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Yokohama

 
('kə-hä'mə, yô'kô-hä') pronunciation

A city of southeast Honshu, Japan, on the western shore of Tokyo Bay. Almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake and fire in 1923, it was quickly rebuilt and modernized and is now a leading port and industrial center. Population: 3,600,000.

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Seaport city (pop., 2003 est.: 3,466,875), east-central Honshu, Japan. The country's principal port and second largest city, it is located on the western shore of Tokyo Bay and is part of the Tokyo urban-industrial complex. It was a small fishing village when U.S. naval officer Matthew Perry visited in 1854 to negotiate Japanese trading possibilities. In 1859 it was opened for foreign settlement and trade. Yokohama was destroyed by earthquake and fire in 1923 and severely damaged by U.S. air raids in 1945 during World War II, but it was rebuilt both times. It produces textiles, chemicals, ships, machinery, petroleum products, and automobiles.

For more information on Yokohama, visit Britannica.com.

Columbia Encyclopedia:

Yokohama

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Yokohama (yō'kōhä'), city (1990 pop. 3,220,331), capital of Kanagawa prefecture, SE Honshu, Japan, on the western shore of Tokyo Bay. Japan's second largest city and one of its leading seaports, Yokohama belongs to the extensive urban-industrial belt around Tokyo called the Keihin Industrial Zone. Among its industries are steel mills, oil refineries, chemical plants, and factories that produce transportation equipment, electrical apparatus, automobiles, machinery, primary metals, ships, and textiles. The city also has advanced technology industries and venture businesses. Yokohama has excellent transportation links with most major Japanese cities. In 1854, U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry visited Yokohama, which was then a small fishing village. In 1859 it became a port for foreign trade and the site of a foreign settlement that enjoyed extraterritorial rights. Known especially for its exports of raw silk, Yokohama also handled canned fish and other local products. Foreign trade led to the rapid growth of Yokohama, which served during the last half of the 19th cent. as Tokyo's outer port. The capital has since expanded the facilities and operations of its own port, but Yokohama is still important in the export of machinery, iron, and steel and in the import of raw materials for the region. Japan's first railroad linked Yokohama with Tokyo in 1872. Yokohama formally became a city in 1889. Extraterritoriality was abolished in 1899. Virtually destroyed by an earthquake and fires in 1923, Yokohama was quickly rebuilt; the city was modernized, and extensive improvements were made in its harbor. Yokohama suffered heavy bombardment during World War II, but it revived and prospered. The filling in of shallow areas of the bay for port facilities and industrial use has continued. The city has four universities; a variety of Christian churches, Shinto shrines, and temples; and numerous parks and gardens, notably Nogeyama Park, which was created after the earthquake. It is the site of Kanazawa Library, founded in 1275, which houses a large collection of historical documents.


AccuWeather:

Yokohama, Japan

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Five-Day Forecast
Monday
48°F 8°C
33°F 0°C
Tuesday
46°F 7°C
40°F 4°C
Wednesday
48°F 8°C
44°F 6°C
Thursday
51°F 10°C
35°F 1°C
Friday
41°F 5°C
35°F 1°C

Last updated February 13, 2012 09:09 (EST)

Dialing Code:

The telephone dialing code for: Yokohama, Japan

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The country code is: 81
The city code is: 45


Local Time:

Yokohama, Japan

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It is 12:01 AM, February 14, in Yokohama (Japan).

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  • Major World Cities - Yokohama: ancient seaport in Japan in E Asia, on Tokyo Bay, pop. 3,100,000


Yokohama
横浜
—  Designated city  —
横浜市 · City of Yokohama[1]
From top left: Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama Chinatown, Nippon Maru, Yokohama Station, Yokohama Marine Tower

Flag

Logo
Location of Yokohama in Kanagawa
Yokohama is located in Japan
Yokohama
 
Coordinates: 35°26′39″N 139°38′17″E / 35.44417°N 139.63806°E / 35.44417; 139.63806Coordinates: 35°26′39″N 139°38′17″E / 35.44417°N 139.63806°E / 35.44417; 139.63806
Country Japan
Region Kantō
Prefecture Kanagawa
Government
 • Mayor Fumiko Hayashi
Area
 • Total 437.38 km2 (168.87 sq mi)
Population (August 1, 2011)
 • Total 3,692,588
 • Density 8,442.52/km2 (21,866.02/sq mi)
Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
City Symbols
- Tree Camellia, Chinquapin, Sangoju
Sasanqua, Ginkgo, Zelkova
- Flower Rose
Phone number 045-671-2121
Address 1-1 Minato-chō, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken
231-0017
Website City of Yokohama

Yokohama (横浜市 Yokohama-shi?, "Side Shore") (About this sound listen ) is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu. It is a major commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area.

