Yokohama

Transcriptions
Yokohama
	"Yokohama" in new-style (shinjitai) kanji
Japanese name
Hiragana	よこはま
Katakana	ヨコハマ
Kyūjitai	橫濱
Shinjitai	横浜
Romanization
Transcriptions
Romanization	Yokohama

Yokohama

横浜市
Yokohama 横浜市
Designated city
	City of Yokohama
	Clockwise from top: Minato Mirai 21, Nippon Maru Memorial Park, Yokohama Chinatown, Motomachi Shopping Street, Yokohama Marine Tower viewed from Yamashita Park, and Ōsanbashi Pier
	Flag Seal
	Map of Kanagawa Prefecture with Yokohama highlighted in purple
	Yokohama Yokohama Yokohama (Asia)
	Coordinates: 35°26′39″N 139°38′17″E / 35.44417°N 139.63806°E
Country	Japan
Region	Kantō
Prefecture	Kanagawa Prefecture
Government
• Mayor	Takeharu Yamanaka
Area
• Total	437.38 km2 (168.87 sq mi)
Population (October 1, 2016)
• Total	3,732,616
• Density	8,534.03/km2 (22,103.0/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time)
– Tree	Camellia, Chinquapin, Sangoju; Sasanqua, Ginkgo, Zelkova
– Flower	Rose
Address	6-50-10 Honchō, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken; 231-0005
Website	www.city.yokohama.lg.jp

Yokohama (Japanese: 横浜, Hepburn: Yokohama, pronounced [jokohama] (listen)) is a Japanese city in Kanagawa Prefecture on the island of Honshū.^[1]

Yokohama is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture in the Kantō region. Yokohama is a neighbor city of Tokyo. It has been the second largest city of Japan since the 1980s.

Yokohama has an international trade seaport. It is the largest port in Japan. Many cars and machinery are exported from the port. The downtown area is around the port. Today, the area of Yokohama city includes its former suburb areas like Hodogaya or Totsuka.

In Minato Mirai, there are a lot of places for sightseeing. For example, there are amusement parks and shopping malls.

Yokohama was an entrance for foreign cultures for a long time. Still today Yokohama has the largest Chinatown in Japan.

The airports nearest to Yokohama are Tokyo International Airport and Narita International Airport.

Many educational institutes are located in Yokohama, including Yokohama National University and Yokohama City University.

History

The Yokohama port was created in the middle of the 19th century for foreigners. It was five ports opened to foreign countries who demanded that Japan open its ports. And Yokohama was the nearest port to Tokyo, which was then called Edo.

Hodogaya — ukiyo-e woodblock print by Hiroshige, circa 1832

In the Edo period, Hodogaya-juku was one of the fifty-three shogunate-maintained waystations (shuku-eki) along the Tōkaidō road which connected Edo and Kyoto. Two other Tōkaidō rest stops are within the boundaries of modern Yokohama—in Kanagawa ward and Totsuka ward.^[2]