A postwar sailor balances naval duty, romantic uncertainty, and responsibility for a stolen religious statue.
Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
The Hidden Buddha
Four sailors steal a Buddha statue from a Japanese village. After hearing of a Navy crackdown, they hide it in a cave.
Key Events
Postwar Navy Setting — The story begins in Japan after World War II, among United States Navy personnel.
Location: Japan
Statue Theft — Four somewhat drunk sailors steal a Buddha statue from a Japanese village.
Location: Japanese village
Rowing Toward Safety — The sailors row back toward their ship while carrying the stolen statue.
Location: Water near the village
Navy Crackdown Announced — The sailors hear that the Navy is cracking down on thefts from Japan.
Location: Water near the ship
Statue Hidden Away — The statue is hidden in a cave instead of being taken aboard the ship.
Location: Cave
Twelve Years Afloat
One sailor remains aboard USS Bustard while the others are transferred. The captain's apparent irritation masks respect and encouragement to reenlist.
Key Events
Sailors Are Transferred — Three of the four sailors are transferred away from the area.
Location: Japan
Long-Term Service Begins — The remaining sailor stays aboard the submarine rescue vessel USS Bustard in Japan.
Location: USS Bustard
Captain Shows Exasperation — The captain appears exasperated by the sailor's occasional antics.
Location: USS Bustard
Hidden Respect Revealed — Despite the apparent irritation, the captain thinks well of the sailor.
Location: USS Bustard
Reenlistment Encouraged — The captain repeatedly persuades the sailor to continue reenlisting.
Location: USS Bustard
Repeated Rank Changes — Over twelve years, the sailor is promoted and demoted repeatedly.
Location: United States Navy
Chief Petty Officer — The sailor eventually rises to the rank of chief petty officer.
Location: United States Navy
A Difficult Promotion
Repeated promotions and demotions mark twelve years of naval service. The sailor eventually becomes a chief petty officer.
Key Events
Repeated Rank Changes — Over twelve years, the sailor is promoted and demoted repeatedly.
Location: United States Navy
Chief Petty Officer — The sailor eventually rises to the rank of chief petty officer.
Location: United States Navy
Love in the Kimono Shop
During liberty ashore, the sailor falls for a seemingly demure woman. Her identity as a Navy Nurse Corps officer changes the relationship's circumstances.
Key Events
Liberty Ashore — While on liberty ashore, the sailor visits a kimono shop.
Location: Japanese town
Meeting at Kimono Shop — The sailor falls for a seemingly demure Japanese woman working in the shop.
Location: Kimono shop
Nurse Corps Identity — The woman is revealed to be a Japanese-American United States Navy Nurse Corps officer.
Location: Kimono shop
Tradition and Restitution
A childhood betrothal creates a competing claim on the officer's future. The connection between her betrothed's uncle and the statue's village forces the sailor to balance romance with restitution.
Key Events
Childhood Betrothal Revealed — She discovers that she was betrothed as a child to a Japanese man.
Location: Japan
Tradition Asserted — After seeing her, the Japanese man fully intends to follow the traditional betrothal.
Location: Japan
Village Connection Discovered — The betrothed man's uncle is revealed to come from the village connected to the stolen statue.
Location: Japan
Two Conflicting Quests — The sailor divides his time between returning the statue and courting the Navy officer.
Location: Japan
Duty and Romance Entwined — The personal romance and the unresolved responsibility for the statue form the story's concluding tension.
Location: Japan
Story Breakdown
Postwar Misadventure — A drunken theft creates the story's first moral and practical problem.
Village Statue — Sailors steal a Buddha statue from a Japanese village.
Cave Hiding Place — The statue is hidden after news of a Navy crackdown.
The Remaining Sailor — One sailor stays in Japan while the others leave through military transfers.
Transfers — Three sailors are transferred away.
USS Bustard — The remaining sailor continues serving aboard the rescue vessel.
Captain and Enlistment — A seemingly exasperated captain supports the sailor's continued career.
Antics Aboard — The sailor's behavior appears to frustrate the captain.
Hidden Respect — The captain thinks well of him and encourages reenlistment.
Unstable Career — Long service is marked by reversals before eventual advancement.
Promotions — The sailor rises in rank several times.
Demotions — He is also repeatedly reduced in rank.
Unexpected Romance — A meeting during liberty ashore develops into a complicated romantic possibility.
Kimono Shop — The sailor falls for a seemingly demure Japanese woman.
Navy Officer — She is revealed to be a Japanese-American Nurse Corps officer.
Tradition and Duty — An inherited betrothal and the stolen statue place competing obligations around the romance.
Childhood Betrothal — The officer discovers she was promised to a Japanese man as a child.
Village Restitution — The sailor tries to return the statue while pursuing the officer.
This military service comedy chronicles the misadventures of the U.S.S. Bustard in Japan. The crew has stolen a Buddha statue from a Japanese village, which if discovered missing, would threaten Japanese/American relations. Doc Willoughby is the ship's petty officer, whose antics are constantly getting him into trouble with his captain. On shore leave, Willoughby falls for a seemingly demure Japanese girl in a kimono shop, who actually turns out to be a Japanese/American nurse in the US Navy, Lt. Tomiko Momoyama. However, it turns out she was betrothed as a child to a traditional Japanese man named Toshi, who fully intends on enforcing tradition. Willoughby divides his time between trying to return the Buddha statue back to the Japanese village it rightfully belongs to, and trying to woo Tomiko from the traditional Japanese man she rightfully belongs to.