Yokohama's population of 3.6 million makes it Japan's largest incorporated city.[2]

Yokohama developed rapidly as Japan's prominent port city 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, Nagoya, Hakata, Tokyo, and Chiba.

Contents

History

Yokohama was a small fishing village up to the end of the feudal Edo period, when Japan held a policy of national seclusion, having little contact with foreigners.[3] A major turning point in Japanese history happened in 1853–54, when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived just south of Yokohama with a fleet of American warships, demanding that Japan open several ports for commerce, and the Tokugawa shogunate agreed by signing the Treaty of Peace and Amity.[4]

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 Tōkaidō, a strategic highway that linked Edo to Kyoto and Osaka. However, the Tokugawa shogunate 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 was opened on 2 June 1859.[5]

Landing of Commodore Perry, officers, and men of the squadron to meet the Imperial commissioners at Yokohama 14 July 1853. Lithograph by Sarony & Co., 1855, after Wilhelm Heine

Yokohama quickly became the base of foreign trade in Japan. Japan's first English language newspaper, the Japan Herald, was first published there in 1861. Foreigners occupied a district of the city called "Kannai" (関内, "inside the barrier"), which was surrounded by a moat, and were protected by their extraterritorial status 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 described it in A Diplomat in Japan. In 1865 the first ice cream and first beer in Japan were manufactured in the city.[6] Chinese immigrants came to Yokohama in increasing numbers.[7]

After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the port was developed for trading silk, the main trading partner being Great Britain. Many Western influences first reached Japan in Yokohama, including Japan's first daily newspaper (1870) and first gas-powered street lamps (1872). Japan's first railway was constructed in the same year to connect Yokohama to Shinagawa and Shinbashi in Tokyo. In the same year, Jules Verne set Yokohama, which he had never visited, in an episode of his widely-read Around the World in Eighty Days, capturing the atmosphere of a fast-developing, Western-oriented Japanese city.

Foreign ships in Yokohama harbor
A foreign trading house in Yokohama in 1861

In 1887, a British merchant, Samuel Cocking, built the city's first power plant. At first for his own use, this coal-burning plant became the basis for the Yokohama Cooperative Electric Light Company. The city was officially incorporated on 1 April 1889.[8] 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 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 toward Kawasaki, which eventually grew to be the Keihin Industrial Area. 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.

Much of Yokohama was destroyed on 1 September 1923 by the Great Kantō earthquake. The Yokohama police reported casualties at 30,771 dead and 47,908 injured, out of a pre-earthquake population of 434,170.[9] Fuelled by rumours of rebellion and sabotage, vigilante mobs thereupon murdered many Koreans in the Kojiki-yato slum.[10] Many people believed that Koreans used black magic to cause the earthquake. Martial law was in place until 19 November. Rubble from the quake was used to reclaim land for parks, the most famous being the Yamashita Park on the waterfront which opened in 1930.

Yokohama was rebuilt, only to be destroyed again by thirty-odd U.S. air raids during World War II. An estimated seven or eight thousand people were killed in a single morning on 29 May 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 reduced 42% of it to rubble.[8]

During the Korean War, the United States Navy used Yokohama's port as a transshipment base. This ship departed Yokohama in 1951, carrying war dead home to the U.S.

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 nearby Yokosuka.

The city was designated by government ordinance on September 1, 1956.[citation needed]

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.

Landsat image of Yokohama

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 Cosmo Clock 21, then the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. The 860m-long Yokohama Bay Bridge opened in the same year.

In 1993, Minato Mirai saw the opening of the Yokohama Landmark Tower, the tallest building in Japan.

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

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 (TICAD IV) which was held in Yokohama in May 2008.

In November, 2010, Yokohama hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting.

Historical population

Kanagawa Prefectural Office
Minato Mirai at dusk
Population
Year of
census
Population Rank among cities in Japan
1920 422,942 6th, behind Kobe, Kyoto,
Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo
1925 405,888 6th
1930 620,306 6th
1935 704,290 6th
1940 968,091 5th, surpassing Kobe
1945 814,379 4th, the city government of Tokyo
having been disbanded in 1943
1950 951,189 4th
1955 1,143,687 4th
1960 1,375,710 3rd, surpassing Kyoto
1965 1,788,915 3rd
1970 2,238,264 2nd, surpassing Nagoya
1975 2,621,771 2nd
1980 2,773,674 1st, surpassing Osaka[11]
1985 2,992,926 1st
1990 3,220,331 1st
1995 3,307,136 1st
2000 3,426,651 1st
2005 3,579,133 1st
2009 3,670,669 1st

Yokohama's foreign population of nearly 78,000 includes Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, and Brazilians.[12]

Climate

Yokohama features a humid subtropical climate with hot and humid summers and chilly, but not very cold, winters. Winter temperatures rarely drop below freezing, while summer can get quite warm due to humidity effects.[13]

