is the second-largest city in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

by population and the most populous

municipality of Japan Japan has three levels of governments: national, prefectural, and municipal. The nation is divided into 47 prefectures. Each prefecture consists of numerous municipalities, with 1,719 in total (January 2013 figures There are four types of munici ...

. It is the capital city and the most populous city in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...

, south of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

of the main island of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

. Yokohama is also the major economic, cultural, and commercial hub of the

Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Tochigi) as well as the ...

along the

Keihin Industrial Zone The consists of the Japanese cities Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama. The term is mostly used to describe these cities as one industrial region. ''Keihin'' is derived from the second character of Tōkyō, , which can be read ''kyō'' or ''kei'', ...

. Yokohama was one of the cities to open for trade with the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

following the 1859 end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan port city, after

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

opened in 1853. Yokohama is the home of many Japan's firsts in the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, including the first foreign trading port and Chinatown (1859), European-style sport venues (1860s), English-language newspaper (1861), confectionery and beer manufacturing (1865), daily newspaper (1870), gas-powered street lamps (1870s), railway station (1872), and power plant (1882). Yokohama developed rapidly as Japan's prominent

port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

following the end of Japan's relative isolation in the mid-19th century and is today one of its major ports along with Kobe,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

, Tokyo and

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

. Yokohama is classified as a Large-Port Metropolis . Yokohama is the largest port city and high tech industrial hub in the Greater Tokyo Area and the Kantō region. The city proper is headquarters to companies such as Isuzu,

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

JVCKenwood , stylized as JVCKENWOOD, is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. It was formed from the merger of Victor Company of Japan, Ltd (JVC) and Kenwood Corporation on October 1, 2008. Upon creation, Haruo Ka ...

, Keikyu,

Koei Tecmo is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo Game ...

, Sotetsu, Salesforce Japan and

Bank of Yokohama is the largest regional bank in Japan, operating mainly in Kanagawa Prefecture and southwestern Tokyo. It currently operates 610 offices in Japan and five offices overseas (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, New York and London). History The bank wa ...

. Famous landmarks in Yokohama include

Minato Mirai 21 , often known as simply Minato Mirai and abbreviated as MM, is the central business district of Yokohama, Japan. Initially developed in the 1980s, Minato Mirai 21 was designed as a large master-planned development and new urban center planned to co ...

, Nippon Maru Memorial Park,

Yokohama Chinatown is located in Yokohama, Japan, which is located just south of Tokyo. It is about 160 years old, with a population of about 3,000 to 4,000. Today, only a few Chinese people still live there, most being from Guangzhou ( Cantonese people). Yo ...

, Motomachi Shopping Street,

Yokohama Marine Tower is a high lattice tower with an observation deck at a height of 100 metres in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan. The light characteristic is marked by a flash every twenty seconds, whereby the light's colour is alternating red and green. Originally, ...

Yamashita Park is a public park in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan, famous for its waterfront views of the Port of Yokohama. History Much of Yokohama was destroyed on September 1, 1923, by the Great Kantō earthquake. A Scotsman, Marshall Martin, advisor to Ma ...

, and

Ōsanbashi Pier is the main international passenger pier at the Port of Yokohama, located in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan. Ōsanbashi is the oldest pier in Yokohama, originally constructed between 1889 and 1896. Major cruise ships such as the Queen Elizabeth 2 ...

Etymology

Yokohama (横浜) means "horizontal beach". The current area surrounded by Maita Park, the Ōoka River and the Nakamura River have been a gulf divided by a sandbar from the open sea. This sandbar was the original Yokohama fishing village. Since the sandbar protruded perpendicularly from the land, or horizontally when viewed from the sea, it was called a "horizontal beach".

History

Opening of the Treaty Port (1859–1868)

Before the Western foreigners arrived, Yokohama was a small fishing village up to the end of the feudal

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, when Japan held a policy of national seclusion, having little contact with foreigners. A major turning point in Japanese history happened in 1853–54, when Commodore

Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...

arrived just south of Yokohama with a fleet of American warships, demanding that Japan open several ports for commerce, and the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

agreed by signing the Treaty of Peace and Amity. It was initially agreed that one of the ports to be opened to foreign ships would be the bustling town of

Kanagawa-juku was the third of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It was located in Kanagawa-ku in the present-day city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was close to Kanagawa Port. Many of its historical artifacts were destroyed by the G ...

