Yokohama

Yokohama is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan, on the western shore of Tokyo Bay south of Tokyo. In 1859 the fishing village on the site was opened as one of the first ports of Japan for foreign trade.

Foreign merchants settled on a bluff above the harbor, and the port brought many Western goods and customs into Japan, among them gas street lamps, a daily newspaper and the first railway, which linked Yokohama with Tokyo in the early 1870s. Silk from the farms of central Japan was shipped from its piers to Europe and America. After the great earthquake of 1923 the city was rebuilt, and the rubble was used to fill land along the water for a new seaside park. In the 1980s the old shipyards were cleared for Minato Mirai, a district of offices, hotels and museums by the bay.

Nissan has its global head office in Yokohama, and JVC Kenwood, which makes car audio and radio equipment, is also based in the city. Kirin, whose roots go back to a brewery opened in Yokohama in the 19th century, brews beer at its plant in the city. The Port of Yokohama ships cars and machinery from its container terminals and car piers.

Yokohama Chinatown, with its gates and temple to Guan Yu, has hundreds of restaurants and shops along narrow streets. Sankeien, a garden laid out by the silk merchant Hara Sankei, holds old temple buildings and a pagoda brought from Kyoto and other parts of Japan. Yamashita Park, along the harbor, keeps the ocean liner Hikawa Maru as a museum ship. The Cup Noodles Museum tells the story of Momofuku Ando, who invented instant ramen, and lets people design their own cup.