Climate data for Yokohama, Japan (1971-2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 9.8
(49.6)
9.9
(49.8)
12.7
(54.9)
18.2
(64.8)
22.4
(72.3)
24.7
(76.5)
28.4
(83.1)
30.3
(86.5)
26.4
(79.5)
21.2
(70.2)
16.6
(61.9)
12.2
(54.0)
19.4
(66.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 5.6
(42.1)
5.8
(42.4)
8.6
(47.5)
13.9
(57.0)
18.2
(64.8)
21.2
(70.2)
24.7
(76.5)
26.4
(79.5)
22.9
(73.2)
17.7
(63.9)
12.7
(54.9)
8.2
(46.8)
15.5
(59.9)
Average low °C (°F) 1.8
(35.2)
2.1
(35.8)
4.8
(40.6)
10.2
(50.4)
14.7
(58.5)
18.4
(65.1)
22.0
(71.6)
23.7
(74.7)
20.2
(68.4)
14.5
(58.1)
9.2
(48.6)
4.3
(39.7)
12.2
(54.0)
Precipitation mm (inches) 55.5
(2.185)
73.4
(2.89)
134.0
(5.276)
149.1
(5.87)
138.1
(5.437)
192.4
(7.575)
169.0
(6.654)
148.3
(5.839)
232.4
(9.15)
184.9
(7.28)
108.4
(4.268)
43.2
(1.701)
1,622.5
(63.878)
Snowfall cm (inches) 5
(2)
7
(2.8)
1
(0.4)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
13
(5.1)
humidity 54 55 61 67 71 79 80 78 78 72 65 57 68
Sunshine hours 179.3 156.9 155.6 163.0 185.7 127.1 168.3 203.4 125.3 136.0 145.1 175.1 1,920.6
Source: [14]

Sports

Economy

The city has a strong economic base, especially in the shipping, biotechnology, and semiconductor industries. Nissan moved its headquarters to Yokohama from Chūō, Tokyo in 2010.[15]

Transport

Yokohama is serviced by the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, a high-speed rail line with a stop at Shin-Yokohama Station. Yokohama Station is also a major station, with two million passengers daily. The Yokohama Municipal Subway provides metro services.

Places of interest

The historic port area is Kannai. Next to the waterfront Yamashita Park is Yokohama Marine Tower, the tallest inland lighthouse in the world.[16] Further inland lies Yokohama Chinatown, the largest Chinatown in Japan and one of the largest in the world. Nearby is Yokohama Stadium, the Silk Center, and the Yokohama Doll Museum.[17] The Isezakichō and Noge areas offer many colourful shops and bars that, with their restaurants and stores catering to residents from China, Thailand, South Korea, and other countries, have an increasingly international flavour.

The small but fashionable Motomachi shopping area leads up to Yamate, or "The Bluff" as it used to be known, a 19th/early 20th century Westerners' settlement overlooking the harbour, scattered with foreigners' mansions. A foreigners' cemetery and the Harbour View Park (港の見える丘公園, Minato no mieru oka kōen) is in the area. Within the park are a rose garden and the Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature.

There are various points of interest in the futuristic Minato Mirai 21 harbourside redevelopment. The highlights are the Landmark Tower which is the tallest building in Japan, Queen's Square Yokohama (a shopping mall) and the Cosmo Clock 21, which was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world when it was built in 1989 and which also doubles as "the world's biggest clock".

The Shin-Yokohama district, where the Shinkansen station is located, is some distance away from the harbour area, and features the 17,000 capacity Yokohama Arena, the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum, and Nissan Stadium, known as the International Stadium Yokohama when it was the setting for the final for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

The city is home to the Central League baseball team, the Yokohama BayStars, and the soccer teams, Yokohama F. Marinos and Yokohama F.C.

Sankei-en is a traditional Japanese-style garden in Naka Ward.[18] Designed by businessman Tomitaro Hara, it contains seventeen old buildings brought from all over Japan, ten of which have been declared Important National Cultural Properties.[18]

Among the attractions are festivals and events.[19]

Politics and government

The Yokohama Municipal Assembly consists of 92 members elected from 18 Wards. The LDP has minority control with 30 seats with Democratic Party of Japan with a close 29. The mayor is Fumiko Hayashi, who succeeded Hiroshi Nakada in September 2009.

