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Pioneer to build a shopping street

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Incidentally, the prosperity which was upheld by the demands of these American servicemen and their families did not last too long, because the Korean War broke out in 1952 (27 Showa) which rendered the American military base to be de-requisitioned. At that time the majority of the regular customers of the Shopping Street were these servicemen and their families, so when most of these men were to be transferred out of the country, the Shopping Street was faced with yet another crossroads.

Eventually, Motomachi Shopping Street had to embark on designing a brand new town tailored to fit the needs of the Japanese younger generations while preserving the tradition of Motomachi at the same time. At first, in November of 1955 (30 Showa,) the city of Yokohama mandated the retreat of wall surface lines. And so in unison, all members of the Motomachi S. S. Association actualized the setback of 1.8 meters under the eaves of the Shopping Street having the length of 1,000 meters totaling both sides of the Street over aperiod of ten years, and created the first and only Pedestrianse space" in Japan. And then in October of 1967 (42 Showa,) Motomachi Shopping Street entered into an affiliation contract with the first-rate shopping centers in six European countries so as to import their goods directly from these countries, and to have access to informational exchanges, and began developing its own original products. Furthermore, in 1966 (41 Showa,) it organized a sales tie-up with the top-raking department stores all over Japan, and arranged various Motomachi sales campaigns. As the result of these continuous sales promotional activities, the reputation of Motomachi Shopping Street began disseminating around.

Nowadays, Motomachi Shopping Street holds a position as one of the most prominent shopping streets for the latest fashion, and ,Motomachians," who are seeking to get their hands on the original fashion of Motomachi, come to visit from all over Japan.

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