Port and ships play vital role in Yokohama´s existence. Before it all started here, this area was just a natural bay with a river, meadows with creeks and a wooded hill next to them. There was just a tiny fishing village here when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived with a fleet of eight American war ships which were black and thus called kurofune in Japanese. He forced the Shogun to open Japan to the West. Treaty of Peace and Amity was signed on 31st March, 1854. It was written in English, Dutch, Chinese and Japanese. It meant the end of 220 year period of national seclusion = sakoku.
Kaiko Hiroba = Port Opening Square – exactly on this spot near the port The Treaty of Peace and Amity was signed in 1854
Five years later on 2nd June, 1859 the Port of Yokohama officially opened and thus Yokohama was founded as Japan´s first “Foreign settlement”. Foreigners mostly settled in Kannai – on a lowland. Kannai means “within the gate”. However since 1862 they mostly resided in Yamate neighbourhood on a hill, which in English was called The Bluff. As Yokohama became the base of foreign trade in Japan, it attracted more and more people from all around the world, entrepreneurs, traders… Its port became very important especially after the Meiji restoration of 1868 when it was developed as a port for trading silk, mainly with Great Britain. It even became known as the city of silk.
Next to the port, close to the spot where The Treaty was signed, William Keswick, an Englishman, founded his silk trading company immediately in 1859 and had a company building built on this very spot. It became known as English House No. 1. Mulberry trees are here now, and a statue representing the silk center and museum opened here in 1959 to mark the 100th Anniversary
Before the Great Kanto Earhquake, which struck on on 1st September 1923, Yokohama had almost half a million inhabitants and was the 6th largest Japanese city. Today with over 3.71 million inhabitants it is the 2nd largest Japanese city, Tokyo being the largest.
Osanbashi Pier – Cruise Ship Terminal – as seen from the Marine Tower. The terminal was built in 2002 based upon the winning project of a major international design contest where there were more than 660 entries submitted. It is sooo original and sooo modern, it just took my breath awayOsanbashi Pier – can you believe this is the roof of the Passenger Port Terminal?Osanbashi Pier – roof top. The architects were Alejandro Zaera-Polo from Spain and Farshid Moussavi – an Iranian-born British architect (she came to Britain in 1979) both of Foreign Office Architects architectural design studioOsanbashi Port and Harbour Bureau – rear viewHistoric ship Hikawa Maru docked permanently next to Yamashita ParkThe stern of Hikawa Maru, Japanese ocean liner from 1929, former cargo and passenger ship. It was called “Queen of the North Pacific” as it sailed regularly from Yokohama to Vancouver and Seattle. It was in service for 30 years, beginning in 1930. Charlie Chaplin was one of it passengers in 1932. Now serves as a museumHikawa Maru as seen from Marine Tower. It is 163,3 m long, beam 20,1 m. It could take 331 passengers and during World War 2 was converted into a hospital ship and served as such from 1941 to 1945. She had two sister ships – Heian Maru and Hie Maru – however both were destroyed and sunk during WW2Customs Building is also called Queen´s tower and was built in 1934. It is dominated by minaret-like towerHistoric ship Nippon Maru which we already had top view of in Yokohama – Bird View article. This beautiful ship is 97 m long with beam almost 13 m. It is a 4-masted barque with 32 sails. It was built in 1930 as a training ship and during her 54 years in service almost 12 000 cadests learned sailing on her. Now serves as a museum. It is docked under the Landmark TowerYokohama City Port Opening Memorial Hall was built in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Port of Yokohama in 1909 and was opened to the public in 1917 but the dome and the interior had to be repaired following the damage during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. The clock tower is affectionately called “Jack”Yokohama City Port Opening Memorial Hall was designed by architect Tatsuno Kingo (1854-1919), whose architectural style is sometimes called “Tatsuno style”Yokohama City Port Opening Memorial Hall – VIP staircase stained glass window
