You will find a variety of old pictures of the U.S. Navy Housing facilities in the following HP presented by photographer, Masahiro Machida, who was born and raised in Yokohama. Though it's totally in Japanese, it's interesting to see each photo.
1. First open
http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~matida2. Click "Photo Gallery 2 本牧 グラフィッティ(Honmoku Graffitti".
Also, in conjuction with the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of opening of Yokohama Port, Machida recently published a book 横浜 ナイト＆デー "Yokohama Night & Day" in which you will find a lot of pictures old and new in and around Yokohama Port. Captions and postscript are translated into English.
ISBN978-4-8179-2118-5
COO72
Published by Nihon Camera Sha. Price is 2000yen+tax.
Following is a part of his postscript:
"When I was a child, the Yokohama sky was so clear that Mt. Fuji seemed close to me. The snow-capped mountain soaring in the blue sky was without a doubt beautiful. But what really struck me beautiful were things like foreign-made chewing gum wrapping paper or the pictures printed on the tin cans ofcandy drops. The strange beauty of array of letters on the pastel-colored paper together with the faint smell of peppermint that remained fascinated me as a child. Moreover, I was also enthused by the stickers on the foreign passenger's steam trunks, jazz album jacket designs and American pop art. Thus my sense of beauty was formed from my childhood to adolescence.
I owe a lot to the place called Yokohama where I was born and raised. i can still remember the vast carpet of clovers seen beyond the U.S military base fence, the olive-colored Quonset huts. painted English letters, military motor vehicles and the GIs. That was the original landscape. Another memory that I cannot forget is the ship's whistle that I heard as a child on New Year's Eve. Every New Year's Eve at Midnight, all the ships anchored at Yokohama Port sounded their whistles simultaneously. From the deafening sound that broke the silent darkness, I truly felt that I was being embraced in the port town. Soon after the whistles died, my mind wandered on the dark sea of the night and pictured the ship's lamps that lit the harbor. I have greeted many New Years in Yokohama in such way.
In 2009, Yokohama Port celebrates the 150th anniversary of its opening. A fleet of ships(Blacck Ships) from America came to port and forced open apan's door of seclusion. Yokohama's 150-year history became a door to the modernization of Japan, promoting the glorious history of the West, cross-cultural conflict, destruction and damage caused by the Kanto Great Earthquake and warfare, reconstruction, followed by U.S. military occupation. In other words, it is a history of the hardships that were overcame with much trial and tribulation.
This photo collecion is a personal record done as a result of my drifting about the town in Yokohama. Every time I leaf the pages, memories of when I photographed day and night, lost scenery, people I met on the wharf, harbor lights, days of my childhood, etc, recur to me."
Also, you will find a cover photo of this book in his HP .
