{"id":9523,"date":"2015-10-21T00:01:33","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T04:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillyhistory.wpengine.com\/?p=9523"},"modified":"2015-10-21T00:03:12","modified_gmt":"2015-10-21T04:03:12","slug":"admiral-heihachiro-togo-had-arrived","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/2015\/10\/admiral-heihachiro-togo-had-arrived\/","title":{"rendered":"Admiral Heihachir\u014d T\u014dg\u014d Had Arrived"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Detail of “City Hall – Decorated for Visit by Admiral Togo,” 1911. (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWith Secret Service men and city detectives following in a motor car and mounted policemen galloping ahead and behind, the Japanese commander was whirled around the west side of City Hall and South on Broad street. Those who caught a fleeting look at his immobile face gave him a noisy welcome. From the windows of the Bellevue-Stratford<\/a> fluttered the flags of the United States,\u201d that of Japan and the admiral\u2019s, which the resourceful hotel staff had finished stitching together only minutes before.<\/p>\n

Yes, Admiral Heihachir\u014d T\u014dg\u014d had arrived.<\/p>\n

Down in the bowels of the Bellevue-Stratford \u201cthe pantryman of the culinary department\u201d had readied his creation: a three-and-a-half-foot model of T\u014dg\u014d\u2019s famous battleship, the <\/span>Mikasa<\/a><\/em>. The model looked exactly right, down to \u201cthe number of guns pointing from turrets,\u201d the chocolate sailors manning the small-fire guns and the surrounding waves of \u201cbillowy green bonbons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

T\u014dg\u014d\u2019s eyes \u201ctwinkled when he saw the midget ship.\u201d He \u201cgravely drew himself to attention and saluted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Philadelphians fell all over themselves in August 1911, celebrating their 48-hours with Admiral T\u014dg\u014d. \u00a0The samurai who studied naval warfare under British tutelage had put all of his finely honed skills to work against the Chinese and the Russians. Only five years before, T\u014dg\u014d won what is often referred to as \u201cthe most decisive sea battle in history, the Battle of Tsushima.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, this \u201cConqueror of Russia’s Fleet\u201d who represented the Japanese government at the coronation of King George V in England was headed back home. But not before an American Grand Tour. T\u014dg\u014d left Liverpool on the Lusitania<\/em><\/a>. President Taft hosted him at the White House. T\u014dg\u014d visited Mount Vernon, laying a wreath at Washington\u2019s tomb. He\u2019d see the Naval Academy in Annapolis; witness drills by Army cadets at West Point. And he would dine at Oyster Bay with former President Theodore Roosevelt, who had presided over the negotiations between the Japanese and the Russians that resulted in the <\/span>Portsmouth Treaty<\/a>. For that, Roosevelt had earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his 48-hour, whirlwind tour of Philadelphia, T\u014dg\u014d visited Independence Hall. He stood before the Liberty Bell and took a long, deep bow at the portrait of George Washington. T\u014dg\u014d toured the Philadelphia Navy Yard and inspected a new style of \u201cfighting mast\u201d on the battleship Minnesota<\/a><\/em>. He plied the Delaware port in a tugboat, and visited the yards of Camden\u2019s New York Shipbuilding Corporation, which saluted T\u014dg\u014d with large cannon booming a nineteen-gun salute. Back in Philadelphia, T\u014dg\u014d visited Baldwin Locomotive Works (which he noted was \u201cwell known in our faraway country\u201d). He marveled at the Mint and met the Mayor. But August heat crimped T\u014dg\u014d stamina, and he passed on a scheduled visit to William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, where the Kasagi<\/a><\/em>, his battleship and original flagship in the Japanese-Russian War, first took to water.<\/p>\n

On his final evening in Philadelphia, having dined casually in his fourth-floor suite at the Bellevue-Stratford, T\u014dg\u014d requested a \u201cmotor ride\u201d to escape the city\u2019s stifling humidity. His driver navigated into the cool recesses of Fairmount Park, presumably allowing a glimpse of the <\/span>ancient Japanese Temple Gate<\/a>, recently purchased, installed and landscaped at the expense of two Baldwin executives.<\/span><\/p>\n

In all of his comings and goings, T\u014dg\u014d hardly had a chance to study the two large electric signs mounted in his honor over the north and south portals of City Hall. But in the quiet of this dark, steamy August night, T\u014dg\u014d\u2019s car returned down Broad Street. T\u014dg\u014d read the words aloud \u201cas the car approached the big, electric \u2018Welcome to Togo\u2019\u201d sign. \u201cThe Admiral instructed the chauffeur to stop and for a few minutes\u201d and \u201che studied the design carefully. The blending in lights of the American and Japanese flags pleased him, but he was greatly mystified at the significance of the blue and yellow flag.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

T\u014dg\u014d didn\u2019t recognize that flag. Neither did his aide, nor did his secretary, or the Secret Service agent, or the chauffeur. The entourage hailed a policeman to learn it was \u201cthe insignia of Philadelphia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Admiral \u201cseemed amused\u201d and delighted at this \u201creal, official municipal welcome,\u201d the likes of which he had never seen before\u2014and probably wouldn\u2019t again.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Sources: Jonathan Clements, <\/span>Admiral Togo: Nelson of the East<\/i>, (Haus Publishing, 2010); <\/span>Encyclopedia of World Biography<\/i>; \u201cTogo here next month,\u201d <\/span>The New York Times<\/i>, July 16 1911; and the Newspaper collection at the <\/span>Special Collections Research Center<\/span><\/a>, Paley Library, Temple University, including \u201cAdmiral Togo, Japan’s Hero, Arrives Here. Conqueror of Russia’s Fleet is Given Great Ovation,\u201dAugust 10, 1911; \u201cTogo Leaves City After Day Spent Seeing Its Sights,\u201d August 11, 1911, both in<\/span> The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/i>.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWith Secret Service men and city detectives following in a motor car and mounted policemen galloping ahead and behind, the Japanese commander was whirled around the west side of City Hall and South on Broad street. Those who caught a fleeting look at his immobile face gave him a noisy welcome. From the windows of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}