(in what is now Kanagawa Ward) on the Tōkaidō, a strategic highway that linked Edo to Kyoto and Osaka. However, the

decided that Kanagawa-juku was too close to the Tōkaidō for comfort, and port facilities were instead built across the inlet in the sleepy fishing village of Yokohama. The

Port of Yokohama The is operated by the Port and Harbor Bureau of the City of Yokohama in Japan. It opens onto Tokyo Bay. The port is located at a latitude of 35.27–00°N and a longitude of 139.38–46°E. To the south lies the Port of Yokosuka; to the north ...

was officially opened on June 2, 1859. Yokohama quickly became the base of foreign trade in Japan. Foreigners initially occupied the low-lying district of the city called

Kannai is a district in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan, bounded by the Ōoka River, JR Negishi Line, Nakamura River, and Yokohama waterfront. "Kannai" is not an official name of the area, but the common term of reference has been in use for over a centur ...

, residential districts later expanding as the settlement grew to incorporate much of the elevated

Yamate is the name of a historic neighbourhood in Naka-ku, Yokohama often referred to in English as ''The Bluff.'' The neighbourhood is famous as having been a foreigners' residential area in the Bakumatsu, Meiji and Taishō periods. While still domi ...

district overlooking the city, commonly referred to by English speaking residents as ''The Bluff''.

, the foreign trade and commercial district (literally, ''inside the barrier''), was surrounded by a moat, foreign residents enjoying extraterritorial status both within and outside the compound. Interactions with the local population, particularly young samurai, outside the settlement inevitably caused problems; the

Namamugi Incident The , also known as the Kanagawa incident and Richardson affair, was a political crisis that occurred in the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the ''Bakumatsu'' on 14 September 1862. Charles Lennox Richardson, a British merchant, was killed by t ...

, one of the events that preceded the downfall of the shogunate, took place in what is now Tsurumi Ward in 1862, and prompted the

Bombardment of Kagoshima The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the , was a military engagement fought between Britain and the Satsuma Domain in Kagoshima from 15 to 17 August 1863. The British were attempting to extract compensation and legal justice from ''daim ...

in 1863. To protect British commercial and diplomatic interests in Yokohama a military garrison was established in 1862. With the growth in trade increasing numbers of Chinese also came to settle in the city. Yokohama was the scene of many notable firsts for Japan including the growing acceptance of western fashion, photography by pioneers such as

Felice Beato Felice Beato (1832 – 29 January 1909), also known as Felix Beato, was an Italian–British photographer. He was one of the first people to take photographs in East Asia and one of the first war photographers. He is noted for his genre works, ...

, Japan's first English language newspaper, the ''Japan Herald'' published in 1861 and in 1865 the first ice cream confectionery and

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

to be produced in Japan. Recreational sports introduced to Japan by foreign residents in Yokohama included European style

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

in 1862,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in 1863 and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

in 1866. A great fire destroyed much of the foreign settlement on November 26, 1866, and

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

was a recurrent public health hazard, but the city continued to grow rapidly – attracting foreigners and Japanese alike. File:Commodore-Perry-Visit-Kanagawa-1854.jpg, Landing of Commodore

Perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also made ...

and men to meet the Imperial commissioners at Yokohama, 14 July 1853 File:YokohamaTradersSadahide1861.jpg, Foreign ships in Yokohama harbor in 1861 File:YokohamaForeignTradersSadahide1861.jpg, A foreign trading house in Yokohama in 1861

Meiji and Taisho Periods (1868–1923)

After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

of 1868, the port was developed for trading

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

, the main trading partner being Great Britain. Western influence and technological transfer contributed to the establishment of Japan's first daily newspaper (1870), first gas-powered street lamps (1872) and Japan's first

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

constructed in the same year to connect Yokohama to

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

and

Shinbashi , sometimes transliterated Shimbashi, is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Name Read literally, the characters in Shinbashi mean "new bridge". History The area was the site of a bridge built across the Shiodome River in 1604. The river was la ...

in Tokyo. In 1872

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

portrayed Yokohama, which he had never visited, in an episode of his widely read novel ''

Around the World in Eighty Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...

'', capturing the atmosphere of the fast-developing, internationally oriented Japanese city. In 1887, a British merchant,

Samuel Cocking Samuel Cocking (19 March 1845 in Camberwell London – 26 February 1914 in Yokohama, Japan) was a merchant in Yokohama arriving in 1869, shortly after the “Opening of Japan”. Although he was born in London, he moved with his parents to Aus ...

