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Yokohama
 

For the town of Yokohama in Aomori Prefecture, see Yokohama, Aomori.

Yokohama (Japanese: 横浜市; -shi) is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan, one of the core cities of the Greater Tokyo and Japan's largest seaport. The fact that the former Tokyo City is not administered as a single city makes Yokohama the largest incorporated city in Japan by population.

History

Yokohama was a small fishing village up to the end of the feudal Edo period, a time when Japan held a policy of national seclusion, having little contact with foreign countries except with Dutch and Chinese traders. A major turning point in Japanese history happened in 1853 and again in 1854, when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived just south of Yokohama with a fleet of American warships, demanding that Japan open several ports for commerce, getting the ruling Tokugawa shogunate to agree in 1853. It was initially agreed that one of the ports to be opened to foreign ships would be the bustling town of Kanagawa-juku (in what is now Kanagawa Ward) on the Tokaido, a strategic highway which linked Edo to Kyoto and Osaka. However, the Tokugawa shogunate decided that the location of Kanagawa-juku was too close to the Tokaido for comfort, and port facilities were built across the inlet in the sleepy fishing village of Yokohama instead. The Port of Yokohama was opened on 2nd June, 1859.

The Port of Yokohama quickly became the base of most foreign trade in Japan. Japan's first English language newspaper, the Japan Herald, was first published in Yokohama in 1861. Foreigners occupied a district of the city called 'Kannai' ("inside the barrier"), which was surrounded by a moat, and were protected by extraterritoriality both within and outside the moat. Many individuals crossed the moat, causing a number of problems. The Namamugi Incident, one of the events that preceded the downfall of the shogunate, took place in what is now Tsurumi Ward in 1862. Ernest Satow wrote about the incident in his A Diplomat in Japan.

After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the port was developed for trading silk, with the main trading partner being Great Britain. Many western influences first reached Japan in Yokohama, including Japan's first daily newspaper (1870) and Japan's first gas-powered street lamps (1872). Japan's first railway was constructed in the same year to connect Yokohama to Shinagawa and Shimbashi in Tokyo. The city was officially incorporated on April 1, 1889. By the time the extraterritoriality of foreigner areas was abolished in 1899, Yokohama was the most international city in Japan, with foreigner areas stretching from Kannai to the Yamate Bluff area and the large Yokohama Chinatown.

The early 20th century was marked by rapid growth of industry. Entrepreneurs built factories along reclaimed land to the north of the city towards Kawasaki, which eventually grow to be the Keihin Industrial Area. The growth of Japanese industry brought affluence to Yokohama, and many wealthy trading families constructed sprawling residences there, while the rapid influx of population from Japan and Korea also led to the formation of Kojiki-Yato, the largest slum in Japan at the time.

Much of Yokohama was destroyed on 1st Sept 1923 by the Great Kantō earthquake, killing an estimated 23,000 people within the city boundaries. In the aftermath of the quake, mass murder of Koreans by vigilante mobs occurred in the Kojiki-yato slum, fuelled by rumours of rebellion and sabotage. Martial law was in place until 19th November. Rubble from the quake was used to reclaim land for parks, the most famous of which is the Yamashita Park on the waterfront which opened in 1930.

Yokohama was rebuilt, only to be destroyed again by 30-odd US air raids during World War II. An estimated 7000 to 8000 people were killed in a single morning on 29th May 1945 in what is now known as the Great Yokohama Air Raid, when B29's dropped 43,8576 firebombs indiscrminately over the city in the space of just 1 hour and 9 minutes, reducing 34% of the city to rubble.

During the American occupation, Yokohama was a major transshipment base for American supplies and personnel, especially during the Korean War. After the occupation, most local U.S. naval activity moved from Yokohama to an American base in neighboring Yokosuka.

The city was designated by government ordinance on September 1, 1956.

