Articles / Tourist Guide / Yokohama Tourist Guide / Yokohama History

During the period of seclusion in Japan which coincided with the Edo period Yokohama was a humble fishing village. In the course of the centuries during which Japanese ruling authorities followed the policy of national seclusion.

The period of Japanese seclusion was terminated in the year 1854; when an American Commodore Matthew Perry landed in Edo Bay with his 9 ships to force the Japanese authorities grant the free passing of some sea routes as well as free disembarking for the ships from the rest of the world. The Yokohama port was among the ports acclaimed for the break of seclusion.

As a result of Commodore Perry?s men-of-war convoyed pilgrimage many Japanese ports were unlocked for Western commercial ships. It was then that the city gained the international recognition as an important marine routes transport hub.

Yokohama started to grow and develop dramatically over the ensuing years. A sure sign of this was that the first English language newspaper ever published in Japan was Yokohama?s Japan Herald issued in 1861.

Yokohama was featured as a setting scene on Ernst Satow?s A Diplomat In Japan. The book describes the notorious event of Namamugi incident ? an event which signified the beginning of the end for Tokugawa shogunate.

The foreigners in Yokugawa were settled in Kannai district which was secluded and protected from the rest of the city areas. The intruders were strongly unwelcome in Kannai, and several cases of breaking of Kannai border are preserved in history as major municipal conflicts.

In the year 1887 a British merchant built a number of plants which further developed into Yokohama Cooperative Electric Light Company. On April 1, 1889 the city was officially united under the title of Yokohama.

As far as goes the story about the industry of Yokohama, ever since the construction of the first plants in Yokohama the city began growing extensively and rapidly and soon all the workers and plants were separated into a special area in the city. Shortly it started going by the name of Keihin Industrial Area.

The early XX century for Yokohama was marked by a tragic event: the city was almost destroyed by Great Kanto earthquake. Rubble from the earthquake was however used for re-building Yamashita City Park which opened its doors to visitors again in 1930.

Shortly after Yokohama had been rebuilt it was destroyed again by the American Air forces raid undertaken in 1945. the city was occupied by the American army till 1956.

Other historical milestones for Yokohama include construction of the tallest building in Japan, the Yokohama Landmark Tower in 1993 and housing of F2002 FIFA World Cup at  Yokohama National Stadium. . 

Yokohama will turn 150 in 2009. The list of present-day Yokohama special wards comprises the following localities:

? Aoba-ku 
? Asahi-ku 
? Hodogaya-ku 
? Isogo-ku 
? Izumi-ku 
? Kanagawa-ku 
? Kanazawa-ku 
? Kōhoku-ku 
? Kōnan-ku 
? Midori-ku 
? Minami-ku 
? Naka-ku 
? Nishi-ku 
? Sakae-ku 
? Seya-ku 
? Totsuka-ku 
? Tsurumi-ku 
? Tsuzuki-ku