Oil refinery as seen from the hill behind our house in Naka-ku, Honmoku, Yokohama. Canon F-1 (1978 version) with Canon FD 80-200mm f/4 zoom lens on Kodak Ektachrome at about 5 seconds at f/16. As best as we can tell, the refinery is still there today.
Chris and Carol ^.^
Carol and I lived in Yokohama from 1977 to early 1980. We have such wonderful memories of our time living there – memories that still make us smile today. Specifically, we lived in US Navy Housing Area 2 (283-D) which was in Honmoku, Naka-ku. Back then it was an industrial area with a refinery (see pic below) close by and of course the port with its thousands of automobiles and small trucks waiting to ship out to the States.
Oil refinery as seen from a hill near our house.
Here, in no particular order, are some street scenes in and around ‘Yoko’. We can tell from our Google Earth visits, that the area has changed dramatically since the Navy left in 1982. There’s an elementary school where our house once stood and the houses we see now are big by what we considered big for Japanese houses back in the late 1970s. All of these images were shot using my Canon F-1 or Carol’s AE-1. We used Kodak Kodachrome and Ektachrome slide film as shooting with color negative film was beyond my Sailor’s pay.
Enjoy this trip back in time and please forgive us if our memory of the exact location is wrong. ^.^
Avenue D, 16, headed straight to Sakuragicho and right to Kamiakin and Yamashita.
A gas station along Avenue D, located just across the road from our base housing. We would tell people who were coming to visit us to be on the lookout for the ‘humpin’ turtle’ sign as it was near the turn into the housing area.
A little too close to the local Keihin Kyuko train in Sugita.
We know… a pay phone with a dial!
Driving through one of the many tunnels along Avenue D (16) from Yokosuka to Yokohama.
Area 2, US Navy base housing, Yokohama. Our house is the middle of the three two-story houses on the left. The bay, port and the refinery can be seen through the haze in the distance. Honmoku Elementary School 横浜市立本牧小学校 is located here now.
Thanks for your visit – time travel can be such fun! We have a video on Sony Betamax tape that we will have transferred to digital (soon). Lots of neat shots around town with rides on the bus and trains and a walk through a local shopping street. Stay tuned!
Chris and Carol ^.^
