1950s Yokohama places of my youth - lost

sfbaywalk · 2 Oct 2012

As U.S. military, we moved to Yokohama when I was 2 years old in 1952. My parents divorced and we stayed with my mother.

We went to St. Joseph's Catholic school for boys. It was adjacent to St. Mary's for girls. We lived nearby and walked to school. The school was up on one of the hills. Does anybody know of these places? Is it possible to post longitude and latitude?

Later we move to a street Mamaguchidai on a nearby hill. Can anyone point me to that location?

From Mamaguchidai, we used to walk down the hill toward the coast to a park that had a large pond with koi. Where is that?

We left when I was 10 in 1960. Saso, a man who took care of us for many years, gave me this item:

Japanese Items

circa 1956 - gift from Saso in Yokohama

www.flickr.com

I still have it. The color is mostly gone.

I could post other memories if anyone finds such things interesting.

Thanks,

Roy

Mike Cash · 2 Oct 2012

It seems St. Joseph's closed in 2000.

Interesting article: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20000527a6.html

I haven't been able to find any place called "Mamaguchidai" yet.

EDIT:

Got it. Yokohama-shi, Naka-ku, Mameguchidai

Note the different spelling.

sfbaywalk · 2 Oct 2012

Mike Cash said:
It seems St. Joseph's closed in 2000.

I haven't been able to find any place called "Mamaguchidai" yet.

I found the park with koi. It still exists at

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

It's MamEguchidai -- a neighborhood at

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

I have a St. Josephs street address.

I tried this all a couple of years ago with no success. Now I need to go in with a topographic view, because a child remembers terrain. We had to move from our first house. It backed up to a steep down slope that washed away after a storm. Part of the house was out over the cliff.

Mike Cash · 2 Oct 2012

There has probably been a lot of change to the area. You can see the expressway there to the south and all the port development.

Try using Google Maps; you can select a topographical view. The satellite view or Google Earth might also help.

sfbaywalk · 2 Oct 2012

Mike Cash said:
There has probably been a lot of change to the area. You can see the expressway there to the south and all the port development.

Try using Google Maps; you can select a topographical view. The satellite view or Google Earth might also help.

Yes, there were cliffs where some of that freeway now sits. That shipping development is built out onto the sea.

We used to run all over the place.

Mike Cash · 2 Oct 2012

You don't have to be gone from here very long to be shocked at the changes you find when you come back. Sometimes just a couple of years will render an area unrecognizable....ditto the culture.

sfbaywalk · 2 Oct 2012

I was born in Kentucky in 1950. Dad, a country boy, had been infantry in WWII and married a German woman. He got sent to Korea in '52 and we (my brother is 2 years older) went to live in Yokohama. At first we lived in military housing.

About '55, my parents divorced and we moved out to local housing.

We got a place a few blocks from Sacred Heart Cathedral and St. Joseph's School. The area is fancy now. Then, some houses yes, but our house no.

While driving along the coast road, my mom saw where a woman and two kids were living on the beach. The had built shelter from scraps. My mom bought them soap, and cans of food, and whatever, while crying because mom was so close to the same situation. The woman's kids were toddlers and had sores.

Someone on the military base got mom a typing job, and Saso came in from the country to take care of us during the week. St. Joseph's gave us a "scholarship", so we could go to school.

I'll write more, I hope. Somewhere this stuff needs to be recorded.

epigene · 2 Oct 2012

Sorry for posting late. I wasn't able to log in until now.

Yokohama is my hometown and I was born in 1953. I grew up in Makado-cho, that is adjacent to what was called then Housing Area 2. The entire area is now called Honmoku-Makado-cho.

Being Catholic, I went to Sacred Heart Cathedral (Yamate Kyokai in Japanese) on Sundays. My parents who were eager to make us kids learn English had friends who sent their kids to St. Joseph's College (later St. Joseph International School until it closed). The girls' international school next to it is not St. Mary's but St. Maur's. The land on which St. Joseph stood is now a luxury condo building. The only thing that remains of the school is a small monument staying St. Joseph stood there and Berrick Hall, which has been donated to and is maintained by Yokohama government. St. Maur's is still there but not as a girls' school but coed. There are a number of reasons why St. Joseph closed down but the greatest is that the school stood on property owned by the City of Yokohama. Running deficits, the city government wanted to sell the land which is a prime property on Yokohama's "Bluff" area.

I know Mameguchidai because I lived close to it at one time. I left Yokohama for Tokyo when I got married.

I don't think there is a park with koi just walking down the hill from Mameguchi-dai but think the park you're thinking of is Sankai-en, located in Honmoku area, which is "sort of down the hill" but a bit more to go by car or bus (LOL). It is still there and is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and colored foliage in autumn.