, built the city's first power plant. At first for his own use, this coal power plant became the basis for the Yokohama Cooperative Electric Light Company. The city was officially incorporated on April 1, 1889. By the time the

extraterritoriality In international law, extraterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdiction was usually cla ...

of foreigner areas was abolished in 1899, Yokohama was the most international city in Japan, with foreigner areas stretching from Kannai to the

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

area and the large

. The early 20th century was marked by rapid growth of industry. Entrepreneurs built factories along reclaimed land to the north of the city toward Kawasaki, which eventually grew to be the

Keihin Industrial Area The consists of the Japan, Japanese Cities of Japan, cities Tokyo, Kawasaki City, Kawasaki, and Yokohama. The term is mostly used to describe these cities as Megalopolis (city type), one industrial region. ''Keihin'' is Japanese abbreviation, der ...

. The growth of Japanese industry brought affluence, 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, then the largest slum in Japan. File:Yokohama_Street_Scene_c1880.jpg, Street scene File:Kusakabe_Kimbei_-_Yokohama_Foreign_Settlement_Pano.jpg, Yokohama File:Akarenga_Yokohama_2012.jpg,

Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse The is a historical building that is used as a complex that includes a shopping mall, banquet hall, and event venues. The complex, officially known as the , was originally used as customs buildings, and has two sections: Warehouse No.1 and No.2. ...

was built in 1913.

Great Kantō earthquake and the Second World War (1923–1945)

File:HIH the Prince Regent viewing devastated Yokohama-restored.jpg, Crown Prince

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

(later Emperor) visited Yokohama immediately after the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...

. File:Yokohama post bombing 1945.jpg, View of Yokohama after the bombing in 1945 Much of Yokohama was destroyed on September 1, 1923, by the

Great Kantō earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

. The Yokohama police reported casualties at 30,771 dead and 47,908 injured, out of a pre-earthquake population of 434,170. Fuelled by rumors of rebellion and sabotage, vigilante mobs thereupon murdered many Koreans in the Kojiki-yato slum. Many people believed that Koreans used

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...

to cause the earthquake.

Martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

was in place until November 19. Rubble from the quake was used to reclaim land for parks, the most famous being the

on the waterfront which opened in 1930. Yokohama was rebuilt, only to be destroyed again by U.S. air raids during World War II. The first bombing was in the April 18, 1942

Doolittle Raid The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japan ...

. An estimated 7,000–8,000 people were killed in a single morning on May 29, 1945, in what is now known as the Great Yokohama Air Raid, when B-29s firebombed the city and in just one hour and nine minutes, reducing 42% of it to rubble.

Postwar growth and development

During the American occupation, Yokohama was a major transshipment base for American supplies and personnel, especially during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. After the occupation, most local U.S. naval activity moved from Yokohama to an American base in nearby

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

. Four years after the

Treaty of San Francisco The , also called the , re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and including World War II. It w ...

signed, the city was designated by government ordinance on September 1, 1956. The city's tram and

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

system was abolished in 1972, the same year as the opening of the first line of

Yokohama Municipal Subway is the rapid transit network in the city of Yokohama, Japan, south of Tokyo in Kanagawa pref. It is operated by Yokohama City Transportation Bureau as two lines, though three continuous lines exist. Lines The Yokohama Municipal Subway ...

. Construction of

("Port Future 21"), a major urban development project on reclaimed land started in 1983, nicknamed the "

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

of the Orient" was compared to

Center City, Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

and

Downtown Boston Downtown Boston is the central business district of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The city of Boston was founded in 1630. The largest of the city's commercial districts, Downtown is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters; ...

located in the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

. 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

Cosmo Clock 21 Cosmo Clock 21 is a 112.5 metre tall ferris wheel at the Cosmo World amusement park in the Minato Mirai 21 district of Yokohama, Japan. When it first opened, it was the world's tallest Ferris wheel, until the completion of the Igosu 108 in S ...

