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Photos of Yokohama a century ago

Buntaro

運動不足
27 Dec 2003
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Photos of Yokohama a century ago

 
Great find, thanks for sharing!

Here's the oldest known photo taken in Yokohama:

 

Hey Thomas, are you familiar with the neighborhood in Tokyo called Ameyokocho? I heard it means "From America to Yokohama" referring to the days when many American items were imported to Japan via Yokohama Port, then distributed to this neighborhood in Tokyo.
 
There are two theories on the etymology of Ameya. The first is that the name came from ameya (飴屋, candy shop), because of all the candy stores that lined the street in the early post-war era when sugar was hard to come by. Even now, there are stores selling candy there. The second theory is that it refers to アメリカ (America); there used to be stores selling surplus American army goods just after World War II. In either case, it is now commonly referred to simply as ameyoko (アメ横).

As in the wiki page, "Ame" could be from "America", but "yoko" is from "yokochō", i.e., "side street/alley", not "Yokohama".
 
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