… six days later, the 207th and Totman moved to Tokyo.

Thus began the rest of his life. Totman had developed a strong affinity for Japan on his short R&R visits, and this affinity matured as his assignment there continued. In March, he worked up the nerve to ask his new Commanding Officer’s secretary, Michiko Ikegami, on a date, and within two years, they would marry at the Totman family farm in Conway.

After being granted an early discharge from the military in June 1956, Totman returned to the University of Massachusetts -- this time as a History major. He would go on to earn a Master’s Degree and doctorate from Harvard University in East Asian Studies. In addition to writing numerous books and articles on Early Modern Japan and forestry, he became a professor of History at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Northwestern University, and finally Yale University, where he became Professor Emeritus in 1997. Conrad Totman and his wife, Michiko, still reside near New Haven, Conn.