Yokohama (横浜市) is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture. It lies on Tokyo
Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshū. 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.
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.
Yokohama's foreign population of nearly 75,000 includes Chinese, Koreans,
Filipinos, and Brazilians. Among the attractions are festivals and events.
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. 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.
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.
Climate
Yokohama is centrally located on Honshū just southwest of Tokyo. There are four distinct seasons. Winters temperatures rarely drop below freezing, while summer can get quite warm due to humidity effects. Rain is frequent with significant rainfall occurring during both the East Asian rainy season and the typhoon season. Snowfall is limited to thirteen days a year.
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