meals up there but drinks were very cheap. When we stayed there, that first weekend, we had two rooms for the four of us. Our rooms opened on to a large garden which ran down along the hill below us. We could afford the meals but had to limit the number of drinks in the evening. My one bottle of Tiger Beer had to last me most of the night. Still, for a poor boy fresh from Korea it became a great weekend. Later the GaJoEn became our home when we were in town. You could bring a date there for an evening of dancing. The first evening I went there I was near the entrance when a beautiful gal grabbed my arm and asked if she could come with me. I of course agreed. As soon as we got inside she disappeared. She had just wanted to get past the guard at the door. Most likely to meet someone she knew. . .? ____________________________________________ In 1945 the army had taken over some of the hotels for their own use. When we were there the GaJoEn was being run by the original Japanese owners but subsidized by the army. The photos shown are not 1955 vintage but current ones off the web. It looks like the hotel is still as beautiful as it was when I was there. More photos of the GaJoEn in Meguro (which is a part of Tokyo) |
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