If you are interested in finding your old classmates from SJC, check out Facebook. They have an alumni group there, holding reunions both in the US and Japan.

sfbaywalk · 2 Oct 2012

Do you remember a park with a long, long slide going down the hill? Somewhere in the bluff area. Not a water slide.

Yes, we used to walk over to sankai-en, near the ocean. It was not a short walk, but we went everywhere. We kids even took the train to Tokyo to see Ben Hur.

Was Housing Area 2 the old military housing for families?

Roy

epigene said:
Sorry for posting late. I wasn't able to log in until now.

Yokohama is my hometown and I was born in 1953. I grew up in Makado-cho, that is adjacent to what was called then Housing Area 2. The entire area is now called Honmoku-Makado-cho.

Being Catholic, I went to Sacred Heart Cathedral (Yamate Kyokai in Japanese) on Sundays. My parents who were eager to make us kids learn English had friends who sent their kids to St. Joseph's College (later St. Joseph International School until it closed). The girls' international school next to it is not St. Mary's but St. Maur's. The land on which St. Joseph stood is now a luxury condo building. The only thing that remains of the school is a small monument staying St. Joseph stood there and Berrick Hall, which has been donated to and is maintained by Yokohama government. St. Maur's is still there but not as a girls' school but coed. There are a number of reasons why St. Joseph closed down but the greatest is that the school stood on property owned by the City of Yokohama. Running deficits, the city government wanted to sell the land which is a prime property on Yokohama's "Bluff" area.

I know Mameguchidai because I lived close to it at one time. I left Yokohama for Tokyo when I got married.

I don't think there is a park with koi just walking down the hill from Mameguchi-dai but think the park you're thinking of is Sankai-en, located in Honmoku area, which is "sort of down the hill" but a bit more to go by car or bus (LOL). It is still there and is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and colored foliage in autumn.

If you are interested in finding your old classmates from SJC, check out Facebook. They have an alumni group there, holding reunions both in the US and Japan.

---------- Post added at 04:07 ---------- Previous post was at 04:03 ----------

Mameguchi-dai to Sankai-en Garden is not much more than a mile. Perhaps 2 kilometers on streets.

epigene · 2 Oct 2012

sfbaywalk said:
Do you remember a park with a long, long slide going down the hill? Somewhere in the bluff area. Not a water slide.

As a child, my neighborhood was Makado-cho, so I"m not sure. There were many slopes in many directions from the Bluff/Yamate area. All I can remember is a kids park with slides and others located along a slope that leads to Motomachi.

Yes, we used to walk over to sankai-en, near the ocean. It was not a short walk, but we went everywhere. We kids even took the train to Tokyo to see Ben Hur.
Was Housing Area 2 the old military housing for families?
Roy

---------- Post added at 04:07 ---------- Previous post was at 04:03 ----------
Mameguchi-dai to Sankai-en Garden is not much more than a mile. Perhaps 2 kilometers on streets.

Sorry, my typo. It's not Sankai-en but SankEi-en.
Sankei-en is no longer near the ocean. That coastal area has been reclaimed in the 1970s.

Area 1 and Area 2 US military housing (for military personnel and their dependents) were located near Sankei-en. DOD schools were located in these housing areas (Nile C. Kinnick School, if I remember correctly). I don't remember exactly, but most of the land the US military used in Yokohama has been repatriated by the end of the 1970s. If I am correct, the only US military installation in Yokohama today is the very small Negishi Base and its military housing area.

Found a blog by a Japanese featuring photos of the housing areas.

異国情緒あふれる港町　　横浜（１０８）　　本牧ベース　（１） - はげまるのぶら～り日記

「本牧ベース」が無くなってから　　そろそろ３０年目であると言う事は　３０歳より若い人は絶対　「本牧ベース」の実物を見た事は無いのである（あたりまえではないか）何故そんな当たり前だのくらっか～　の事を書くのかと言うとはげまるが母と病院に行く都度　あのあたりを車で通る「本...

web.archive.org

The path from Mameguchi-dai to Sankei-en area you mention must be the short route that my family didn't use, due to the presence of US military installations and the absence of shops. The roundabout route takes longer but was easier for us.

Added links:
St. Joseph's College/International School Alumni Association

There is a mega-reunion for SJC/SJIS graduates (as well as graduates of other international schools in Japan in LA in March 2013. Check out the alumni group page on Facebook.
Past reunions:
SJC / SJIS - Reunions & Alumni

Chapter on Yokohama in a book by a foreigner who used to live in Japan
Yokohama Gaijin: Memoir of a Foreigner Born in Japan

FAMILIAR LANDMARKS YOKOHAMA - landmark.htm

sfbaywalk · 3 Oct 2012

Very nice of you to share

My older brother is particularly excited as his memories are clearer.