, then the tallest

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...

in the world. The

Yokohama Bay Bridge The is an cable stayed bridge in Yokohama, Japan. Opened September 27, 1989, it crosses Tokyo Bay with a span of 460 metres (1,510 feet). The toll is ¥600. The bridge is part of the Bayshore Route of the Shuto Expressway is a network o ...

opened in the same year. In 1993, Minato Mirai 21 saw the opening of the

Yokohama Landmark Tower The is the third tallest building and 5th tallest structure in Japan, standing high. Until surpassed by Abeno Harukas in 2012, it stood as the tallest building in Japan. It is located in the Minato Mirai 21 district of Yokohama city, nex ...

, the third-tallest building in Japan. The

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

final was held in June at the

International Stadium Yokohama , also known as , is a multi-purpose stadium in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which opened in March 1998. It is the home stadium of Yokohama F. Marinos of the J1 League. International Stadium Yokohama had the highest seating capac ...

. In 2009, the city marked the 150th anniversary of the opening of the port and the 120th anniversary of the commencement of the City Administration. An early part in the commemoration project incorporated the Fourth

Tokyo International Conference on African Development is a conference held regularly with the objective "to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners." Japan is a co-host of these conferences. Other co-organizers of TICAD are the United Nations Office of t ...

(TICAD IV), which was held in Yokohama in May 2008. In November 2010, Yokohama hosted the

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy, economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

(APEC) meeting. File:Yokohama Koreanwar.jpg, In 1951, during the

, a troopship, the USS ''General George M. Randall'' (AP-115), departs Yokohama, repatriating war dead to the U.S. File:Yokohama_Landmark_Tower_201507.JPG,

, Japan's third-tallest building, was built in 1993. File:Minato Mirai In Blue.jpg, The

project, also known as the "

and

of the Orient," started in 1983.

Geography

Topography

Yokohama has a total area of at an elevation of above sea level. It is the capital of

, bordered to the east by

and located in the middle of the

Kantō plain The is the largest plain in Japan, and is located in the Kantō region of central Honshū. The total area of 17,000 km2 covers more than half of the region extending over Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, ...

. The city is surrounded by hills and the characteristic mountain system of the island of

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

, so its growth has been limited and it has had to gain ground from the sea. This also affects the population density, one of the highest in Japan with 8,500 inhabitants per km². The highest points within the urban boundary are Omaruyama () and Mount Enkaizan (). The main river is the

Tsurumi River The is a river in Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It begins at the confluence of the Onda and Yamoto rivers in Yokohama and flows 22 kilometers before emptying into Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō regio ...

, which begins in the Tama Hills and empties into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. These municipalities surround Yokohama: Kawasaki,

Zushi is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 58,087, and a population density of 3,350 per km². The total area is . Geography Zushi is located at the head of Miura Peninsula, facin ...

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

, Fujisawa,

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

, Machida.

Geology

The city is very prone to natural phenomena such as

earthquakes An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

and

tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dependi ...

because the island of

has a high level of seismic activity, being in the middle of the Pacific

Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...

. Most seismic movements are of low intensity and are generally not perceived by people. However, Yokohama has experienced two major tremors that reflect the evolution of Earthquake engineering: the

devastated the city and caused more than 100,000 fatalities throughout the region, while the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, with its epicenter on the east coast, was felt in the locality but only material damage was lamented because most buildings were already prepared to withstand them.

Climate

Yokohama features a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfa'') with hot, humid summers and chilly winters. Weatherwise, Yokohama has a pattern of rain, clouds and sun, although in winter, it is surprisingly sunny, more so than Southern Spain. Winter temperatures rarely drop below freezing, while summer can seem quite warm, because of the effects of humidity. The coldest temperature was on 24 January 1927 when was reached, whilst the hottest day was 11 August 2013 at . The highest monthly rainfall was in October 2004 with , closely followed by July 1941 with , whilst December and January have recorded no measurable precipitation three times each.

Cityscape

File:The night view of Minato Mirai 21 - 4.jpg, Yokohama night view (2014) File:View from Mosaic Mall Kohoku, Yokohama 20150201-004.jpg, View from Mosaic Mall Kohoku (2015) File:Minato mirai view from Yokohama bay bridge (2039218244).jpg, View from the

(2007) File:View from Hikawa maru, Yokohama (15988315167).jpg, View from

Hikawa Maru is a Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for '' Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha'' ("NYK Line"). She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as ...

(2014)

Demographics

Population

Yokohama's foreign population of 92,139 includes

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refe ...

Filipinos Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or othe ...

