Washington Heights was a

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

housing complex located in

Shibuya, Tokyo Shibuya (渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1, ...

during the

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

by Allied forces. Constructed in 1946, it remained in operation until 1964, by which point all land had been returned to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese control. Today, the site encompasses

Yoyogi Park is a park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It is located adjacent to Harajuku Station and Meiji Shrine in Yoyogikamizonochō. The park is a popular Tokyo destination, especially on Sundays when it is used as a gathering place for Japanese rock music ...

Yoyogi National Gymnasium Yoyogi National Gymnasium, officially is an indoor arena located at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, which is famous for its suspension roof design. It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964 to house swimming and d ...

, the

NHK Broadcasting Center The , the headquarters of NHK, is located in Jinnan, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It includes studios and offices, as well as shops and the popular Studio Park, which is a popular attraction for schoolchildren and tourists. Located within the same ...

, and other facilities.

Military period

Covering an area of 924,000 square meters, Washington Heights was home to 827 housing units for United States

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and, later,

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

families. It also hosted support facilities, including schools, churches, theaters, shops, and officers' clubs. Japanese citizens were not permitted to enter the area, which was fenced in with multiple gates.History of Yoyogi Stadium
Yoyogi National Stadium (National Agency for the Advancement of Sports and Health). Japanese. Accessed . Washington Heights was predominantly a middle-class area, although much of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

had been devastated by firebombing during the war. Before the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, the area was used as a

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

ground by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

. The U.S. military ordered the construction of the Washington Heights complex by the Japanese government,Research on the Study of City Community Life in a New Generation
Hi-Life Public Research Institute, 2011. Japanese. Accessed . and maintained control of it after the signing of the

Treaty of San Francisco The , also called the , re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and including World War II. It w ...

. Although the treaty returned Japanese sovereignty in late April 1952, military forces would remain, including those housed at Washington Heights. This resulted in protests from Japanese university students in early May, but expected attacks on the housing complex never materialized.1952 Battalion Time Line
720th Military Police Battalion Reunion Association History Project. Accessed . The

Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan The , more commonly known as the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in English and as the or just in Japanese, is a treaty that permits the presence of U.S. military bases on Japanese soil, and commits the two nations to defend each other if one or th ...

, signed in 1960, determined that Washington Heights would remain in operation. The following year, though, the land was deemed necessary for construction of facilities connected with the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

. The transfer was completed in 1964, with the Japanese government bearing the full amount of relocation expenses for U.S. military families moving to Chofu Airport.

Olympics and later years

A number of the former military barracks were used as athlete housing during the Games.Odeven, Ed
A look back at when Tokyo was awarded 1964 Olympics
Japan Times, 2013. Accessed . Other athletes were housed in a newly constructed facility that later became the National Olympics Memorial Youth Center. After the Olympics, nearly all the military housing was razed, except for one house in Yoyogi Park, which had been used by the Dutch Olympic team.

Noted individuals

Johnny Kitagawa John Hiromu Kitagawa (Japanese name ; October 23, 1931 – July 9, 2019), known professionally as , was an American-born Japanese businessman and talent manager. He was the founder and president of Johnny & Associates, a production agency for nu ...

, created Japan's first boy band from youths he found playing in Washington Heights in 1962 *

Norma Field Norma M. Field is an author and emeritus professor of East Asian studies at the University of Chicago. She has taught Premodern Japanese Poetry and Prose, Premodern Japanese Language, and Gender Studies as relating to Japanese women. Her areas o ...

, attended school in Washington Heights as a child *

Lois Lowry Lois Ann Lowry (; née Hammersberg; March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including ''The Giver Quartet,'' ''Number the Stars'', and ''Rabble Starkey.'' She is known for writing a ...

, acclaimed American writer, author of ''

The Giver ''The Giver'' is a 1993 American young adult dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry, set in a society which at first appears to be utopian but is revealed to be dystopian as the story progresses. In the novel, the society has taken away pain ...

'', where she received her inspiration for the book from childhood memories of sneaking out of the base and exploring the neighboring

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

district.

References

{{coord missing, Tokyo 20th century in Tokyo Buildings and structures in Shibuya Cantonments Military installations of the United States in Japan Military installations closed in 1964

Military period

Olympics and later years

Noted individuals

Further reading

References