page_title: Komatsu (Japanese restaurant)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Komatsu (Japanese restaurant) / History
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 料亭小松の待合室 English: Komatsu is a Japanese restaurant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
context_page_description: Komatsu is a Japanese restaurant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. It is known as the "Navy Restaurant Komatsu" and was a preferred eating location for Japanese naval officers prior to, and following, the Second World War; American Navy personnel and those related to the Japanese navy have also patronized the establishment in significant numbers.
  On May 16, 2016, Komatsu restaurant caught fire. The smoke spewing from the inferno engulfed nearby buildings downwind of Komatsu, plunging them into darkness and forcing the residents of the nearby buildings to be evacuated.
context_section_description: Komatsu was started by Komatsu Yamamoto on 8 August 1885, which was the eighth month and eighth day of the year of Meiji 18, a date that accorded with the Japanese preference for the lucky numbers "8, 8, 8". The building site is in a convenient location where people during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries could easily eat a Japanese dinner after swimming in the sea. During that era, Japan was expanding its Navy. Under the direction of the Navy Minister, the Naval headquarters, Chinjufu, was occupied with planning and practice for its fleet, recruiting of sailors, overall management, and supervision of the Navy.
  In line with the expanding Imperial Navy, Komatsu continued to develop, and it was called "Pine" (Matsu is "pine" in English). Gradually, the restaurant lost its locational advantage due to a land reclamation process in 1913, and it was no longer a place of white sand and green pine trees. Additionally, due to World War I and strikes for the improvement of female work conditions, Komatsu was forced to close between 1918 and 1919.
  In 1923, the Restaurant Komatsu was built again in a location that overlooked the sea in Yonegahama, and, at the request of Shigeyoshi Inoue, a South Pacific location of Pine was opened on one of the Chuuk islands between 1942 and 1944. Following the defeat of Japan, the restaurant became an office for the settlement of remaining affairs of the Navy and a hotel for interpreters, and in October 1945, it was designated as a restaurant for American military personnel.
  Since Japan's independence in 1952, Restaurant Komatsu has been widely used, not only by American Navy personnel, but also by Japanese men related to the Navy in some manner. It is the only Japanese restaurant that was operational during both World Wars. As of  2009, the restaurant is housed in a typical Japanese building from the Shōwa period, and has retained various historical documents, such as the calligraphies of Tōgō Heihachirō, Isoroku Yamamoto, and Mitsumasa Yonai, famous Japanese Naval admirals.
caption: A waiting room in Komatsu.
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