THEN AND NOW #2 -- LOOKING SOUTH FROM MAEDA BRIDGE TO MOTOMACHI AND "THE 100 STEPS" (2006, New Yokohama)

THEN AND NOW #2 -- LOOKING SOUTH FROM MAEDA BRIDGE TO MOTOMACHI AND "THE 100 STEPS" (2006, New Yokohama)
Originally uploaded by Okinawa Soba

MY MEMORIES OF MOTOMACHI ARE MANY AND FOND...This location has transformed again and looks nothing like it did in 1963...
___________________________________________________
THEN AND NOW #2 -- LOOKING SOUTH FROM MAEDA BRIDGE TO MOTOMACHI AND "THE 100 STEPS" (2006, New Yokohama)
You have just come from Picture #1 www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/2409631100/ You are standing right in the middle of Maeda Bridge, taking advantage of the red light holding up the cars behind you ! (Directly over your head is an elevated expressway causing the shadow we are standing in. Cars and trucks high in the air are racing in both directions, following the path of the river that runs from right to left beneath you)

The "100 Steps" that used to be up ahead in front of you were never rebuilt, and you can no longer climb the hill there, either. The entire face of "The Bluff" from top to bottom is now covered with a grid of reinforced concrete anchored deep into the face of the cliff. It has become covered with ivy over the years, and now looks green again, seen behind the tall brick building that rises from the where the base of the Steps used to be.

Halfway ahead (past the girl on the bicycle) is the MOTOMACHI intersection. Turn left or right for the shop-lined avenue that was also a photographic staple of album views and numerous "Yokohama Postcards". And there you have it, another flickr "THEN AND NOW" from Old (and new) Japan.

If you have the "ALL SIZES" button over the image, you can go to the ORIGINAL size, and see how many signs you can read. Some are in English (or the Alphabet), starting with the THREE DOG BAKERY. Have fun !

Uploaded by Okinawa Soba on 12 Apr 08, 10.07PM PDT.