70124-0016 - Benten-dori

Benten-dori in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture.

During the Meiji Period (1868-1912), this was Yokohama’s premier shopping street. Foreign visitors came here to buy porcelain, curios, ivory, silk and photographs.

The building with the clock tower belonged to the watch and clock merchant Kawakita Naozo Shoten (河北直蔵商店). Completed in 1894 (Meiji 27), it was for many years the street’s most important landmark.