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Passport to the World over 64 years. Pages from my Travel Diary
Tokyo Tower during a severe earth tremor. Friday the 17th. of May 1968 I was back in Tokyo in May of 1968 to visit a Japanese Food Equipment Manufacturer, to compare an automatic pacakaging machine with one I had seen in Berlin, and decided to view this crowded and exciting city from the top of the famous Tokyo Tower.
Having made the ascent, I was enjoying the amazing view, when suddenly the whole structure began to shake and sway quite violently, it was evidently caused by a severe earth tremor. I was unsure if this huge structure was robust enough to withstand such a shock, or whether it might suddenly all collapse under me, I was really scared for some time, and felt very helpless. The swaying and shaking stopped, I was alright, and quickly made my way down the Tower, to the relative safety of the street below. During WW2, I had survived being sunk by the Japanese Navy at the Battle of Savo Island on the 8th. of August 1942, in the Philippine campaign in January 1945, I had survived their hard pressed Kamikaze attacks on a number of occasions, I didn't want to be finished off by a Japanese earthquake, but it seemed I had survived once more. As a cat has supposedly 9 lives, I am sure I was quickly exhausting those lives allocated to me!! The next day, the 17th. of May, the Australian bantam boxing champion, Lionel Rose fought the Japanese Fighting Harada in Tokyo for the World Crown in his weight division and won. On the 18th. at the Tokyo airport, I met Ron Casey, a well known Australian broadcaster, who had described this title fight for his Australian audience.
I asked Ron to call my family on his return to say I was fine after the earthquake scare. This he kindly did, but I am afraid my wife did not know who the famous Ron Casey was, how embarassing?
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