, and

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

Wards

Yokohama has 18 wards (''ku''):

Government and politics

The

Yokohama City Council The is the legislature of Yokohama City. Overview *Members: 86 *Term: 4 years *Voting System: Medium‐size constituency system (Single non-transferable vote) *President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * P ...

consists of 86 members elected from a total of 18 Wards. The LDP has minority control with 36 seats. The incumbent mayor is

Takeharu Yamanaka is a Japanese politician and current mayor of Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture. He defeated incumbent mayor Fumiko Hayashi in the 2021 Yokohama mayoral election. His independent campaign was supported by the Constitutional Democr ...

, who defeated Fumiko Hayashi in the 2021 Yokohama mayoral election.

List of mayors (from 1889)

Culture and sights

Yokohama's cultural and tourist sights include: *

* Yokohama Three Towers *

(at the harbor) * Harbor View Park * The

, historic passenger and cargo ship *

* Yokohama Triennale *

Landmark Tower A landmark is a notable geographical feature or building. Landmark, The Landmark, Landmark Building, or similar may also refer to: Places * Landmark, Manitoba, Canada *Landmark, Arkansas, United States * Landmark, Missouri, United States Art, ...

, 296 m high, second tallest skyscraper in Japan *

Nippon Maru is a Japanese museum ship and former training vessel. She is permanently docked in Yokohama harbor, in Nippon Maru Memorial Park.Yokohama Visitors Guide''Nippon Maru''; retrieved 2012-6-28. She was built by Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation ...

, museum ship *

Yokohama Stadium is a baseball stadium in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It opened in 1978 and has a capacity of 34,046 people. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. The stadium features dirt around the bases an ...

(the

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japan, Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its c ...

Pro baseball team's home field) *

Yokohama Foreign Cemetery are chiefly located in Tokyo and at the former treaty ports of Kobe, Hakodate, Nagasaki, and Yokohama. They contain the mortal remains of long-term Japan residents or other foreigners who died in Japan, and are separate from any of the military c ...

Sankei-en is a traditional Japanese garden, Japanese-style garden in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Naka Wards of Japan, Ward, Yokohama, Japan, which opened in 1906.

Garden * Kishine-Park *

Kanazawa Bunko , formally titled the Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa-Bunko Museum, is a museum located in Kanazawa Ward, Yokohama, Japan. It features a collection of traditional Japanese and Chinese art objects, many dating from the Kamakura period. Originally b ...

, preserves the cultural heritage of the Hōjō clan * Zō-no-Hana Terrace (象の鼻テラス) * Gumyōji, oldest temple in the city

Museums

Yokohama Triennale 2005 Yamashita Pier Venue

There are 42 museums in the city area, including. * CupNoodles Museum ( Momofuku Andō Instant Ramen Museum): Several-floors of interactive exhibits related to the invention of the Japanese instant noodle soup, including soup kitchens where you can try the culture-specific noodle soups. *

Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History also known as the Yokohama Museum of Cultural History is a history museum in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Its exhibition focuses on the culture and history of Kanagawa Prefecture. It is located in the building of the former Yokohama ...

: Located in the historic

Yokohama Specie Bank was a Japanese bank founded in Yokohama, Japan in the year 1880. Its assets were transferred to The Bank of Tokyo (now MUFG Bank) in 1946. The bank played a significant role in Japanese overseas trade, especially with China. The original b ...

building. *

: Traditional Japanese and Chinese art objects, many dating from the Kamakura period. *

Matsuri Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. Many festivals have their roots in traditional Chinese festivals, but have undergone extensive changes over time to have little resemblance ...

Museum: Dedicated to the shrine festivals (Japanese Matsuri) taking place in Yokohama. *Silk Museum: Exhibits focusing on the production and processing of silk; including many clothes. *

Yokohama Archives of History The in Naka ward, central Yokohama, near Yamashita Park, is a repository for archive materials on Japan and its connection with foreign powers since the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853. The archives are next to Kaiko Hiroba (Port ...

: Located in the former British Consulate building with exhibits related to port development and the arrival of

. *

Yokohama Museum of Art , founded in 1989, is located in the futuristic Minato Mirai 21 district of the Japanese city Yokohama, next to the Yokohama Landmark Tower. The collections The museum has works by many influential and well-known modern artists including Constant ...

: Founded in 1989, featuring modern works by well-known international and Japanese artists.

Gallery

File:Sangkaien Garden.jpg, Sankei-en Garde