The city's tram and trolleybus system was abolished in 1972, the same year as the opening of the first line of Yokohama Municipal Subway.

Construction of Minato Mirai 21 ("Port Future 21), a major urban development project on reclaimed land, started in 1983. Minato Mirai 21 hosted the Yokohama Exotic Showcase in 1989, which saw the first public operation of Maglev trains in Japan and the opening of CosmoClock 21, at the time the largest ferris wheel in the world. The Yokohama Landmark Tower, currently the tallest building in Japan, opened nearby in 1993.

The finals for the 2002 FIFA World Cup was held in June at the International Stadium Yokohama.


Geography

Yokohama is centered on an inlet on the western side of Tokyo Bay, 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Tokyo, to which it is connected by a half-dozen railway lines as well as expressways and surface streets. Although the city is largely a bedroom community for people commuting to Tokyo, it also has a strong local economic base, especially in the shipping, biotechnology, and semiconductor industries. Nissan will move its headquarters to Yokohama from Chuo-ku, Tokyo, by 2010. Ooka River flows through the city.

Places Of Interest

Sightseeing spots in Yokohama include the historic port area: Yamashita Park, Minato Mirai 21 (a shopping district built entirely on reclaimed land), Yokohama Chinatown, Yokohama Stadium, the Silk Center, the Yokohama Doll Museumthe Yamate area (foreigners' cemetery and harbour view park), the Rose Garden (also in the harbour view park), Motomachi (where there are various shops starting with Cyrillus* and so on) and Sankeien, a garden. The Isezakicho and Noge areas offer many colourful shops and bars and, with their restaurants and stores catering to residents from China, Thailand, South Korea, and other countries, have an increasingly international flavour. The ramen museum (near Shin-Yokohama Station), and the curry museum are other interesting spots that recently opened. There is also a large immigration office, near Yamashita Park.

Yokohama has eight sister cities*: San Diego, California, USA; Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; Manila, Philippines; Odessa, Ukraine; Constanţa, Romania; Lyon, France; and Vancouver, Canada

Yokohama is the home of the Yokohama BayStars (Formerly Taiyo Whales), a Central League baseball team, and the Yokohama F Marinos and Yokohama FC, J. League soccer teams. The 2002 FIFA World Cup Final was played in Yokohama International Sports Stadium.

Wards

Yokohama has 18 wards (ku):

Yokohama in fiction

  • Featured in J. Fred Coots's 1941 popular American song, "Goodbye Mama, I'm Off to Yokohama."

  • The Japanese TV drama "Abunai Deka"(あぶない刑事),was "Yokohama Minato(Port) police station" settled near Port of Yokohama, and "Shitetsu Ensen 97 Bunsho"(私鉄沿線９７分署) settled near Tama Plaza station.

  • In Shadow Hearts 2, one of the towns/cities you visit is Yokohama around 1915.

  • In Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Minato Mirai 21 is the battlefield in the climax.

  • Miri Yu's novel Gold Rush (1998; English translation 2002) is set in and around the Kogane-cho area of central Yokohama.

  • In .hack//Liminality and the .hack games, Yokohama is affected by the increasing problems in The World, a MMORPG extremely popular in the future. While in the games the player fights to restore order to the game world, in .hack//Liminality all hell breaks loose as three women and a former CC Corp. employee strive to solve the problem outside the game. This event is referenced later in .hack//Legend of the Twilight which takes place four years after both series.

  • In "Honey and Clover" Episode 19, Nomiya-san takes Yamada-san to the Cosmo Clock Ferris Wheel and the distinctive half-moon shape building can be seen in the harbor. Honey and Clover takes place in Tokyo.

  • In Digimon Season one and two, the part of the story in the real world takes place in Yokohama.

  • Mentioned in the Chuck Berry song "Monkey Business".
"Been to Yokohama, been fightin' in the war."

See also

External links

Coastal cities | Ports and harbours of Japan | Yokohama

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Yokohama".

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