Looking out over central Naka Ward of Yokohama. This area was once the foreign district of Yokohama where many of the international traders, businessmen, and diplomats worked and lived. Today, the remains of that time, large and small, can be found scattered among the modern office buildings and apartment blocks.
In 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry sat down with representatives of the Tokugawa Shogunate on a flat stretch of coastal land near a sleepy little fishing village called Yokohama. The Treaty of Peace and Amity agreed on at this meeting forced Japan to open to trade, and the follow on Treaty of Amity and Commerce negotiated by Townsend Harris in 1858 expanded the number of ports open to foreign trade. These treaties would radically alter not only Japanese society as a whole, but it would completely transform the small peasant fishing village of Yokohama into the largest individual city in Japan (Tokyo is considered a collection of special wards rather than a single city). Of course, with the opening of the Port of Yokohama following the 1858 treaty, Yokohama would see an influx of foreign traders, businessmen, and diplomats arriving to live and work in the growing city. And of course this would bring an equal number of Japanese officials, businessmen, and laborers with them. Today, much of the old foreign district that once existed in Yokohama’s Naka Ward is long gone, with earthquakes, war, and modernization taking their toll. There are, however, elements of the old Meiji and Taisho era city remaining if you are willing to walk around and explore.
So, here are a few places I found while wandering Yokohama aimlessly one sunny Saturday. There are several more historic buildings and places to be found, and most can likely be seen in a single day if you plan your route ahead of time. This is just a sample of what you might see.
Yokohama Specie Bank building (1904). Founded in 1880, the Yokohama Specie Bank was intended to handle currency exchange and international trade for the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan (from 1882). The specie bank one time served as a major gold reserve and during WWII, it bankrolled much of the Imperial Japanese Army’s conquests in Asia. Post war, the bank was shut down and its assets taken over by Bank of Tokyo. Today, the building is home to the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History.
The former British Consulate building. Completed in 1931, this building replaced an earlier structure that had been destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Significantly, the consulate was built on the site where Commodore Perry met with Shogunate officials to draft the Treaty of Peace and Amity in 1854. Today, the site is the Yokohama Archives of History and open to the public.
The remains of the former French Consulate on Yamate hill, (today aptly known as France Hill). During the Boshin War, when attacks on foreigners by rogue samurai were a common fear, the French fortified the top of the hill to protect their citizens. Eventually, the formal French Consulate was built on the site. In 1947, a mysterious fire destroyed the consulate, leaving only a few walls. Today, the area is a park and you can walk through the ruins of the once grand consulate.
Looking over Yokohama harbor from Harbor View Park near the ruins of the old French Consulate. The former consulate grounds are now home to a group of parks and gardens.
The ruins of the McGowan House. Now part of Motomachi Park, the stately residence that once stood here was destroyed by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 in spite of the fact that it was built to the highest anti-earthquake standards of the day, reinforced by steel bars and concrete.
Ruins of the McGowan house in Motomachi Park. This once grand house originally stood near the center of Yokohama’s foreign district. Today, while many wealthy foreign families still live in the Motomachi area, it also has many museums and parks.
A memorial to the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympic games in Nogeyama Park. This large hilltop park sits across the road from the Nogeyama Zoo I wrote about previously. You can find a link to that article here.
Looking out over the Motomachi district of Yokohama, once the center of Japan’s foreign community. There are many more historic sites in the area that I didn’t find or didn’t have time to see. So I encourage you to go exploring for yourself. What historic places will you find?
Very nice photostory! I really like the ruins as well as the Olympic monument.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.