[Above: 海防艦３４号 No 34 Sea Defense Ship]At this year's Tansui-Kai meeting, members ruminated about the repatriation experience. Some recalled that in March, 1946, they reported to the Governor General's Office [now the Presidential Palace] in Taipei, then took the train [in Taipei Station] to Keelung where the 引き揚げhiki-age ships awaited. Most of them were on board of Liberty ships during this evacuation. After one week at sea, the evacuees arrived in 大竹Otake [about 20 miles southwest of Hiroshima]. The reason for the long one-week journey was to avoid mines in the seas near Japan, the ships must therefore sail along the coastlines of the mainland. These Liberty ships were hastily built in the US during WWII to meet the needs of wartime transportation:
Some were evacuated on board of 海防艦Sea Defense ships [gun boats]. At least one Tansui-Kai member from Miyazaki Prefecture returned from Keelung to Kagoshima on 海防艦３４号 (pictured above) - after two nights and three days. He was then temporarily sheltered in 天保山Ten-po-san Elementary School near Hiroshima.海防艦s were 70 meter long with a 700 tonnage, used in 引き揚げ process up until 1947 when they were handed over to the Soviet Union.
A postscript: One of Eyedoc's cousins remembers traveling from Danshui to Taipei Station to see her best friend 小林玲子 off and has lost contact ever since - until last year. Her friend, a member of Tansui-Kai, turns out to be alive and well now residing near Tokyo.