Wards

A map of Yokohama's wards

Yokohama has 18 wards (ku):

Railway stations

East Japan Railway Company
Tōkaidō Main Line
Yokosuka Line
Keihin-Tōhoku Line
Negishi Line
Yokohama Line
Nambu Line
Tsurumi Line
Central Japan Railway Company
Tōkaidō Shinkansen
  • - Shin-Yokohama -
Keihin Electric Express Railway
Keikyū Main Line
Zushi Line
Tokyu Corporation
Tōyoko Line
Meguro Line
  • - Hiyoshi
Den-en-toshi Line
Kodomonokuni Line
Sagami Railway
Sagami Railway Main Line
Izumino Line
Yokohama Minatomirai Railway
Minatomirai Line
Yokohama City Transportation Bureau
Blue Line
Green Line
Yokohama New Transit
Kanazawa Seaside Line

International relations

Yokohama has sister-city relationships with nine cities worldwide.[20]

Education

Public elementary and middle schools are operated by the city of Yokohama. There are nine public high schools which are operated by the Yokohama City Board of Education,[24] and a number of public high schools which are operated by the Kanagawa Prefectural Board of Education.

In fiction

References

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ^ Yokohama official web side (English)
  2. ^ Tokyo is no longer a single incorporated city. See Tokyo for more information on the definition and makeup of Tokyo.
  3. ^ Der Große Brockhaus. 16. edition. Vol. 6. F. A. Brockhaus, Wiesbaden 1955, p. 82
  4. ^ "Official Yokohama city website". City.yokohama.jp. http://www.city.yokohama.jp/me/kyoiku/library/perry/. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 
  5. ^ Arita, Erika, "Happy Birthday Yokohama!", Japan Times, 24 May 2009, p. 7.
  6. ^ Matsutani, Minoru, "Yokohama — city on the cutting edge", Japan Times, 29 May 2009, p. 3.
  7. ^ Fukue, Natsuko, "Chinese immigrants played vital role", Japan Times, 28 May 2009, p. 3.
  8. ^ a b Interesting Tidbits of Yokohama[History of Yokohama] Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau Retrieved on February 7, 2009
  9. ^ Hammer, Joshua. (2006). Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II, p. 143.
  10. ^ Hammer, pp. 149-170.
  11. ^ Osaka was once more populous than Yokohama is today.
  12. ^ "横浜市区別外国人登録人口(平成22年6月末現在)". http://www.city.yokohama.jp/me/stat/jinko/non-jp/new-j.html. Retrieved July 26, 2010. 
  13. ^ "Yokohama Weather, When to Go and Yokohama Climate Information". world-guides.com. http://www.yokohama.world-guides.com/yokohama_weather.html. Retrieved 2010-01-11. 
  14. ^ "過去の気象データ検索: 平年値(年・月ごとの値) ("Historical Climate data for Yokohama")". Japan Meteorological Agency. http://www.data.jma.go.jp/obd/stats/etrn/view/nml_sfc_ym.php?prec_no=46&prec_ch=%90_%93%DE%90%EC%8C%A7&block_no=47670&block_ch=%89%A1%95l&year=2010&month=&day=&elm=normal&view=. 
  15. ^ "Nissan To Create New Global and Domestic Headquarters in Yokohama City by 2010". Japancorp.net. http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=7647. Retrieved 2009-05-06. 
  16. ^ Sabin, Burritt (2002-03-17). "Yokohoma vs. Kobe: bright lights, big beacons". The Japan Times. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20020317a6.html. Retrieved 2008-01-29 
  17. ^ Official Yokohama city website (English)
  18. ^ a b Yokohama Sankei Garden, Sankei-en's official site accessed on November 3, 2009 (in Japanese)
  19. ^ "Things to do in the city of Yokohama". Learnjapaneselanguage.co.uk. 2007-05-12. http://www.learnjapaneselanguage.co.uk/articles/15/things-to-do-in-the-city-of-yokohama.php. Retrieved 2009-05-06. [dead link]
  20. ^ "Eight Cities/Six Ports: Yokohama's Sister Cities/Sister Ports". Yokohama Convention & Visitiors Bureau. http://www.welcome.city.yokohama.jp/eng/tourism/mame/a3000.html. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  21. ^ [_id_inhalt=8527984 "Frankfurt am Main: Yokohama"]. © 2011 Stadt Frankfurt am Main. http://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=3932&_ffmpar[_id_inhalt]=8527984. Retrieved 2011-12-22. 
  22. ^ "Partner Cities of Lyon and Greater Lyon". © 2008 Mairie de Lyon. http://www.lyon.fr/vdl/sections/en/villes_partenaires/villes_partenaires_2/?aIndex=1. Retrieved 2009-07-17. 
  23. ^ "Vancouver Twinning Relationships" (PDF). City of Vancouver. http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20080311/documents/a14.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
  24. ^ "Official Yokohama city website". City.yokohama.jp. http://www.city.yokohama.jp/me/kyoiku/gakkou_info/gakkou_info1000.html. Retrieved 2010-05-05. 

External links


Translations:

Yokohama

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - Yokohama

Deutsch (German)
n. - Yokohama

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮יוקוהאמה‬


 
 
Related topics:
Numazu (city of south-central Honshu)
Zama
Shizuoka (city of east-central Honshu)

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