Historic Hood River
“Japanese Visitation”
Notes
This image is captioned “Japanese Visitation” and dated 11/57. I suspect the Hood River News archives for that month would explain why this delegation was visiting. This date would predate the initiation of the Hood River- Tsuruta Sister City Program by 20 years, but it’s not hard to imagine Hood River receiving such a visitation based on the long history of valley residents of Japanese descent. I imagine rebuilding those ties after World War II, the forced removal of those residents from the area, and the open hostility to their return would have been especially difficult.
That looks like the old Merideth Motel near Ruthton Point along I-84 and the Old Columbia River Highway. I’m sure someone will give us the important details of that automobile which plays such an important role in this image.
Dale Nicol
Looks like a 1957 Dodge Royal Lancer with the famous spinner hub caps. In So Cal, spinner hub caps were a item widely stolen and then someone came out with “valve stem locks” to help prevent hub cap theft.
A set of hubcaps cost $100 back then.
Thorn
I would speculate these men are related to Portland’s sister city program or the early days of planning the Japanese Garden, and they went out to to see the falls and connect with Hood River’s Japanese citizenry and history.