Roy

Ann Kennedy · 3 Nov 2012

I have read this thread with interest. As a very young child, I lived in Nishinomiya, but my dad had a cousin who lived in army housing "on a hill" in Yokohama. I have some old slides (1953-4), but cannot identify which might be army housing. It was described as very nice housing, completely furnished with everything including kitchen implements, by the army.

sfbaywalk · 3 Nov 2012

Ann Kennedy said:
I have read this thread with interest. As a very young child, I lived in Nishinomiya, but my dad had a cousin who lived in army housing "on a hill" in Yokohama. I have some old slides (1953-4), but cannot identify which might be army housing. It was described as very nice housing, completely furnished with everything including kitchen implements, by the army.

Hi, Ann.

This page has pictures of typical dependent housing. Except for the batch of housing around the PX, the housing was up on a long ridge: Yokohama Japan 1954

I lived in one of those for a while, but later lived "on the economy" at what was called "The Bluff." Maps from that time show military housing scattered around the Bluff, but I remember nothing like what I know as dependent housing. All the houses seemed unique from each other, without the conformity. Perhaps the bluff houses were independently contracted for upper-level officers.

This photo set includes some maps from the era:

Yokohama 1950s

I lived in Yokohama from 1952 to 1960. These pics are associated with some of my memories.

www.flickr.com

Ann Kennedy · 4 Nov 2012

Thanks so much for the resource! I really appreciate the help. I have a family blog on which I post daily letters, diary entries, photos, etc. that my mother wrote to my grandmother during our time in Japan. If interested, this is the blog address:
Haddock and Dill Thanks again for your help.

Bamaone1945 · 27 Apr 2021

sfbaywalk said:
Hi, Ann.

This page has pictures of typical dependent housing. Except for the batch of housing around the PX, the housing was up on a long ridge: Yokohama Japan 1954

I lived in one of those for a while, but later lived "on the economy" at what was called "The Bluff." Maps from that time show military housing scattered around the Bluff, but I remember nothing like what I know as dependent housing. All the houses seemed unique from each other, without the conformity. Perhaps the bluff houses were independently contracted for upper level officers.

This photo set includes some maps from the era: Yokohama 1950s - a set on Flickr

Hello, I lived across the street from St Joseph's from 1957 to 1959. My memory is not so good. Our house faced the school. I could see the boys at play and hear the bell when it was time to go inside. My Daddy took me to the girls school and registered me but he was gone on TDY when school started and my Mama sent me to the school with the military kids.
Our house had a screened in porch across the front and a rock wall beside it.
We could go left from the house and the road curved out straight. In a short distance we could wait at the bus stop to catch the bus to the base. East and west bluff it was called. Looking downward was the cemetery, in the distance was Yokohama harbor and Mt Fuji in the distance.
Forgive me for this long reply. My time of living on the bluff in Yokohama has been on my mind a lot lately.

Bamaone1945 · 28 Apr 2021

sfbaywalk said:
Hi, Ann.

This page has pictures of typical dependent housing. Except for the batch of housing around the PX, the housing was up on a long ridge: Yokohama Japan 1954

I lived in one of those for a while, but later lived "on the economy" at what was called "The Bluff." Maps from that time show military housing scattered around the Bluff, but I remember nothing like what I know as dependent housing. All the houses seemed unique from each other, without the conformity. Perhaps the bluff houses were independently contracted for upper level officers.

This photo set includes some maps from the era: Yokohama 1950s - a set on Flickr

Thank you so much for the photos. I can't believe how happy it made me to see the PX and movie theater. I went to the movies often. One day Danny Kaye came to the theater and did stand up comedy on the stage.

roy817817 · 25 Nov 2025

Also Roy. I was born in Yokohama in 1954, and I don't have many memories of the place. My father was in the Merchant Marines and when I was born, he was back at Letterkenny trying to get back into the Army and back to Japan. When he managed that feat, he got an assignment to Camp Zama where we lived until 1962 when we came to the U.S. I've lost my Japanese, but I've been back there 3 times to tour the country. My memories of Yokohama was as a very poor half breed boy. I don't remember indoor toilets at all. Seems to me that most used outhouses back then. I'm sure my memories are suspect. The story about helping the poor woman on the beach was very touching. Thank you for posting pictures and recollections.

1950s Yokohama places of my youth - lost

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